ON THIS DAY IN 1937: Critics renew fight against Black

October 2, 2018 Brooklyn Daily Eagle

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ON THIS DAY IN 1937, the Eagle reported, “The Hugo L. Black-Ku Klux Klan fight has only just begun, in the opinion of many well-informed Washington observers. The new Supreme Court justice’s sensational radio address last night, estimated to have been heard by upwards of 31,000,000 persons, received a widely varying reception among high government officials, but the majority still remained critical. Although no plans were announced by the leaders of the battle on Black’s appointment, there was a definite hint of impeachment proceedings in one quarter … In the meantime the new justice is preparing to take his place on the bench of the highest court in the land on Monday when it reconvenes after its usual Summer recess … President [Franklin D.] Roosevelt, whose statement on the case at the White House some time ago was believed responsible for Mr. Black’s finally taking cognizance of the charge that he is a life member of the Klan, did not hear the broadcast.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1847, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “Mr. Wilhelmus Simmons, of Taghkanic, N.Y., found a large hornet’s nest under the eaves of his barn recently and determined to destroy it. So he took some matches, tied them to a pole, and with them set fire to the nest, and succeeded in totally destroying it. Unluckily the barn was also burned, together with a thousand bushels of oats, a large quantity of rye, hay and more. Loss from $1200 to $1500 — no insurance.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1888, the Eagle reported, “Not even during the days of the great dynamite scares was all London more excited and panic stricken than it is today over the mysterious Whitechapel murders. The fact that the victim in every case has been a fallen woman and an outcast does not tend to reassure any one, for the fact remains that in this metropolis of the world, in the latter days of the 19th century a man of fiendish propensities is roaming the streets night after night, committing the most brutal murders at will, and that not all the London police, led by all the far-famed Scotland Yard detectives, have as yet obtained the first clew to his identity. The two additional murders of Saturday night have reduced the great city to a condition of abject terror, and even men may be found now who declare that they are afraid to venture out after nightfall.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1897, the Eagle reported, “The dedication of the first section of the museum of the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences took place this afternoon with impressive ceremony. At 3 o’clock the exercises began in the American gallery of the institute building on Eastern Parkway. This large and handsome room will be the sculpture gallery when the magnificent home of the institute has been finished, but at present the walls are hung with the portraits of famous Americans.” [Museum President] A. Augustus Healy said, “We meet today, not indeed to celebrate the completion of the museum, or even of a considerable part of the whole, but to publicly note the fact, sufficiently momentous in itself, of the completion of the first section of our building — now, as you see, in the actual exercise of its functions as a museum — and to dedicate it to the cause of that popular education and elevating popular enjoyment which it is meant to serve.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1929, the Eagle reported, “High tide, a 50-mile gale and rain last night and this morning played havoc with the New Jersey coast from Asbury Park to Sandy Hook, delayed ferry service in New York harbor, and in Coney Island, Bath Beach and Sheepshead Bay left a trail of flooded cellars, water-logged trolley lines, streets that took on the appearance of creeks and automobiles stalled in water up to the hubs … Within the city the section most severely hit by the storm was Coney Island, where hundreds of cellars were flooded and traffic was tied up for hours by miniature lakes. At 7 a.m., when the tide was at its highest, the ocean swept over the up-to-date Coney Island boardwalk and hours later, when the tide had receded considerably, the waves still were within 10 feet of it.”

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THE TWILIGHT ZONE PREMIERED ON THIS DAY IN 1959. The anthology program ran five seasons for 154 installments, with a one-year hiatus between the third and fourth seasons. Created and hosted by Rod Serling, it is now considered to have been one of the best dramas to appear on television. The last original episode was telecast June 15, 1964.

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THURGOOD MARSHALL WAS SWORN INTO THE SUPREME COURT ON THIS DAY IN 1967. Thurgood Marshall was sworn in as the first black associate justice to the US Supreme Court. In 1991, he announced his resignation, effective upon the confirmation of his successor. He died in 1993 in Maryland.

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PEANUTS DEBUTED ON THIS DAY IN 1950. The comic strip by Charles Schulz featured Charlie Brown, Lucy, Linus, Sally and Charlie’s dog, Snoopy. The last new “Peanuts” strip was published Feb 13, 2000.

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Special thanks to “Chase’s Calendar of Events” and Brooklyn Public Library.