HOMETOWN HISTORY, June 22, 2012

125 Years Ago
The Local News – On Sunday evening there was a large turnout at the Metropolitan Theatre to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the organization in Oneonta of the Young Men’s Christian Association. Secretary Swift read an historical sketch of the association, and Rev. Mssrs. Wilson and Coates made appropriate addresses. The association was organized June 13, 1877, with thirteen active members, five of whom are in the association today which now has a membership of about 300. The constitution was accepted July 11, 1877. For six months meetings were held in the various churches, and October 10 the reading rooms were opened. Mr. Swift, the present secretary came to Oneonta February 11, 1885. In 1879 the parlor was opened; in 1885, the ladies refurbished the rooms throughout; April 1, 1886, the bathrooms were opened; May 1, 1887, the boys’ department was opened. The rooms are supplied with books, papers, magazines, games, and are pleasant and always clean and neat.
June 1887

100 Years Ago
The Local News – Moses Koury and Mary Abounader, the two Assyrians who have been held by the police of Oneonta the past week on a charge of arson in the first degree, were unable to secure the necessary cash bail or a satisfactory bondsman and were taken to the county jail at Cooperstown Saturday to await the action of the Grand Jury. In case the Grand Jury should indict at the next session it is more than likely that the case will be stubbornly fought, as the prisoners have several influential friends in this locality, who have interested themselves in their behalf.
The Civic League held a meeting Monday evening at Municipal Hall, for the purpose of considering the plans for Neahwa Park. Architect French of New Hartford was present and exhibited the map, made by him, showing the proposed lake, drives, walks, playground, groves, lawns, etc. The central feature of the park is to be a boulevard extending from a circle just inside the main entrance opposite River Street extension to a point about opposite the present ball grounds where it ends in a second circle. The proposed boulevard will have a wide promenade for pedestrians.
June 1912

80 Years Ago
A delightful program of Negro spirituals was given at the First Baptist Church on Sunday by the Mansfield singers, a group of Negro musicians who sang in the First Presbyterian Church last year under the name of the Claflin College quartet. The church auditorium was filled and nearly every seat in the gallery was taken. As on the previous occasion, the quartet delighted its audience by the feeling with which each selection was handled and by their natural abilities and the technique that comes with long experience and training. The night’s service was a union meeting of the Protestant churches of the city. The group is led by Emanuel Mansfield, first tenor. Members are Sinclair Swan, second tenor, Joseph James, baritone and Lycurgus Lockman, bass. Sunday programs consist of sacred music. On weekdays they present a variety of numbers, many of a humorous type.
June 1932

60 Years Ago
President Truman called anew yesterday for a civil rights program backed by “the full force and power of the federal government,” and took what seemed to be a thinly-veiled dig at General Dwight D. Eisenhower. Truman said that experience has proved to be nonsense a contention by “some of our greatest generals” that white and Negro troops could not be fully integrated in the armed forces. Four years ago, in testimony to a Senate Committee, Eisenhower said he favored organizing Negroes in units of no larger than platoon size – 40 to 50 men. Eisenhower, however, spoke out then against complete segregation in the Army, and he said yesterday that after the war he had fought for integration of Negroes, but that the general staff didn’t pay much attention.
June 1952

30 Years Ago
Members of Congress and top Reagan Administration officials condemned the verdict in the John W. Hinckley, Jr. trial Tuesday and called for drastic changes in the rarely used defense under which he was found innocent by reason of insanity. Attorney-General William French Smith said: “There must be an end to the doctrine that allows so many persons to commit crimes of violence, to use confusing procedures to their own advantage, and then to have the door open to them to return to the society which they victimized.” Treasury Secretary Donald Regan, who has responsibility for Secret Service protection of President Reagan, told television viewers, “I think that when a person stalks a leading citizen of this country, shoots him and three of the people surrounding him and then goes scot-free, I think that’s absolutely atrocious.” Hinckley’s family members and lawyers have indicated they will make no effort to seek his release until he “is no longer a danger to himself or to society.”
June 1982

20 Years Ago
Although controversial at its inception ten years ago, New York State’s so-called “bottle bill” has kept millions of tons of glass, metal and plastic out of landfills and incinerators and reduced roadside litter by as much as 70 percent according to estimates by the Department of Environmental Conservation. All the sorting and lugging of cans and bottles has had the added benefit of educating and acclimating New York state residents about the nuts and bolts of recycling in general. According to DEC figures about 75 percent of the containers purchased were returned and redeemed last year.
June 1992

10 Years Ago
Katherine Beyer who will be a senior next fall at Oneonta high school has been selected as this year’s participant in the American Legion Auxiliary’s Empire State Girls State event to be held the week of June 20 at Union College in Schenectady. The week-long program focuses on participation in citizenship and government. Beyer is sponsored by the Oneonta American Legion Auxiliary. Beyer, the daughter of William and Paulette Beyer, is originally from New Jersey. After graduating from OHS next June she plans to attend college, majoring in political science or biology.
June 2002