History, Natural History & the Arts
Yates Street in Schenectady runs north and south from Union Street to Liberty Street, from the Friendship Baptist Church on Union Street to the Katbird Shop at the corner of Liberty and Yates.
In the late 1840s it was regularly traversed by the only former resident of Schenectady and the only graduate of Union College ever destined to occupy the office of President of the United States. [Read more…] about Chester A. Arthur, The Spoils System & Civil Service Reform
By the 1850s, the horse-drawn streetcars on rails had become a more common mode of transportation, competing with the increasingly obsolete enclosed horse-drawn omnibuses in the city of New York. The streetcars regularly barred access to their service on the basis of race and owners and drivers easily refused service to passengers of African descent and omnibuses became the default mode for people of color.
On Sunday, July 16, 1854, Elizabeth Jennings boarded a streetcar of the Third Avenue Railroad Company at the corner of Pearl and Chatham Streets in Manhattan on her way to the First Colored Congregational Church, where she was an organist. The conductor ordered her off, instructing her to take a omnibus. When she refused, the conductor, with the help of a New York police officer, removed her by force. [Read more…] about Elizabeth Jennings: America’s First Freedom Rider (Virtual Event)
Born in Fairfield, Vermont, Chester A. Arthur was a graduate of Union College and an educator at several local schools. As an attorney, he helped represent Elizabeth Jennings Graham, an African-American teacher, in the 1854 case to desegregate New York City streetcars. During the Civil War, he served as Quartermaster General of the New York State Militia.
He was elected Vice-President of the United States in 1880 and, following the assassination of James A. Garfield, Arthur became the 21st President. During his time in office, he signed the Pendleton Act which prohibited the solicitation of federal employees for political contributions, and created the Civil Service Commission (now the Office of Personnel Management). He also presided over the dedication of the Washington Monument and the opening of the Brooklyn Bridge. [Read more…] about Presidential Wreath Laying Set For Grave of Chester A. Arthur