May 9: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

May 9, 2024 Brooklyn Eagle History

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ON THIS DAY IN 1901, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “Stephen M. Griswold gave an illustrated lecture last night under the auspices of the Men’s Guild in the Sunday school room of the Church of the Redeemer, Fourth avenue and Pacific street. The lecture was on ‘Raising the Old Flag Over Fort Sumter in 1865,’ and was illustrated by a number of stereopticon views, the pictures being taken during the Civil War, and by relics brought from Charleston, S.C. The views included portraits of President Lincoln, General Grant, General Sherman and Henry Ward Beecher, and scenes showing the ruins of Charleston in 1864.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1914, the Eagle reported, “WASHINGTON — President Wilson today approved a resolution setting apart tomorrow as Mothers Day, and issued a proclamation commanding that all flags be displayed in observance of the occasion. The proclamation recited the resolution and its purpose, and continued: ‘Whereas, This, the said joint resolution, it is made the duty of the President to request the observance of the second Sunday in May, as provided for in the said joint resolution; Now, therefore, I, Woodrow Wilson, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the said joint resolution, do hereby direct Government officials to display the United States flag on all Government buildings, and do invite the people of the United States to display the flag at their homes or other suitable places on the second Sunday in May as a public expression of our love and reverence for the mothers of our country.’”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1936, the Eagle reported, “The Boy Scout movement is a ‘mighty barrier against the further spread of lawlessness,’ according to District Attorney Charles P. Sullivan, who today made an appeal for support of the $25,000 maintenance fund campaign undertaken by the Queens Council of Boy Scouts. More than 450 workers are engaged in the drive in 40 sections of the borough, according to Supreme Court Justice Henry G. Wenzel Jr., the general chairman of the committee.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1953, the Eagle reported, “The International Longshoremen’s Association today faced possible expulsion from the A.F.L. and New York harbor was threatened with a new outbreak of wildcat strikes after longshoremen voted to retain the notorious shapeup system of hiring dockworkers. Insurgent groups charged that balloting on the issue had been ‘rigged’ and a Brooklyn Eagle reporter, John A. DeMilia, demonstrated that almost anybody could take part in the voting — and cast more than one vote, too. DeMilia voted twice and demonstrated he could have voted a third time if he had wanted. At least one other newsman followed DeMilia’s example and cast a vote in the referendum, supposedly for longshoremen only. Less than half the longshoremen in the 35 locals in the New York area took part in the election, but they voted two-to-one against the proposed abolition of the shapeup. The tabulation was 7,000 to 3,920. The ILA had been ordered by the AFL to abolish the shapeup, denounced by the State Crime Commission as a source of wage kickbacks and other evils, or face expulsion.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1953, the Eagle reported, “Billy Wilder, who recently produced and directed the film version of ‘Stalag 17’ for Paramount, has been handed another production-direction plum, ‘Sabrina Fair,’ an unproduced play that will serve as a starring vehicle for Audrey Hepburn. This will be Miss Hepburn’s second American film. Her first is the forthcoming ‘Roman Holiday,’ produced and directed in Rome by William Wyler, also for Paramount.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1954, the Eagle reported, “WASHINGTON, MAY 8 (U.P.) — President Eisenhower today spurred swift military, diplomatic and political conferences on means — possibly including armed forces — to stop Communist aggression in Southeast Asia. Mr. Eisenhower first met in 90-minute session with the nation’s Security Council. Then Secretary of State John Foster Dulles met with envoys of Britain and New Zealand. Diplomatic informants reported that the United States, Britain, France, Australia and New Zealand would meet soon — either in Singapore or Washington — to consider military measures to guard Southeast Asia. After meeting with the envoys, Secretary Dulles lunched with a number of Senate Republican leaders. It was learned they talked mainly about State Department appropriations. But the subject of Indo-China apparently was touched on. There were signs from Mr. Dulles’ meeting with the British and New Zealand envoys that some new strategy was developing or that previous strategy was being pushed forward by the Administration on Indo-China and Southeast Asia. The fall of Dien Bien Phu — however militarily or politically important or unimportant it was — lent new gravity to the various meetings.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1963, the Eagle reported, “LANSING, MICH. (UPI) — Gov. George Romney returned to his state capital and promptly left the 1964 Republican presidential nomination battle up to Sen. Barry Goldwater and Gov. Nelson A. Rockefeller. Romney, home after an eight-day sojourn in Washington and N.Y., repeated that he is ‘not a candidate and I do not plan to be a candidate in 1964.’ The former industrialist said that Goldwater and Rockefeller are the ‘top candidates at this point’ and said he had invited both of them to come to Michigan ‘to let the state get a look at them.’ Romney said he was amazed at the publicity given his recent trip during which evidence of a Romney-for-President boom was growing within GOP ranks. ‘People have been interpreting things that aren’t there,’ he said. ‘All I’ve been doing is refraining from indicating what I’m going to do after this term as governor.’”

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Rosario Dawson
Jack Plunkett/Invision/AP

NOTABLE PEOPLE BORN ON THIS DAY include Space Shuttle commander Vance D. Brand, who was born in 1931; Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Sonny Curtis (The Crickets), who was born in 1937; producer and director James L. Brooks, who was born in Brooklyn in 1940; former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft, who was born in 1942; Blood, Sweat and Tears co-founder Steve Katz, who was born in Brooklyn in 1945; “Murphy Brown” star Candice Bergen, who was born in 1946; Basketball Hall of Famer Calvin Murphy, who was born in 1948; Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Billy Joel, who was born in 1949; “The Wonder Years” star Alley Mills, who was born in 1951; “Northern Exposure” star John Corbett, who was born in 1961; Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Dave Gahan (Depeche Mode), who was born in 1962; rapper and songwriter Ghostface Killah, who was born in 1970; and “Top Five” star Rosario Dawson, who was born in 1979.