October 2: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

October 2, 2024 Brooklyn Eagle History

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ON THIS DAY IN 1897, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, “The dedication of the first section of the museum of the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences took place this afternoon with an 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 1928, the Eagle reported, “CONVENTION HALL, ROCHESTER — Because of the aid his name, prestige, Protestantism and non-Tammany background will bring to Alfred E. Smith’s candidacy for president, Franklin D. Roosevelt was nominated for governor on the Democratic ticket at noon today. The nomination was unanimous and viva voce. The party machine having picked its candidate, the delegates to the Democratic State Convention had nothing to do but ratify the choice. Mayor [Jimmy] Walker of New York City placed Mr. Roosevelt in nomination and Public Service Commissioner George R. Lunn seconded the nomination.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1928, the Eagle said, “In announcing that he would like to be nominated for the Senate, Mayor Walker, down in Washington, declared that he was ‘through’ being Mayor. A lot of people wonder when he ever started. He hasn’t been in town long enough since his election to give the job a fair trial.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1945, the Eagle reported, “(U.P.) — The Oil Workers International Union (C.I.O.) extended its refinery strike from coast to coast today in an effort to force the petroleum industry to meet demands for a 30 percent wage increase. Union leaders reported new shutdowns in the West Coast, Oklahoma and Eastern oil fields as Secretary of Labor Lewis B. Schwellenbach submitted a four-point back-to-work proposal to a Washington conciliation hearing of labor and industry officials. Mr. Schwellenbach called for an immediate end of the crippling walkout which if prolonged, he said, ‘would place in jeopardy the very life-blood of the American economy.’ C.I.O. officials and representatives of 11 major oil companies were given until 4 p.m. today to reply to the suggestion that production be resumed under a 40-hour week and a 15 percent wage increase, pending arbitration of the 27.5 percent pay boost demanded by the union. The new oil walkouts boosted the nation’s strike idle to an estimated 405,000.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1953, the Eagle reported, “Leaders of the striking International Longshoremen’s Association promised today to send their 50,000 cargo handlers back to work at paralyzed Atlantic Coast ports if a Taft-Hartley injunction against their walkout is issued next week — possibly by Tuesday. But meanwhile, shipping was due to remain virtually at a standstill at ports from Maine to Virginia where the crime-infested I.L.A. is fighting for survival against a ‘reform’ A.F.L. union seeking to replace it. The longshoremen struck for higher wages at 12:01 a.m. yesterday. Fifty-three ships were tied up on the sprawling New York-New Jersey waterfront. Others stood idle at piers from Portland, Me., to Hampton Roads, Va. The movement of freight by railroad bound for ocean shipment from New York already had begun to fall off under an embargo imposed by the American Association of Railroads. President Eisenhower invoked the Taft-Hartley law 12 hours after the strike began to obtain an 80-day postponement in the walkout. But at best, the strike-stopping machinery will not be effective until Tuesday.”

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ON THIS DAY IN 1954, the Eagle reported, “CLEVELAND — With a bright and shining chance to wrap up the World Series in four straight, Leo Durocher, manager of the New York Giants, will send a spot pitcher to the mound against the dazed Cleveland Indians in Municipal Stadium here today. He is Don Liddle, the undersized lefthander who pitched only 126 innings as the Giants won the National League pennant and finished with a record of nine victories and four defeats. The way the 51st World Series has turned, Liddle is just as likely to do it as anyone else. In fact, he is the logical choice in the rather thin line of New York starting pitchers. At the age of 37, Sal Maglie, who opened the series for the Giants, would find it rather tough to come back with only two days of rest. Al Lopez, harassed manager of the Indians, goes back to his first game starter in Bob Lemon, but is prepared to use any member of his big, beautiful company of chuckers in an effort to keep Cleveland’s desperate hope alive. For if the Indians go quietly in four straight, the club must turn back a huge chunk of tickets long since sold for the fifth game.”

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NOTABLE PEOPLE BORN ON THIS DAY include former N.Y. Knicks guard and two-time NBA champion Dick Barnett, who was born in 1936; film critic Rex Reed, who was born in 1938; “American Pie” singer Don McLean, who was born in 1945; “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine” star Avery Brooks, who was born in 1948; fashion designer Donna Karan, who was born in 1948; photographer Annie Leibovitz, who was born in 1949; Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Mike Rutherford (Genesis), who was born in 1950; Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Sting (The Police), who was born in 1951; “Goodfellas” star Lorraine Bracco, who was born in Brooklyn in 1954; singer-songwriter Gillian Welch, who was born in 1967; talk show host Kelly Ripa, who was born in 1970; former N.Y. Knicks center Tyson Chandler, who was born in 1982; and former N.Y. Yankees outfielder Aaron Hicks, who was born in 1989.

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HELLO CHARLIE: “The Peanuts” debuted on this day in 1950. The beloved comic strip by Charles Schulz chronicled the adventures and anxieties of Charlie Brown, Lucy, Linus, Sally and Charlie’s dog Snoopy. Dozens of animated specials based on the strip have been produced over the years, including “A Charlie Brown Christmas” and “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.” The last strip was published on Feb. 13, 2000.

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EQUAL JUSTICE: Thurgood Marshall was sworn in as the first black associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court on this day in 1967. Marshall was nominated by President Lyndon Baines Johnson and was confirmed by the Senate with a vote of 69-11. He announced his resignation on June 27, 1991 and was succeeded by Clarence Thomas, the second black justice on the court.

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

Quotable:

“My favorite poem is the one that starts ‘Thirty days hath September,’ because it actually tells you something.”

— comedian Groucho Marx, who was born on this day in 1890