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The Brooklyn Daily Eagle from Brooklyn, New York • Page 9

The Brooklyn Daily Eagle from Brooklyn, New York • Page 9

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Brooklyn, New York
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Page:
9
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1 i. Little Old Bay Ridge Moved in One Leap From Plushy Era of '90s to Modern Place It Is Today XT" J. S. MONDAY, sirr, jo, 1940 ir it 3 I 1 Jit CHURCH OF THE GENERALS St. John's Church at 99th St.

and Fort Hamilton Ave. stands as a reminder of older Bay Ridge days. 1 Ill, HEFFERNAN says The Red Label Is Going From Brooklyn Qollege I i let jCW When Dr. Gldeonse became president of Brooklyn College he said. If memory serves, that he proposed to take the Red label off that school.

There were many of us, neighbors of the group of handsome structures on the college grounds, who told ourselves: "It Is high time." We had seen the walks on the campus Brooklyn Xsglt Photos by 6taff Photse raptor Alvin tambert VIEW FROM Owl's Head Park, with the Narrows in the background. Many of the most beautiful homes and apartments in town overlook Shore Road, shown in the foreground. Beautiful Bay Ridge Still Show Place of Brooklyn Mansions of Yesteryear Have Given Way to Homes In Modern Manner for Thousands Who Live There I s4 ms iifiTfAn ft GYMNASIUM OF FONTBONNE HALL, facing the Narrows. Fontbonne Hall, a girls preparatory school, was formerly the Tom L. Johnson home.

Modem Bay Ridge dates' from the breaking up of the Johnson estate in 1914 into choice building lots. it i "iiti was the first editor of the Brooklyn Eagle, and definitely a Brooklyn under his leadership the waterfront was developed, the appropriation secured for building the drydocks at the Navy Yard, and many great thoroughfares, including Myrtle Avenue, opened. From Murphy to Blisses The present Owl's Head Park, at Shore Road and 65th was the site of the Murphy home. "Owl's Head" was the name he gave to the place, and the house was characterized by a square tower. In this house Mr.

Murphy collected a WHEN LILLIAN RUSSELL PLAYED JULIET Lillian Russell onoe lived in Bay Ridge, in the old Tom L. Johnson house (now Fontbonne Hall). And on the balconies of that old mansion, legend has it, she played Juliet to the delight of appreciative guests. famous llbrarj'i and within these and here General Robert E. Lee library walls plans for the Brooklyn I was a vestryman, while he was ai Bridge were first drawn up.

The soldier stationed at Fort Hamilton, beautiful place was the scene of i The present church, built in 1897, many brilliant social events. was erected on the sit of the Upon his death the estate became original church, built In 1835. the property of E. W. Bliss.

The Though St. John's was not a gar Bliss family retained all the beauty 'rlson church its origin and iiis and dignity of the place; It con 1 tenance long depended on the tlnued to be a social center. The; officers at Fort Hamilton, Justfc 1 for the newcomers. He briefly indicated the nature of the liberal arts curriculum to which they had barely been introduced, and Indicated the position of this type of education in a world as chang irg as that of today. He urged them not to keep their heads buried in books, themes, libraries and laboratories, but to lead balanced college lives, and to partlci pate fully in the campus activities to the end that they might be truly representative, and not the pet instruments of selfish minority groups.

And then he told them that they were a privileged group engaged in scholarly pursuits because the City of New York through its taxpayers foots the bills. "Every student Brooklyn College is on a scholarship in the sense that the City of New York pays his or her tuition, which is worth about' $300 ft year," said Dr. Gideonse, "This scholarship is earned by the student's previous success in high school and is maintained by his record here after admission. Thi city maintains these scholarships because It believes In equality of opportunity not simply as a subject for speeches on patriotic occasions, but as a part of the daily living practice of American society. The taxpayers of this city have the right to expect us to live up to our responsibilities which this privileged activity imposes on us.

And let us not have the usual demagogic Illusions about the nature of those taxpayers: they are not the usual caricatured plutocratic capitalists about whom the soap box orator speaks. Everyone who pays rent pays taxes. Therefore our responsibility is to the community as a whole, and we must remember it." to and Irosi eaStfbnia oa th new AMERICA'S ONLY All.CHAIR CAl TDANKONTINCNTAl STREAMLINER Just 39l beurs it ill it tilcej thu gar all chair car streamliner: to whisk from Chicago to Lot Angdei. It dttsn't tail pit Jul mtnty travtl it, titbtr! El Ctpittn will save you dart and dollars, and put i barrel of fun into your California trip! You'll thoroughly enjoy the restful comfort of El Ctpifn't new riinlfs steel chair cits; delicious Fred Harrey meals serrtdiatheunique lunch counter diner: beautiful duh chiirctr; and the free and friendly service of the courier nurse. a ElCafiun departs from Chicago, Tuesday ind Sirurdiy evenings.

Chicago to Los Angeles 0lf Plas (C.aaaxtra far Round trip J65, plus $10 extra fire Fflf full itlttls, fuit E. EATOV. fti Kr rw PPt. fANTA KB RV 500 F'f'h Av. stw YORK.

V. T. Fhoat: PEnnijiraiua 8 4400 (Mm 00 as, V'J and gardens, and the sidewalks out side littered with inflammatory Communist literature. We had complained for a year that no American flag could be seen either in the "dawn's early light" or "the twilight's last gleaming" above an institution of learning paid for out of government funds and main tained by the taxpayers of the American metropolis. We had seen Earl Browder cheered by thousands of students on the campus.

We had evidence that the Moscow poison not only affected large numbers of the undergraduates but infiltrated the faculty. Complaints by the American Legion and other patriotic and civic societies were brazenly Ignored or scoffed as "Red baiting." Communism Overthrown Well, there has been ft change. Some red embers still burn, but Communism has been overthrown in the General Organization election by the non Communist students, and the more creditable side of academic life is now in the foreground of the picture. I asked a member of the faculty to prepare some remarks for me on the situation at present. What follows, although I shall omit quotation marks, is of his composition.

Healthy Sign A little bookkeeping on the first week of activities at Brooklyn College brings to light many fine signs. Perhaps the outstanding sign is the action taken by the Faculty Council on the first day of classes, when by a substantial majority it voted to petition the Navy Department to establish a Naval R. O. T. C.

on the campus. As Dr. Gideonse pointed out after the meeting, there is no present pros pect of the granting of the peti tion, because of the increased responsibilities devolving on many of the officers who might other wise be available for such lnstruc tional assignments. He felt, too, that the establishment of a Naval unit would be in keeping with the long, asoclation this borough has had with the Navy. The Faculty Council also signified Its willingness to co operate In ways possible with the national program of defense.

Jlillel Foundation Chapter Not the least important announcement emanating from the institution was that on the establishment of a chapter of the Hillel Foundation, for the religious, cultural and social interests of Jewish students, who constitute a predominating majority among the students. Sponsored by B'nal Brith lodges and prominent citizens of the community, the organization has already set up quarters very near the college, at 1520 Flatbush Ave. The directors of the organization are well equipped by training and experience to take charge of the new venture. The merits of the organization have been voiced by Dr. Gideonse and citizens of standing who have come to the front with substantial support.

To name only two, Edward C. Blum and Major Benjamin Namm. will give an idea of the genuine encouragement being lent to this effort. The oik of Hillel and Me norah, together wnh that of the Newman Club and the Student Chn.Mian Association, will contribute something very fubftantial to the life of the campus. At noon on Wednesday about 1.000 freshmen gathered in the men's gymnasium to hear their first address by Dr.

Gideonse, who was introduced by the academic dean, Mario E. Cosenza. As is his custom, the college head spoke bluntly and from the shoulder, but with a paternal affection DIRECTORS 1015 HALSEY ST B'KLYV FUNERAL GIRLS OF FONTBONNE HALL with the auditorium in the background. They are, left to right: Grace Barrett of 639 59th senior class president; Rosalie Yvars of 1532 66th secretary of Closs 4B; Anita Gribbon of 118 87th president of class 4A, and Joan Slater of 7018 Perry Terrace, vice president of class 4A. By JANE CORBY "Shore Road lots, situated In the choicest section of the beautiful driveway, which were held at $5,000, sold for $3,500 each at the auction sale of the estate of the late Tom L.

Johnson, which took place yesterday afternoon, under a large tent erected on the property, within few feet of the home of the late Henry George, the advocate of tingle tax." The yesterday referred to in this Item was June 20, 1914, and the YOUR NEIGHBORS Bay Ridge today, its schools, churches, apartments and homes your neighbors will be discussed by Miss Corby on this page Wednesday. date marks the end and the be ginning of an era In Bay Ridge the end of the plushy era of the nineties, with magnificent homes for the few, and the beginning of modern Bay Ridge, with homes In the modern manner for the hundreds of thousands who now live there. Lillian Russell Lived There The Tom L. Johnson estate was divided and sold but the house itself took on a new lease of life and now emerges as Fontbonne Hall, a college preparatory school for girls, conducted by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Brooklyn.

Behind a hedge that successfully screens the lower half of the building, Its red tiled roof and stuccoed walls rise serene and small balconies are all but concealed among the flourishing ivy. If the old tales are true, Lillian Russell once lived here, and on these balconies she played Juliet, to the delight of appreciative guests. Later the house had another prominent tenant, Charles J. Ober mayer, millionaire bank president Who lived there In the 1920 s. The "Tom L.

Johnson house" It remained, however, until Fontbonne Hall was established there a few years ago. The George house, across the way, has disappeared. The two men were great friends, and Johnson throughout his life earnestly advocated Mr. George's "Single Tax" theory, while getting rich on a vastly different type of practice. While fighting monopolies Johnson formed them, while denouncing high tariff he made a lot of money in industries so protected.

He came from the mid West, and was several times Mayor of Cleveland. At 20, while working for a 6treet car company, he invented a slot contrivance for collecting trolley fares, got rich on It and bought Into the traction field. He gave the trolley companies the automatic witch and high steel rails, and ADVERTISEMENT WAKE UP YOUR OIVN LAXATIVE FLUID And Mayb You.Too, Will Feel Like 'Happy Days Art Hare Again po 701 wltor from eonitlDtloa or ftl hdifutloB Mow twit? Do fcra nffu from tick kMSuli, Mllouintm and inl or BeryT II to, wo Bar natd to buok up tot flow of rour natural lazatlva fluid vita Cartar'i unia um run. For irlien twa ointa of thli natural laxatlra Fluid flow through our bowl v.rr th. niMrlaa of oontWpaUon, bllloumm and fattf Inddutlon below tha bait ti awar and many or.

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yourie hf th i. man; mwi iuve nappy uays mm oara again. your druggist for Cartar'i T.ltiU aays ara bare again." 'Phone your druggist for Carter's LltUa Llwr Pills ow so you woa'l forget it, 10y tad lii. in 1612, along came Adrian Block's Tiger, and this, as it turned out, was a one way trip, for the Tiger burned off what is now the Battery, in Manhattan, and Mr. Block was forced to swim ashore.

All was quiet again on the Bay standing, then it too was declared unsafe. The Park Department, with the aid of WPA workers, put the tree crowned hill into useful shape and rustic paths now. wind up the cropped grassy slopes of the hill, and only those who know Bay Ridge history are aware that it was once a homesite. Church of Generals Another reminder of older Bay Ridge days is at 99th St, and Fort Hamilton Avenue, St. John's Church, "the church of the generals." It was in St.

John's that Stonewall Jackson was baptized, across the way. It was General Lee who planted a Norway maple on the grounds of the church in 1842, and the tree, replaced by the Brooklyn branch of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, bears a bronze plaque which records this fact. The Rev. Robert Condit John's. is the present past or of St that the ends of the earth have come upon us.

We in this country have no cause for complaint, yet there are many complaints, asking of questions, uneasy minds." Charging that in acquiring great cleverness in the control of me chanical things we neglected to cultivate other peoples and to understand their ways and customs, I Bishop Ludlow said, "We are afraid because we have not spent our energies upon human fellowship. We need humbly to face the fact that the world is changing and will continue to change. We must see that these changes accomplish a Christian end. "God is still creating His world, His fellowship and His family. It's a continuous operation that is going on.

We have lost the long perspective that God gave us of eternal vaiues and changes. If the world is in chaos we are partly to blame. We have not set the right Christian example. We must remember that God has chosen us to accomplish His purpose." The Rev. Dr.

Thomas J. Lacey, rector of the Church of the Redeemer, who referred to Bishop Ludlow as "our representative," said that "the Church of the Redeemer has always been represented in the House of Bishops." Soothe, and help heal, chafings and rashe of external origin. IJINIJIl.TUvLLLtU Ridge shore until 163B, when Ridge and landing at Denyse's William Adrian.se Bennett and 1 Ferry, which the enterprising Jacques Bentyn bought the water i Denyses had established below what front from 28th to 60th and is Fort Hamilton today. Begun but back into the hills as far as the never quite settled even yet was old Indian trail which in those days the argument about whether or not ran along the present Sixth Avenue i up on the bluff one of the young through Greenwood, through Sunset! ladies In the Cortelyou homestead Park and along Eighth Avenue to had waved her red flannel pettl Fort Hamilton. I coat as a signal to the British At Fort Hamilton lived the Nyack soldiers that it was safe for them Indians and the land on which they to attempt a landing, or that, as lived, now the Army Reservation, members of the family later claimed, was called by the first settlers the she had been waving it as a warn "Nyack Tract." Jacques Cortelyou i ing to the Americans that the Red wedding of Miss Eva Bliss to James Warren Lane In June, 1890, fol lowed by an outdoor fete at Owl's Head, was remembered in Bay Ridge for many a day.

Years passed, the old house was deserted, finally demolished In 1932. Owl's Head became a neighborhood park. For a time the tower was left Newark Prelate In Talk Here Hits Nationality Trend Bishop Ludow Blames Jitters on Materialism Stresses Co operation Suffragan Bishop Theodore Russell Ludlow of the Episcopal Diocese of Newark yesterday decried excessive "nationality" as a wrecker of peace conferences for the past 25 years and attributed the present uneasy, jittery American state of mind to "our success in a material way." "To try to take our talents and wrap them in a napkin is to die, We've got to share responsibility, to co operate with other natioa. The great problem is to get rid of this thing nationality," Bishop Ludlow said in a sermon delivered at the o'clock morning service In the Episcopal Church of the Redeemer, 4th Ave. and Pacific St.

Bishop Ludlow, one of Redeem nurcn own reiurnea I t0 tne cnurch for the "dedication" wcck ceremonies wnicn enaea yesterday. The church was recently 1 anri cost ncarl" 'No Cause for Complaint" "I suspect that, many In this land." Bishop Ludlow "said, "feel made the Cleveland street cars operate on a 3 cent fare, and. coming to Brooklyn and getting to work on the traction situation here, was largely responsible for the development of Coney Island, with his establishment of a 6 cent fare to that resort. Fontbonne Hall Today Fontbonne Hall, the Johnson house that was, faces the Narrows. Ambrose Channel, a broad river of splashing gold in the Autumn sunlight, moves grandly past the white pillars that form the gate in the hedge, and frame the white, life sized statue of St.

Joseph, which stands in the center of a great plot of purple petunias? forming an oasis In the walk to the front door. Before the open portico are huge earthen jars, emphasizing the Spanish character of the house. The school has 257 students, the daughters of prominent Bay Ridge families. They wear the attractive school uniform, bright navy blue frocks with white blouses. The principal Is Sister Dolorita; Sister Augustine Maria is assistant principal.

The school is the latest to be founded in the group of collegiate preparatory academies for girls, maintained by the Sisters of St. Joseph in the Diocese of Brooklyn. Generations of Brooklyn women have enjoyed religious, academic and musical training of the type provided at Fontbonne Hall, in Its sister academies of the diocese. The name "Fontbonne" is in honor of Mother St. John Fontbonne, the valiant Superior General of the Sisters of St.

Joseph, who led the Community through the dark days of the French Revolution. First Settlement The history of Bay Ridee poes back to 1609. when Henry Hudson's Half Moon, the first of many ships to proceed through the Narrows, passed by on the way to discover thi Hudson River. A little later, Dutch farms and get a piece of Bay Ridge for their own on which to build spacious mansions. The Revolution had come and gone long since.

The British soldiers had invaded Brooklyn, crossing from Staten Island to Bay coats were coining. (Red petticoat; red coats get Its Beauty Ever Appealed By 1850 all was approximately quiet on the Bay Ridge front. The great modern highways were still to come Shore Road, Ridge Boule va, n' Avenue dui it was i almost untouched beauty of the natural surroundings which naiurai surroundings wnicn ap Pealfd tnat known t0 hls" 1 lflr' 8S Ovington Syndicate, i wh0 comprised the advance guard i of the roomers to the ndee. i Mansions surrounded by their own private parks were built according to the often grandiose plans of their owners. The tempo of building was stepped up; more and more moneyed citizens built their stately homes along the great bluff.

The finest house of all was built bv Henry Cruse Murphy, one of i Brooklyn's all time most brilliant men. He served as Mayor of Brook lyn when it was an independent city, became U. S. Minister to The Hague, was the first outstanding leader of the Democratic party In Brooklyn, a scholar, a statesman and a public spirited citizen. He bought the Nyack Tract from the Indians, and gave them a reservation of their own, now about 92nd St.

and Seventh Avenue. Rii'gert Joosten Van Brunt about the same time acquired a considerable portion of the precipitous grassy slope above the water. Jacques Cortel you's daughter Teunese Denvse. Helena married daughter Maria married William Barkeloo. and William Barkeloo.

and Denyses and Barkeloos figure prom lnently in the old records there after. Sr. do the Van Dvcks. the Van Pelts, the DeHarts, the War dells, the Van tha nrtai. yous, the Ditmarses, the Voorhces and the Bergen and Bennett families, all names prominent In Brooklyn today.

Yellow Hook to Bay Ridge They were Dutch, or Norwegians coming to this country by way of Holland, these first families of Bay Ridge, which was known as Yellow Hook, because of the shape of the shore and the color of the earth. The name Bay Ridge came Into use around 1850, when a group of wealthy Manhattan merchants came i along to break up the tremendous.

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About The Brooklyn Daily Eagle Archive

Pages Available:
1,426,564
Years Available:
1841-1963