1999.07.xx _ It's summer reading time again!; A history of the John C. Hart Memorial Library
Dublin Core
Title
1999.07.xx _ It's summer reading time again!; A history of the John C. Hart Memorial Library
Creator
Lee, Charlotte Martens
Source
"John C. Hart Memorial Library Historical News Clippings" Binder, Volume 3, 1991-2019
Publisher
Yorktown Historical Society
Date
1999-07-
Rights
This item is made available for research and educational purposes by the John C. Hart Memorial Library. Rights status is not evaluated.
Format
PDF
Language
English
Coverage
Yorktown (N.Y. : Town)
Text Item Type Metadata
Text
One of the pleasures of summer, beside swimming, baseball and hot dogs, is catching up on all that reading we love to do, but have no time for the rest of the year. And where is the best place to find those wonderful mysteries, romance novels, or children's books and tapes? The public library of course, and Yorktown is blessed with an outstanding one!
For the past 80 years, the John C. Hart Memorial Library has served the public as, not only a place to find good material to read, but also a community-gathering place for programs of interest to children and adults alike. In recent years the library has added computer technology and training to its long list of upgrades in services that it provides, getting it ready for the next century of Yorktowners.
The beautiful old home, which has been the anchor of the John C. Hart Memorial Library, once belonged to the Hyatt and Hart families. It was donated to the town by Catherine M. Dresser, daughter of John Coleridge Hart, who died and left in her will the house and 48 acres for the express purpose of founding a library.
In the Town Board minutes of December 20, 1917, the John C. Hart Memorial Library Fund, with the sum of $11 ,532.69, was established by the terms of Catherine M. Dresser's will. On October 14, 1919 the very first Library Board of Trustees was appointed by Town Board Resolution and voted on in the next election of November 4, 1919. On October 9, 1923 the Town Board agreed to hire a librarian ... the rest, as they say, is history and no one has told it better than Charlotte Martens Lee in 1970! Charlotte was the wife of Arthur C. Lee and one of the first members of the Board of Trustees.
A History of the John C. Hart Memorial Library
by Charlotte Martens Lee
May 17, 1970
It was about 1916 when Shrub Oak residents heard the news that Mrs. Catherine Dresser, who had recently died, had left her property to the Town of Yorktown for the purpose of founding a library. This library was to be established on the property and was to be called the John C. Hart Memorial Library. It was her desire that the house on the property be used, if possible, for the library building, and income from the principal be used for its support. But the sad truth was that there was no principal, nothing but real estate and that was mortgaged.
Mrs. Dresser had been a wealthy woman at the time she made her will, but had suffered reverses in the stock market prior to her death. She had been living a secluded life as a recluse in a few rooms of the house.
Without any money to support a library, many townspeople looked askance at the bequest. It was thought that it would be a financial burden on the Town and as it must be located in Shrub Oak, it would not be easily available to the rest of the town.
This may seem ridiculous to you now, but Shrub Oak and Yorktown were very different 50 years ago. Relatively few people owned cars, and these were usually laid up during the winter, as there were no large mechanized plows to clear the roads, and no snow tires. Transportation was, for the most part, by horse and wagon or sleigh, by bicycle or by walking. In Shrub Oak some were farmers. There were two stores, a post office, a saloon, two blacksmith shops, the present Methodist Church, and St. John's Roman Catholic Church, directly opposite what is now the library. There were a few wealthy landowners, one of whom had a racetrack and several city families who owned summer homes in the area. The school had two rooms containing eight grades. There was no kindergarten or high school. The nearest was in Peekskill. The one at Yorktown Heights offered but two years of high school.
Wages were very low by today's standards; three dollars a day for a ten hour day. Taxes, too, were low, but any project that might raise taxes was frowned upon. People worked hard and long hours, and many couldn't care less about a library. Many of them had never had a chance to go to high school, and still fewer went on to college.
On the other hand, there were many interested citizens who thought a library would be a wonderful thing. They got busy, formed a committee and were able to convince the Town Board to accept the bequest. Still in order to establish a library the townspeople must vote for it. So it was on Election Day, November 4, 1919, that there were two resolutions to be voted upon:
1. Resolved that a public library, to be known as the John C. Hart Memorial Library, be established by the Town of Yorktown.
2. Resolved that Charles W. Carpenter, Jonathan B. Curry, Francis B. Chedsey, Charlotte Martens, James C. Fowler and George W. S
For the past 80 years, the John C. Hart Memorial Library has served the public as, not only a place to find good material to read, but also a community-gathering place for programs of interest to children and adults alike. In recent years the library has added computer technology and training to its long list of upgrades in services that it provides, getting it ready for the next century of Yorktowners.
The beautiful old home, which has been the anchor of the John C. Hart Memorial Library, once belonged to the Hyatt and Hart families. It was donated to the town by Catherine M. Dresser, daughter of John Coleridge Hart, who died and left in her will the house and 48 acres for the express purpose of founding a library.
In the Town Board minutes of December 20, 1917, the John C. Hart Memorial Library Fund, with the sum of $11 ,532.69, was established by the terms of Catherine M. Dresser's will. On October 14, 1919 the very first Library Board of Trustees was appointed by Town Board Resolution and voted on in the next election of November 4, 1919. On October 9, 1923 the Town Board agreed to hire a librarian ... the rest, as they say, is history and no one has told it better than Charlotte Martens Lee in 1970! Charlotte was the wife of Arthur C. Lee and one of the first members of the Board of Trustees.
A History of the John C. Hart Memorial Library
by Charlotte Martens Lee
May 17, 1970
It was about 1916 when Shrub Oak residents heard the news that Mrs. Catherine Dresser, who had recently died, had left her property to the Town of Yorktown for the purpose of founding a library. This library was to be established on the property and was to be called the John C. Hart Memorial Library. It was her desire that the house on the property be used, if possible, for the library building, and income from the principal be used for its support. But the sad truth was that there was no principal, nothing but real estate and that was mortgaged.
Mrs. Dresser had been a wealthy woman at the time she made her will, but had suffered reverses in the stock market prior to her death. She had been living a secluded life as a recluse in a few rooms of the house.
Without any money to support a library, many townspeople looked askance at the bequest. It was thought that it would be a financial burden on the Town and as it must be located in Shrub Oak, it would not be easily available to the rest of the town.
This may seem ridiculous to you now, but Shrub Oak and Yorktown were very different 50 years ago. Relatively few people owned cars, and these were usually laid up during the winter, as there were no large mechanized plows to clear the roads, and no snow tires. Transportation was, for the most part, by horse and wagon or sleigh, by bicycle or by walking. In Shrub Oak some were farmers. There were two stores, a post office, a saloon, two blacksmith shops, the present Methodist Church, and St. John's Roman Catholic Church, directly opposite what is now the library. There were a few wealthy landowners, one of whom had a racetrack and several city families who owned summer homes in the area. The school had two rooms containing eight grades. There was no kindergarten or high school. The nearest was in Peekskill. The one at Yorktown Heights offered but two years of high school.
Wages were very low by today's standards; three dollars a day for a ten hour day. Taxes, too, were low, but any project that might raise taxes was frowned upon. People worked hard and long hours, and many couldn't care less about a library. Many of them had never had a chance to go to high school, and still fewer went on to college.
On the other hand, there were many interested citizens who thought a library would be a wonderful thing. They got busy, formed a committee and were able to convince the Town Board to accept the bequest. Still in order to establish a library the townspeople must vote for it. So it was on Election Day, November 4, 1919, that there were two resolutions to be voted upon:
1. Resolved that a public library, to be known as the John C. Hart Memorial Library, be established by the Town of Yorktown.
2. Resolved that Charles W. Carpenter, Jonathan B. Curry, Francis B. Chedsey, Charlotte Martens, James C. Fowler and George W. S
Original Format
News Clippings
Files
Citation
Lee, Charlotte Martens, “1999.07.xx _ It's summer reading time again!; A history of the John C. Hart Memorial Library,” John C Hart Library Archive, accessed May 17, 2024, https://hartarchive.omeka.net/items/show/363.