Crestwood Library hosted an evening excursion to the site of the current Paideia School 15 on July 8, 2025 to recognize the close ties that the library has had with the school since the early 1920s. The history of Crestwood Library began when a small group of Crestwood women got together at Belle Healey’s house January 25, 1921 to decide how to fund the new library and its future collection. During that meeting, they organized Crestwood Women’s Club and created the Library Committee whose primary focus was, in Harriet Gordon’s words, “to work for the establishment of a library” (p. 12). The Library Committee included Lon Willson, Sarah Cameron, and Lancy Speckel, all residents of Crestwood. The Superintendent of Schools in Yonkers, Charles E. Gorton became interested in the “Free Crestwood Library” and offered a large spare room in PS 15. The Library Committee declared May 14, 1921 “Library Day” because the founding women held many fundraising activities on that day.* Booths were decorated to sell items and baked goods, and much like the day of our stroll - a storm came to disrupt the fun; in our case it didn’t rain until after the walk! Crestwood Library began serving the public on July 8, 1921 and has continued to do so since moving to 16 Thompson street in October of 1926.
The Summer Stroll was created to celebrate the efforts of the founding mothers, and to bring community members together to begin early centennial celebrations. Patrons and staff walked from the library all the way to Westchester Avenue to Paideia School 15, opened in 1998. During the walk, patrons admired the older houses and some had memories of former Crestwood Historical Society members such as Marguerite Aumann who also helped organize “walkabouts”. While the heat lingered in the air and the thunder threatened to release rain, everyone returned to the library to look at archival photographs and maps donated by Mary Walsh. Other archival documents were brought from Grinton I. WIll upper stacks where the Crestwood Library and Crestwood Historical Society’s archives are stored. What was so touching about our program was the reaction of our patrons who looked at the photographs with curiosity, amazement, and reverence for the past. They looked at the aerial image of Crestwood that was nothing more than a plowed field with some homes and the distant stack from the mill in Tuckahoe. It was a real WOW moment!
These archival items remind us of the herculean efforts of all of the Crestwood residents who participated in establishing our little, yet mighty library. Their vision of a local library created the community as much as the community created the library. As we remember that day 104 years ago, we embrace the next centennial with hope and literacy for future generations.
*”A Quiet Monument: The Story of the History of the Crestwood Library” 1964
Barbara Eve Goldblatt, Secretary, Friends of Crestwood Library,
Jackie Leone is a librarian at Crestwood Library who focuses on archival efforts for Yonkers Public Library and Friends of Crestwood Library.