August 12: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY
ON THIS DAY IN 1923, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “EBERBACH, BADEN, AUG. 11 (AP) — Grover Bergdoll last night for a second time escaped from an attempt to kidnap him and spirit him across the border into occupied territory for delivery to American authorities for trial and punishment. Bergdoll himself was badly injured, being beaten over the head with a rubber billy while his assailants were trying to stun and carry him off. One of his assailants was killed and another seriously wounded, while a third, together with an American officer giving the name of First Lt. G.H. Griffith, and an American chauffeur, Victor Neilsen, were captured and barely escaped lynching at the hands of the enraged friends and sympathizers with Bergdoll. The attempt was made late last night in the dark corridor of the Hotel Post und Krone, belonging to Bergdoll’s cousin, while Bergdoll was going to his room about 11 o’clock … Bergdoll and his brother Erwin were the most notorious draft evaders in the country during the World War. Erwin served a sentence at Leavenworth and only recently was released to return to the home of his wealthy mother, Mrs. Emma Bergdoll, in Philadelphia. Grover made several attempts to escape the custody of Federal authorities. At last, while he was on leave at his mother’s home in custody of soldiers, he made good his escape.”
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ON THIS DAY IN 1926, the Eagle reported, “Though members of the Board of Education, vacation-bound, were not in sufficient force yesterday to provide a quorum for the regular slated meeting, nevertheless, it was learned that among educational officials the enrollment shift in the elementary schools of Brooklyn and Queens is arousing some concern. The sudden growth of enrollment in Queens and the changes at different levels of Brooklyn’s educational system became noticeable in the statistical report recently submitted to the Board of Education by Superintendent of Schools William J. O’Shea. In the first place, where the average daily register in the regular grades of the elementary schools, exclusive of the junior high schools, was showing a drop in Manhattan for the month ending June 30 over the same month last year of more than 18,000, Brooklyn’s register stood still and Queens’ leaped forward by more than 4,000 pupils. Two factors are responsible for this change, according to education officials, the restriction of immigration being one. This has resulted in fewer children entering the lower grades of the elementary schools. But how to account for Brooklyn maintaining an average daily register increase of 156 out of a total of 298,247 and Queens showing an increase of 4,339 out of a total daily average of 95,714? Acting Superintendent of Schools Harold G. Campbell laid this condition to the unusual exodus of families from the boro of Manhattan to Brooklyn and Queens. This explanation, combined with the decrease caused by restriction of immigration, would tend to clear up Manhattan’s big loss, Brooklyn’s stationary position and Queens’ unexpected gain in elementary school enrollment.”
Brooklyn Boro
View MoreNew York City’s most populous borough, Brooklyn, is home to nearly 2.6 million residents. If Brooklyn were an independent city it would be the fourth largest city in the United States. While Brooklyn has become the epitome of ‘cool and hip’ in recent years, for those that were born here, raised families here and improved communities over the years, Brooklyn has never been ‘uncool’.