Uncovering the Identity of Josephine Winslow

BY LESLIE CHANG, TRUSTEE, SCARSDALE HISTORICAL SOCIETY

How much do you know about your great-grandmother? What if you found out she was a courageous suffragist, as evidenced by countless newspaper articles and priceless notes she left behind in Scarsdale, N.Y.? This is what happened to several families across the country when they heard from me during research for our documentary Women Rising: The Scarsdale Suffragists.

This is the second part of a blog series sharing the stories behind my investigations of the suffragists. 

Finding Josephine Valentine Winslow (1871-1926)

As with all of our Scarsdale suffragists, we found countless news clippings about Josephine Winslow and her tireless volunteer work - but otherwise we could only imagine what she looked like. I kicked off a deep dive, and the research process was a historian’s dream. Once I figured out the names of her living relatives, one of them happened to be a professor with a published email address. Within 3 hours of emailing Robert W. Newsom at University of California, Irvine, I received an album of jaw-dropping photos.

Josephine Valentine Winslow, c. 1890s.

Josephine, aka Mrs. Willard Winslow (and also nicknamed “Doodles” according to Robert) was the son of a New York City merchant and woolen manufacturer.  She moved to Scarsdale in 1903 with Willard, a lumber importer and wholesaler. In 1905, they had their daughter Julia Valentine Winslow (Newsom). Robert and his brother Jon are her sons. 

Left to right: Julia, Josephine and Willard Winslow - likely in their Scarsdale home on School Lane. Based on Julia’s age, this photo may be from around the late 1910s.

In comparison to her dear friend Florence who thrived in the spotlight, Josephine was the business backbone of many of Scarsdale’s early enterprises. For example, most of the actual handwritten notes in the Scarsdale Equal Suffrage Club minutes book are in Josephine’s meticulous script (see below). Some was also a charter member of the Scarsdale Woman’s Club, one of first female commissioners of the Westchester County Park Commission, the purchasing agent of supplies for Westchester County Government during WWI, office manager of the Scarsdale Community Farm during WWI, a trustee of the Scarsdale School District (1919-1922) and the Secretary of the Supreme Council of the Girl Scouts of Westchester County.

First page of the Scarsdale Equal Suffrage Club minutes book, handwritten by Josephine (Secretary), 1914. Source: Scarsdale Public Library.

The Photo Collection

After reading about her tireless civic work in early Scarsdale, it was a thrill to see Josphine’s face for the first time. The younger photos pre-date her time in Scarsdale, but they are a stunning visual record of her life.

Josephine Valentine Winslow

Date unknown. Source: The Newsom Family

Josephine Valentine Winslow

Date unknown. Source: The Newsom Family

Josephine and Willard Winslow With a Dog

c. 1900. According to the Scarsdale Inquirer, the Winslows had a pet spaniel named Judy who got lost (and returned) in 1905. Maybe that’s Judy? Source: The Newsom Family

Portrait of Josephine Valentine Winslow.

Note the photographer listed at the bottom: The Moreno Co. This address is now a CVS in Union Square, NYC. Date unknown. Source: The Newsom Family

Portrait of Josephine Valentine Winslow

This portrait was used heavily in promotion for the Women Rising documentary. Date unknown. Source: The Newsom Family.

Family Vacation at Loon Lake Resort

A snapshot of vacation life, c. 1880s. Loon Lake Resort was a luxury hotel in the Adirondacks that attracted American Presidents, Vanderbilts and Rockefellers. Josephine is the girl leaning against the column looking at the boy in the striped hat, front left. Source: The Newsom Family.

Portrait of Josephine and Willard Winslow

Date unknown. Source: The Newsom Family.

Josephine with Daughter Julia Winslow and Mother Julia Valentine

Date 1910, likely taken in Scarsdale. Source: The Newsom Family

The House: 16 School Lane

A photo of the Winslow house. Source: The Winslow Family.

It’s always fun to receive an old picture of a Scarsdale house and figure out if it still stands. Robert had shared this photo of a house (above), and he wasn’t sure where it had been located. Their address in the Scarsdale Inquirer was always listed as “16 School Lane,” but that doesn’t exist now. Thus, I had to do a little extra investigating. 

If you look at the map, in the spot where 16 School Lane would be, there’s a tiny little street called “Winslow Place.” It isn’t a coincidence, as confirmed by the 1952 article on the street names of Scarsdale (below). 

“Winslow Place The Planning Commission named this tiny street, originally considered part of School Lane, in 1932 for the neighboring owner, Willard Winslow, whose wife Josephine V. served on the school board from 1919 to 1922.”

There’s several houses on Winslow Place, so I wasn’t sure which house it would be. I checked the 1911 map, which makes it very clear which house it was (it was almost the only one!). That house is today’s 3 Winslow Place, and it still looks almost the same minus some updates.

The Winslows were near the Lockwood Collegiate School, which is the home of today’s Hoff-Barthelson Music School (thus, the name of School Lane). The school property of 9 acres was purchased in 1906. I compared dates in the newspaper, and the Winslows built their house in 1904, 2 years before the Lockwood School campus. Thus, when they purchased their house, “School Lane” wouldn’t have been named yet.

1910-1911 Map of School Lane, when Winslow Place was the driveway to the Winslow’s house. the open land below it became today’s Crane-Berkeley neighborhood. Source: Atlas of Westchester County, Westchester County Archives

From today’s satellite map of this block, you can see 100+ years of suburban development. Source: Google Maps

Today, there are three total houses on Winslow Place (two across from the Winslows). The map shows that Winslow Place was originally the Winslow household’s driveway! If you’ve ever driven down tiny Winslow Place with its one lane, this makes perfect sense.

There was one other photo in the album that shows what this once looked like (see below). The house faced sideways (on School Lane), and to the house’s left was all fields (before it became the Crane-Berkeley neighborhood).

Today’s 3 Winslow Place in the early 1900s. Source: The Winslow Family

Winslow Place today, looking from School Lane - 100+ years later! Source: Google Maps

Willard, Josephine, Julia, and her doll, sitting on the portico, c. 1910. Source: The Newsom Family

Crabapple Trees

Sadly, Josephine passed away suddenly of pneumonia at 55. Florence Bethell was quoted in the newspaper as saying, “Much of all the glory that is ours in Scarsdale is due to her quiet, modest, self-effacing work.” Thirty-one crabapple trees at the Scarsdale Woman’s Club were planted in memory of her untimely death. We hear that some are still thriving on the club grounds by Drake Road, and will watch for them to blossom this spring.

Trees in front of the Scarsdale Woman’s Club.

Our new documentary “Women Rising: The Scarsdale Suffragists” can be viewed here. For other details and resources related to the Scarsdale’s suffrage leaders, click here.

Women Rising: Extended Interview with Former Editor of Scarsdale Inquirer

The Full Interview Conducted by Film Director Lesley Topping for Our Film, Women Rising: The Scarsdale Suffragists

In 2024, for our film Women Rising: The Scarsdale Suffragists, we had the privilege of interviewing Linda Leavitt, an accomplished journalist who served as Associate Editor and later Editor-in-Chief of the Scarsdale Inquirer from 1984 to 2015. Beyond contributing to our project, we also sought to document Linda’s remarkable career and legacy.

The following two videos highlight Linda’s reflections on her journey in journalism, her most memorable stories, the evolving roles of women in Scarsdale, and the history of the Scarsdale Inquirer.

The Scarsdale Inquirer was Scarsdale’s first local newspaper. It originated in the late 1800s, as a neighborhood newsletter in Scarsdale’s Arthur Manor and later evolved into a newspaper under the ownership of the Bronxville Review. When the paper faced financial difficulties in 1919, a group of Scarsdale suffragists, who had recently formed the Scarsdale Woman’s Club, bought the paper. Over the years, the Scarsdale Inquirer was transformed into award-winning and beloved local newspaper. Although the Woman’s Club sold the paper in 1959, it continued to be staffed mostly by women. After Linda Leavitt’s retirement in 2015, Valerie Abrahams succeeded her as Editor-in-Chief, and led a team of talented dedicated journalists until the paper ceased publication in 2024. 

About Linda Leavitt

Linda Leavitt joined The Scarsdale Inquirer in 1984 as associate editor covering Scarsdale schools, arts and entertainment and religion. When editor David Kirkwood retired in 1991, she was appointed editor, serving until her retirement in July 2015.

During her tenure as editor the paper won many awards from the New York Press Association, including overall best newspaper, general excellence and awards for editorials, news and feature stories. Along with her predecessor Kirkwood, Leavitt received the New York State Bar Association Media Award in 1985 for the paper’s coverage of the Scarsdale crèche case.

The Inquirer was honored by the Scarsdale community several times over the years: in 1997 by the Scarsdale Historical Society and in 2001 with the Town and Village Civic Club Public Service Award. In 2006, Leavitt was named a distinguished alumna of Scarsdale High School and also received the Scarsdale Teen Center Visions of Community Award. In October 2015 the Scarsdale Forum presented her with its public service award.

Since retiring, she has joined the boards of the Scarsdale Adult School and the Scarsdale Woman’s Club. She takes painting classes with the adult school and writes a monthly column and occasional theater reviews for the Inquirer.

Leavitt moved to River Road with her family in 1954. She attended Greenacres Elementary School and was in the first class to go all the way through the Scarsdale Junior High School. She attended Connecticut College and received her B.A. from Sarah Lawrence College.

She is a lifelong member of Hitchcock Presbyterian Church. She lives in Stamford, Connecticut with her husband Liam Murphy. She has two daughters and four grandchildren.

For a further exploration of the Scarsdale Inquirer’s history, see The Story of Our Century: 1901–2001: Celebrating 100 years of Scarsdale News. This book is available at the Scarsdale Public Library. 

The Scarsdale Inquirer has been digitized from 1901 - 1977, all available online. This was part of a joint project with the Scardale Public Library.

Part 1: Interview with Linda Leavitt

Exclusive Content From Women Rising: The Scarsdale Suffragists

Part 2: Interview with Linda Leavitt

Exclusive Content From Women Rising: The Scarsdale Suffragists

Uncovering the Identity of Florence Bethell

By Leslie Chang, Trustee, Scarsdale Historical Society

How much do you know about your great-grandmother? What if you found out she was a courageous suffragist, as evidenced by countless newspaper articles and priceless notes she left behind in Scarsdale, N.Y.? This is what happened to several families across the country when they heard from me.

Our project on the suffragists began because filmmaker Lesley Topping wanted to make a film about the Scarsdale women who fought for women’s suffrage rights. She knew there were many records of their activities in the Scarsdale Inquirer archives. There were countless mentions of meetings, rallies, and suffrage dances in the 1910s. What she didn’t expect was the lack of photographs and personal stories about the women in the Village archives. In some cases, because of the tradition of using husbands’ names, she didn’t even know the women’s first names. The women were virtually “faceless” in the Village record. 

Lesley and I agreed that her documentary project would require some creative research strategies. I offered to help with research and started digging. I felt determined to find the faces (and stories) behind the names. I tracked down long-lost ancestors all over the country - from Mississippi, to California, to Martha’s Vineyard. Before I knew it, suffragist relatives were picking their brains and cracking open their dusty photo albums - just so we could preserve the memories of their matriarchs.

This week I’m kicking off a four-part blog series sharing the stories behind my investigations of the suffragists.  I assure you, when I’m done, you’ll remember the names of Florence, Josephine, Bella and Edna. 

Finding Florence   

In the summer of 2024, Lesley mentioned that Florence Bethell (1873-1956) would be the “star” suffragist in her film, yet she hadn’t found enough decent images of her. Florence founded the League of Women Voters of Scarsdale (and Westchester), was a founder of the Scarsdale Woman’s Club, and saved the Scarsdale Inquirer in 1919. However, the Village archives only had photographs of her husband, Frank H. Bethell. This seemed like an injustice.

Portrait of Frank H. Bethell in the Scarsdale Public Library archives, dated c. 1917.

The first photo we came across was a grainy passport photo on Ancestry.com (thank you to Dan Glauber at Scarsdale Library!). It was helpful, but not ideal or adequate to use for an entire documentary. How was it possible we couldn’t find any other photos of this trailblazing woman?

Photo found on Florence’s “emergency” passport application, 1922.

Florence Bethell’s Background

We had pieced together general biographical information about our illusive subject. Florence Hartstuff was born in Sidney Barracks, NE, the daughter of Dr. and Mrs. Albert Hartsuff. Her father was a Brigadier General and served in the American Civil War and Spanish-American War. 

Florence married Frank Hopkins Bethell in 1901 and they came to Scarsdale around 1912. The couple had a son and a daughter, Franklin and Janet who were both born in 1903 (I’ll return to that below). The Scarsdale school district was in its infancy, so it makes sense that the Bethell children went to elite private high schools: Hackley School in Tarrytown and Rosemary Hall in Greenwich, CT. 

Husband Frank Hopkins Bethell served in leadership (First Vice President) at the New York Telephone Company with his brother, Union Noble Bethell (President). He was also responsible for the “Eastern Group” of Bell Telephone Company. He and his brother were both pioneers in the United States telephone system, at the forefront of Bell and what became AT&T. To give you an idea of Union N. Bethell’s prominence, he was sitting beside Alexander Graham Bell when he made AT&T’s first transcontinental call to California (pictured). 

Third from left: Union Noble Bethell,, Senior Vice-President American Telephone & Telegraph Co. with Alexander Graham Bell (center) on the day of the first transatlantic phone call (January 25, 1915). Source

I even found a letter written in 1914 by Thomas Edison to Union Bethell that stated “I’m fond of a hustler and like to give them credit when I find real ones” (Thomas A. Edison Papers, Rutgers University). Needless to say, if the Bethell brothers were rubbing elbows with two of the most famous American inventors in history, then Florence was a woman in a position of power. With her status, she was well-positioned to advocate for women’s suffrage.

Her husband Frank retired in 1920 and continued as a pillar of the Scarsdale community. He served as Scarsdale’s first president (before mayors), and a president of the Scarsdale Golf Club. He was one of the longest standing commissioners of the Bronx River Parkway Commission, the group that oversaw the land acquisition and construction of the Bronx River Parkway.

Frank H. Bethell at the podium during Scarsdale’s first public celebration after being incorporated as a Village, on July 4, 1915. Source: Scarsdale Public Library

Two Houses in Heathcote

House numbers weren’t typically published in the early Scarsdale days, but I believe the Bethells’ first residence in Scarsdale was at 16 Heathcote Road. A photo of the house was published in The Telephone Review, in an article about Frank titled: “A Prophet in His Own Country.”

The only known photo taken of the Bethell’s home in 1915. Source: The Telephone Review, 1915.

It was at this home that Florence hosted suffrage meetings and conferences, where she could fit 125 people in her “sunny garage.” Guests included many prominent suffragist leaders, including Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s daughter, Mrs. T. H. Lawrence. 

A suffrage convention with 125 guests in the Bethell garage at 16 Heathcote Road. Source: Mount Vernon Argus, January 07, 1916

By 1920, they had moved to a new property with around 8 acres. Finding the actual location of the Richbell Road house was a bit of a challenge. House records prior to 1925 are scarce at Village Hall. The newspaper often said they lived at 5 Richbell Road, but that address doesn’t exist now. Thankfully, the 1930 map unlocks the mystery. First, it shows the original boundaries of the estate that became Bethel Road (yes, it is misspelled). Second, it shows the location of the main house on Richbell Road. Today, that same plot is 2 Bethel Road (thanks to property records at Village Hall!).

A 1930 map shows the Bethell name twice: once with their house, and once across the top where the Bethell land had been subdivided. Bethel Road appears via dotted lines. Source: Westchester County Archives

2 Bethel Road in the current day.

Tracking Down Photos of Florence

The Scarsdale Woman’s Club has two artworks of Florence, including the lovely portrait that hangs in the “Bethell Room.”  For our suffrage documentary, we hoped we could find images of her that were more age-appropriate as she would have appeared in the 1910’s (when she was in her 40’s).

The portrait that hangs in the Bethell Room at the Scarsdale Woman’s Club, painted by Harold Wolcott. He was a prominent Scarsdale artist.

President Portrait of Florence Bethell, Scarsdale Woman’s Club. Photograph by Ferris Briggs, 1933. The artist used a special process to give the photograph an artistic effect.

I started scouring newspaper archives outside of our hometown newspaper. I came across a large article on the Scarsdale Woman’s Club in the New York Tribune, one of New York City’s influential newspapers of the time. The headline read “A Woman’s Club Takes Over a Town Paper.” It featured a large photo of Florence, calling her “the prime mover” in saving the Scarsdale Inquirer. The best part about the photograph was that it was “legible” quality, and depicted Florence as a younger woman. It was the best clipping (showing her image) that I could find.

Source: New York Tribune, November 23, 1919.

Next, I tried looking through members’ family trees on Ancestry.com. Sometimes, people upload photos from their personal collections. Finally, in one person’s family tree I saw Florence’s name. I clicked it, and was finally looking at an original photo of Florence for the first time!

Left to right: Janet (Coker) Bethell, Franklin Hartstuff Bethell, Florence Bethell, Frank Harrison Coker. Photo taken around 1921. Source: Pamela Coker

I didn’t know this Ancestry.com account owner’s relation to the Bethell’s, but I was dying to find out. I immediately sent a private message to the owner of that account, and within a few hours I was speaking to the mysterious relative, Pamela, in California! 

Lesley Topping and I sat on a conference call eagerly hearing information that never would have been published in the Scarsdale Inquirer. Pamela was related to the Bethell’s through the taller boy in the photograph, Frank Harrison Coker. She graciously shared the following about the 3 children: 

Brother and sister (technically first cousins by blood), Frank and Janet Bethell.  Both born in 1903. Source: Pamela Coker

• Franklin Hartstuff Bethell: Florence gave birth to one son, Frank. He attended Princeton, Cambridge University and Johns Hopkins University. He became a renowned scholar and doctor, pioneering blood cancer treatments for the University of Michigan.

• Janet (Coker) Bethell (left): The Bethells adopted Frank Sr.’s sister’s child. Janet went to Smith College, and raised her own family at 8 Heathcote Road.

• Frank Harrison Coker: The older boy on the right was Janet’s brother who was visiting from school at Rutgers at the time.

The next piece of the story is personal and was never shared in the local newspaper, but I will share for the sake of preserving history. Sometime around 1930, the Bethells divorced. Frank stopped being mentioned in the Scarsdale Inquirer around this time. I learned that Frank had moved away, and Florence continued as a prolific volunteer in Scarsdale. He remarried, yet Florence continued as “Mrs. F. H. Bethell,” as was the custom.

After reaching Janet’s side of the family, I still hoped to find someone from Frank Jr.’s side. Once again through Ancestry.com, I found someone who had set up a personal Bethell family tree. It turned out to be Frank Jr.’s great granddaughter, Lauren. Within the day, I was on the phone with her mother, Mary in Georgia. 

Sadly, Mary’s mother Elaine Hartstuff Bethell (Frank Jr.’s daughter) passed away in 2024. She wished her mother could shared more details with me! I learned that her part of the family was largely based in Michigan, where Frank Jr. had been a professor at the University of Michigan. Frank Sr. had lived in Michigan with his second wife, whom Mary called “Aunt Ruth” (even though she was actually her step-great grandmother). 

With the divorce and geographic distance, it seemed that this side of the family was much closer to (great) grandfather Frank than they were with (great) grandmother Florence. Mary wasn’t sure what Florence actually looked like (doesn’t this sound familiar?). Mary has fond memories of visiting (Great Aunt) Janet her husband (Uncle) Chauncey Newlin at 8 Heathcote Road in the 1950s and 60s.

I hope that the Women Rising documentary brings them great pride in knowing that their ancestor was an trailblazer and champion for women’s rights and many charitable causes.

A Latebreaking Discovery

As I was working on this article (after the documentary and photo exhibit had been completed), I came upon one of my best photo discoveries. I had googled a new search combination, and ended up in the “Carrie Chapman Catt Papers” in the Bryn Mawr College archives. 

Catt, a nationally-known American women’s suffrage leader (who lived in New Rochelle), had meticulously recorded the names and faces of the world’s prominent suffragists. In a record called “New York Suffragists,” there was an album page with the photos of 4 women. I thought, could it really be….?

New York Suffragist Photos in the Carries Chapman Catt Papers. Per the website’s description: (a) Mrs. F.H. Bethell of Scarsdale, New York. (b) Mrs. A.L. Livermore, Yonkers, N.Y. (c) Miss Adelaide Goan, Katonah. (d) Mrs. M.W. Wynne, Westchester Co. Source: Carrie Chapman Catt Papers, Bryn Mawr College Special Collections

Portrait of Florence Bethell, c. 1910. Source: Source: Carrie Chapman Catt Papers, Bryn Mawr College Special Collections

I zoomed in, and it was HER! Finally, I’d found a glorious, formal, solo photograph of Florence! I gasped so loudly that Florence herself may have heard me “from the other side.” 

It gives me great satisfaction to know that these photos and stories can be added to the Village record. The actions and accomplishments of Scardale’s (white) men in history are meticulously recorded, and it’s exciting to shed new light on those who have been marginalized. Stories like Florence’s may be harder to find, but I’m up to the challenge.

Our new documentary “Women Rising: The Scarsdale Suffragists” can be viewed here. A Scarsdale Suffragists exhibit (including all of the newly-discovered photos) is on display through the month of February in the local history center of Scarsdale Public Library. For other details and resources related to the Scarsdale’s suffrage leaders, click here.

Follow Us for More Stories and Photos 

She Rowed for 5 Hours

I started out thinking I’d share a simple photo of two sisters at the Ferncliff estate in c. 1900. I figured out that Ella Ford of Ferncliff is on the left, and her sister Margaret Swift is on the right. But then, I did a quick google.and we discovered something extraordinary.

Mrs. Harry S. Ford (Ella) and her sister Mrs. Fred J. Swift at ferncliff (1000 post road, scarsdale) c. 1900. Credit: Scarsdale public library

Twelve years after this photo was taken, Mrs. Swift boarded the TITANIC. As a first class passenger, she was fortunate to board a Lifeboat 8 with two friends, and the Captain threw them a loaf of bread as they pulled away.

The Brooklyn Eagle newspaper was on-site when she disembarked from the Carpathia on the dock in New York. They said she “tumbled into the arms of her sisters” (one of which is Mrs. Ford). She recounted how she rowed for 5 hours until they saw the Carpathia in the distance. The newspaper quotes her as saying she was “alright,” “a little tired,” and “the only trouble is I look like a tramp.” She was still in the same dress from the shipwreck.

By this time, Scarsdale’s Mrs. Ford had moved to Manhattan (after subdividng Ferncliff in 1910!). Mrs. Swift was a widow and a Brooklyn resident when the wreck occurred.

We're glad we happened to look up Mrs. Fred J. Swift. They say she seldom spoke of the tragedy in later years, and she lived to be 82.

Read her incredible account of surviving the Titanic here: https://www.newspapers.com/.../brooklyn-eagle.../157013963/

Source: Photo from Scarsdale Public Library and the Brooklyn Eagle, April 19, 1912

Scarsdale Schools Attacked in the McCarthy Era (1948-1962)

by Lesley Topping

Scarsdale Inquirer, June 23, 1950

Scarsdale is known for having some of the top public schools in the country, and from its earliest days the Village has made quality education a top priority. However maintaining the integrity of the schools was not always easy. In the late forties and fifties during the Cold War era of anti-Communist hysteria, the school board with the support of a majority of Scarsdalians, resisted relentless accusations from a small group of residents who insisted that Communists had infiltrated the Scarsdale schools. Scarsdale rigorously defended the loyalty of the school staff and opposed any censorship of books taught in the schools.

These were years when the country was in the grips of anti-Communist sentiments, and fear mongering of the “Red Menace” had reached maximum effect. The House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) was created in 1938 to root out any perceived Communist and Fascist influence in government agencies. Following World War II, after the split with Stalin’s Russia, the HUAC hearings led by Senator Joseph McCarthy between 1950 and 1954 would destroy many individuals’ lives and reputations.

From 1948 through the late fifties, a group of Scarsdale residents calling themselves the Committee of Ten, and later the Citizen Committee, campaigned for a full investigation into alleged Communist influence in the Scarsdale Schools, and advocated banning certain books used in schools.

One of the most determined and vocal leaders of the group was a Wall Street banker and father, Otto Dohrenwend. In 1948, Dohrenwend and his lawyer arranged a meeting with Principal Nelson Smith and Assistant School Superintendent Archibald Shaw to urge the removal of Howard Fast’s books and Anna Louise Strong’s biography of Paul Robeson. They regarded these authors as “Communist sympathizers and apologists.” Howard Fast was a novelist and screenwriter whose book about Thomas Paine, Citizen Tom Paine, was taught in the High School. He was later blacklisted in Hollywood and jailed for three months for contempt of Congress when he refused to name names at the House Un-American Activities Committee hearings.

The Committee’s accusations escalated over the next eight years with the constant publication of angry letters, protests, and tense meetings. Otto Dohrenwend ranted at one school board meeting that the “whole textbook industry has been infiltrated by Communists.” He was joined by William Kernan, an assistant minister at the St. James the Less Church and other committee members who criticized the 10th grade text book, World History edited by Harvard Professor William Langer, because it included pictures of Marx, Lenin and Trotsky. The Story of America by Ralph V. Harlow was listed for being critical of corporations. Haym Salomon, Liberty’s Son by Shirley Milgrim was criticized for describing revolution “for the masses” instead of for country.

The Anti Communist Committee of Ten testifies at a School Board Meeting in June 1950.

James Meehan, in a letter published in the Scarsdale Inquirer, wrote: “Why select an anthology containing the poems of Langston Hughes who also has written blasphemous communist propaganda in the name of poetry.” In the same letter he urged that works of poets and writers, Louis Untermeyer, Henry Pratt Fairchild, Howard DaSilva, Muriel Draper, Langston Hughes, Rockwell Kent and Alfred Kreymborg be banned from the school library because they were sponsors of the Scientific and Cultural Conferences for World Peace held at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York in 1949 which the HUAC had condemned. They lambasted the schools for allowing a dance performance by black artist, Pearl Primus and for having guest lectures by professors from Sarah Lawrence and Columbia University who were “Communist apologizers.” Among the professors attacked was Dr. Bernard Reiss, who later lost his job at Hunter College after he refused to answer questions at the McCarthy hearings. 

Members of the Scarsdale School Board at the June 1950 meeting.

Despite mounting peer pressure and the witch-hunts conducted by Senator McCarthy, residents showed overwhelming opposition to any attempts to censor books in the schools and refuted claims about the loyalty of their teaching staff and visiting educators. However, in the climate of fear, the School Board could not ignore the Committee’s insistence for further investigations, and they carefully stated their opposition to Communism. Carol O’Connor who wrote about these events in her book, A Sort of Utopia, Scarsdale 1891 to 1981, quotes from a letter written by 81 prominent residents that stated “the censorship of books and materials smacks of the methods used by Communist and Fascist states and defeats the very purpose of the Bill of Rights, as well as the purpose of education.”

In an eloquent letter to the Scarsdale Inquirer, Joseph Anderson asked, “How does it happen that this small group, in addition to harassing the Board of Education and the administration staff of the school system, has the temerity to try to drop its own brand of iron curtain on parent-teacher associations and other community groups? How does it happen that vicious attacks on the Board of Education and its policies have affected the morale of the teaching staff that has demonstrated its loyalty, patriotism and outstanding competence?” Anderson urged the community to support and re-elect members of Board of Education. “Let us tell them by their record of achievements they have shown conclusively that they are sensitive to the needs of our children, interested in the welfare of this community and working to strengthen our democratic society.”

The community certainly did respond. In 1950, over 1,000 residents attended a school board meeting to review new evidence submitted by the Citizen Committee to justify an investigation of the schools. At the end of the Committees of Ten’s almost two-hour presentation of complaints, Superintendent Archibald Shaw rose to give his report that concluded with the words, “We have competent teachers, loyal teachers, decent, wholesome teachers. In their hands our children, our American way, both are safe.” The audience, silent for a moment, then rose to give him a standing ovation that lasted several minutes.

More than 1,000 residents attended the June 1950 meeting. Otto H. Dohrenend is shown speaking in the lower left.

New York Times, April 4, 1952

Unfortunately, the matter did not stop there. The Committee continued to create doubt and confusion in the Village and they had to be struck down in subsequent Village meetings for next several years. The events in Scarsdale were reported locally and nationally in the New York Times, Commentary Magazine, Saturday Review, the Nation Magazine and more conservative publications. In 1952 the New York Times ran an article with the headline “Scarsdale Bars Censorship; Education Unit Denies Again That Communism Exist in the Public School System.” The following year, another article about a meeting at the Town Club with the Committee was headlined “Scarsdale Reports No Reds in School.” The Nation magazine heralded Scarsdale as an example of a suburban community that was victorious against a fear-mongering minority.

However, members of the committee were relentless and they even criticized a 6th grade performance about Lincoln’s funeral train based on “Lonesome Train” by Millard Lampard. He was among the writers blacklisted in Hollywood after refusing to cooperate with the HUAC. As late as 1956, Scarsdale’s School District 1 representatives were forced to issue a statement refuting the Citizen Committee’s renewed attacks. They wrote, “ We are proud to join the unbroken succession of Scarsdale Boards of Education in reaffirming those principles. We are grateful that their diligence and loyalty have both merited and ensured the continued confidence in our schools expressed so repeatedly by the overwhelming majority of our fellow citizens.”

New York Times, March 19, 1962

As the fifties drew to a close, Otto Dohrenwend and his group wielded less influence. However, they made headlines again in 1962 when Dohrenwend, his wife and their colleagues, protested a concert held at Scarsdale High School to raise money for Civil Rights activists, known as the Freedom Riders. They had been arrested and held without bail after their bus was firebombed by white supremacists in Mississippi. The Committee disapproved of the performers, Pete Seeger, Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee, who they claimed were known communist sympathizers. They filed a suit to block the concert, which was unsuccessful, but the judge prevented speeches from the entertainers and activists. Regardless the concert was packed and over $3,000 in funding was raised.

Scarsdale and its schools owe a debt to those who stood up for the free exchange of ideas and against censorship during this contentious period.