Winston Churchill’s Brooklyn connection highlighted on sesquicentennial
A picture of Winston Churchill is seen on a huge screen during a D-Day national commemoration event in Portsmouth, England, Wednesday, June 5, 2024.
Photo: Kin Cheung, Pool/AP
Winston Churchill’s 150th birthday is on Nov. 30, and the “British Bulldog’s” legacy is being remembered more than ever. The global leader has a generations-long connection to Brooklyn, which guest researcher Martin McQuade traced for the Brooklyn Eagle.
“Brooklynites are renowned for toughness, forcefulness, confidence and bluntness. There should be no wonder that Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (1874-1965), the exemplar of these characteristics, could boast that his mother, nee Jennie Jerome (1854-1921), was born in the city of Brooklyn,” McQuade notes. “These are the very ingrained traits that enabled Britain’s wartime prime minister and America’s most unwavering World War Two ally to rescue Europe and the world at large from the clutches of Nazi Germany. Such characteristics also secured his place in history as the world’s salvation. Simply put, the path toward the survival of the free world passed through Brooklyn.”
SUNSET PARK — “As a resident of Marine Park, one of the great surprises I found biking around Industry City and visiting Japan Village was to discover Bush Terminal Park. I continue to be amazed at the serene hideaways that the city offers in some of the busiest places — and, still, with an iconic view.”
BROOKLYN HEIGHTS — ‘A miracle that no one was killed …’ That’s what neighbors are saying about the collapse of the Hotel St. George marquee. Shown in this photograph are workmen beginning the removal and repair of the historic, old neon sign at the corner, referencing a relic of Brooklyn Heights’ past: the St. George Hotel.
ATLANTIC AVENUE — Exhausted shopper with cluster of bags and goods from mall at Boerum Place stops to look at huge construction site across the street. “Is that REALLY going to be a jail??” Her male companion is reassuring, “Nothing like Rikers … this is 21st Century.”
BROOKLYN HEIGHTS — Overheard in line at one of most popular pastry outlets on Montague Street: “Hope I can get them into a camp …” A mother with two pre-schoolers in tow was showing a friend the Dodge Y flyer for Healthy Kids Day on Saturday, April 18.
