School History Documentary Screening Recap – The Film Is Now Online

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The Scarsdale community really knows how to “show up.” Around 200 alumni, neighbors and friends came together for a rare opportunity to celebrate our public school district on Wednesday night at the high school auditorium. As conveyed in our new film From the First Schoolhouse: A Scarsdale Story, this community-minded spirit is what has helped the Scarsdale Schools thrive. 

Left to right: William Klayer ‘73, Tony Arenella, Ruth Friendly, Scarsdale Historical Society President Randy Guggenheimer, filmmaker Lesley Topping and trustees Lori Rothman, Deidre Michael, Leslie Chang.

From a beloved centenarian educator, to a founder of the Scarsdale Alternative School, to an original Alternative School alum, we had true Scarsdale Schools legends in the high school auditorium. They are featured participants in the documentary, and here’s more background on them:

Ruth Friendly

Ruth taught at Greenacres, Heathcote, and Edgewood from the 1960s through the early 1980s. After teaching, she joined her husband Fred, the former president of CBS News and the Edward R. Murrow Professor Emeritus at Columbia University, to produce programming for the Media and Society Seminars, later known as the Fred Friendly Seminars. The programs aired nationally on PBS and explored major issues of our time. In the 2000s Ruth served for eight years on the New York State Commission of Nomination for the Court of Appeals.

Tony Arenella and William Klayer

Tony Arenella was one of the founders of the Scarsdale Alternative School (A-School), which was planned in 1970. Tony taught English, and then became the director of the A-School in 1981 until he retired in 2003. Beginning with only sixty-two students, three full-time teachers, and several part-time teachers, the early team developed the groundbreaking philosophies and structures that still shape the A-School today.

William Klayer was one of the first students to graduate from the A-School in 1973, and went on to build a distinguished career in television and film as a director and photographer. His extensive credits include 30 Rock, Suits, Law & Order, and the award-winning short film Under a Stone.

We are so grateful to the filmmaker Lesley Topping for creating this film. Through her documentaries, she skillfully preserves Scarsdale’s most important stories—and they’re all available here.

Lesley Topping

Lesley, a Scarsdale Schools alum, is the editor and director of the film. Her credits also include many short videos, feature films and television documentaries for CBS, A&E and the Cousteau Society.

Thank you to Scarsdale Public Library for the partnership and for co-sponsoring the event. Don’t miss their new exhibit on the Scarsdale Public Schools, created by the library’s Local History Librarian Dan Glauber. It’s on display in the Local History Center of the library, or online here.

We also thank Scarsdale Public Schools Superintendent Drew Patrick for his support throughout the production of this film. His opening remarks added a moment of extra distinction to the event.

Scarsdale Public Schools Superintendent Drew Patrick introduced the film.

The audience was very engaged during the Q&A Session, especially all of the alumni that shared stories from their school days.

At the panel discussion, left to right: Dan, Leslie, Lesley, and William. Tony and Ruth answered questions from their seats in the audience. 

Scarsdale Historical Society trustees greeting attendees, from left to right: Lori, May Cowan, Lesley Shearer, and Leslie

The event drew a crowd of all ages, and alumni enjoyed seeing the newly renovated auditorium.

“From the First Schoolhouse: A Scarsdale Story”



The Fuller Estate and Bradford Road

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One of Quaker Ridge's grandest and oldest homes was destroyed by fire in 1925. 

Engraving, dated 1886 - the year after James M. Fuller passed away. Signed J.M. Brown

The house was on today’s Weaver Street toward Griffen Avenue. The fire was believed to be "of incendiary origin," since it started on a back porch with no explanation. On a night in 1925, there were 70 mph winds, and the fire hoses didn't have enough water pressure to get up the hill (they referred to it as "the ridge") to the house - until they eventually tapped a NYC water supply main. It was too late.

The home was originally built by James M. Fuller in the mid 1800s. He was an influential member of the NY Stock Exchange. In 1871, Grand Park Boulevard ended at the Mamaroneck border, so he paid for it to be extended into Scarsdale up to Griffen Avenue.

After her parents’ passing, Fuller’s eldest daughter and her husband, Bradford Rhodes, purchased the estate. Bradford Rhodes was a banker, editor, publisher, Scarsdale town officer, school trustee, and a member of the state legislature.  

Rhodes’ portrait in New York State’s Prominent and Progressive Men, published by the New York Tribune, 1900.

From the Scarsdale Inquirer: “Residence of Bradley Rhodes. On his estate “Quaker Ridge Farm.” Remodeled, Completed September 1903. “

He donated land for the Scarsdale School District No. 2 schoolhouse - and contributed to its construction (see 1910 map). Today it still stands at the Quaker Ridge Golf Club. Years later, the club was built in the former woods around his estate.  

The house fire occurred a year after Rhodes passed away in 1924. Bradford Road takes its name from Bradford Rhodes… one has to assume the Village intended the pun.

19th Century School Board Notebooks Discovered and Digitized

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The Scarsdale Historical Society, in partnership with the Scarsdale Public Schools and Scarsdale Public Library, has re-discovered and digitized a collection of school board minute books dating as far back as the 1860s. The books are providing valuable material for the Historical Society’s upcoming documentary on the history of the Scarsdale schools, set to premiere in December. 

The existence of the notebooks was referenced in old articles and books from 50 years ago, but neither the Historical Society nor the Scarsdale Public Library knew of their current whereabouts. One of the earliest members of the school board, Judge William Mercer, originally donated them to the district in 1925. He was a member of the board for 25 years, and the chair for 20 of those years.

An article from 1925 referencing the long-unseen record books. Judge Mercer, one of the earliest school trustees, gifted them to the Board of Education 100 years ago.

On a hunt to find them, the Historical Society reached out to Honoré Adams, District Clerk and Executive Assistant to the Superintendent, who ultimately found them in district storage with the help of District’s Records Retention and Disposition Officer, Annabelle Allamby.

Honoré Adams, District Clerk, Executive Assistant to the Superintendent, and hero behind the rediscovery of the minute books.

There are 7 notebooks from the years 1868-1928, largely handwritten. They offer a rare glimpse into the district’s earliest days — a time of oil lamps, tight budgets, and even the occasional stray farm animal wandering onto the grounds. Together, the books trace the humble origins of a district that would grow into one of the nation’s most respected.

The earliest school board minute book, dating back to 1867.

Now fully digitized, transcribed, and searchable online, the minute books are accessible to the public through the library’s Digital Collection on the New York Heritage website. “We are privileged to host these historic files and make them accessible to the public,” stated Elizabeth Bermel, Director of Scarsdale Public Library. The digitization project was funded by a grant provided by the Historical Society, with all three organizations collaborating closely to preserve the fragile originals. 

"This project is exactly in keeping with our mission to preserve and share Scarsdale’s history," said Randy Guggenheimer, President of the Scarsdale Historical Society. "We are grateful to collaborate with the Scarsdale Public Schools and Scarsdale Library, continuing the village’s long tradition of community-minded spirit and collective effort."

“Our students can learn so much from this initiative,” said Drew Patrick, Superintendent of Scarsdale Public Schools. “It’s a real-life lesson on the power of primary sources, and how history is best understood through the records of those who lived it.”

To access to the digitized books, visit click here.

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“Lost” Bronx River Photos Now On Display at Scarsdale Public Library

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Bronx River Parkway, July 30, 1922. Courtesy of the Westchester County Archives

A box of 50 photo prints was recently uncovered in the Village Hall server room. Originally used in a 1991 display created by then–Village Historian Richard Lederer, the photographs document the transformation of land along the Bronx River between 1912 and 1922. A curated portion of the collection is now on view in the Local History Center at Scarsdale Public Library.

The photo prints were discovered by Assistant Scarsdale Village Manager Emily Giovanni (center) in the server room at Village Hall.

The photos come from the Bronx Parkway Commission Photograph Collection, courtesy of the Westchester County Archives. Established in 1906 to address the severe pollution of the Bronx River, the Commission soon broadened its mission to include creating a scenic parkway and public recreational space along the river’s banks. It meticulously photographed parcels along the river to show progress in cleaning up the land and developing the new parkway.

A major success, the pioneering Parkway set a precedent for future parkway developments in the U.S. At least 3 leaders of the Bronx Parkway Commission were Scarsdale residents: James Cannon (Commissioner) and Frank Bethell (Commissioner) and Jay Downer (Chief Engineer).

Visitors will see everything from polluted riverbanks in White Plains, to the Commission’s cleanup operations, to the restored and scenic landscapes of Scarsdale. Among the scenes are Scarsdale Falls and the Greenacres Tea House, two of the most popular attractions for motorists during the early days.

The exhibit is on display now in the Local History Center at Scarsdale Public Library.

Special thanks to Assistant Scarsdale Village Manager Emily Giovanni and Deputy Mayor Dara Gruenberg. The exhibit is co-sponsored by the Scarsdale Public Library

Uncovering the Identity of Bella Montgomery

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BY LESLIE CHANG, TRUSTEE, SCARSDALE HISTORICAL SOCIETY

How much do you know about your great-grandmother? What if you found out she was a courageous suffragist, as evidenced by countless newspaper articles she left behind in Scarsdale, N.Y.? This is what happened to several families across the country when they heard from me during research for our documentary Women Rising: The Scarsdale Suffragists.

This is the third part of a blog series sharing the stories behind my investigations of the suffragists. 

Finding Bella Montgomery (1865 - 1939)

This 1904 photo is one of my favorite photos in the Village archives. It captures a casual domestic moment, and it’s also one of the only photos we have of these prominent Scarsdale women. They have names like Popham, Burgess, Montgomery, Obry, and Hyatt (you may recognize these names from streets and parks around town). The photo was heavily featured in our latest documentary, particularly because it includes one of our Village matriarchs, Bella Montgomery (in stripes). 

Verne Montgomery’s first birthday party, shown with his mother Bella wearing the striped dress. Taken June 11, 1904. Source: Scarsdale Public Library

As for Bella, she was the daughter of a Civil War veteran, and married C. William Montgomery in 1897. During research for the documentary, I kept seeing “Mrs. C. W. Montgomery” come up in old suffrage articles - traveling through the state as a leader in the women’s rights movement. The Montgomerys lived at 34 Drake Road, but the only thing there now is the grassy field at Drake Road Park (below). I wondered: where did the house go? With only one photo of Bella and a lost house, she was a bit of a mystery - just the type of mystery that I love to solve!

All that remains on the former Montgomery land at 34 Drake Road is a grassy park.

The 1904 photo was taken at the first birthday party for Bella’s son, Verne (1903-1978). It’s amazing to think that a few years later, Verne would have walked down the hill from Drake Road to Schoolhouse No. 1 where Village Hall now stands. Verne was also one of the early graduates of Scarsdale High School in 1922. 

Sidenote: As an adult, Verne lived in Downers Grove, Illinois, which made me jump because that’s where my great-grandparents (the Worsleys) lived at that same time. Of all the towns in the United States, that was a funny coincidence. They may have known each other, and my great-grandfather could have been their family doctor. When I was looking up their home addresses, it was even spookier that my great-grandparents lived on a street named Montgomery. I took this as a sign that I should keep researching Bella Montgomery!

It was somewhat easy to find Verne’s grandson Pete in Illinois thanks to social media (via Verne’s obituary), since he still has the name Montgomery. It was thrilling, and I imagine he was quite surprised to hear from me! Verne passed away when Pete was young, so he didn’t know very much about the Scarsdale Montgomerys. In fact, he didn’t know Bella was a suffragist! He and his family were in for a treat. They graciously shared some photos over email, and it was gratifying to match up the photos with the information I knew about them. 

The Photo Collection

An undated portrait of Bella (Immen) Montgomery; but I’d guess it’s from the 1880s.

The only photo I’ve seen of Bella’s husband! He’s always referenced as “C. W. Montgomery,” and he was a real estate broker, a Scarsdale town assessor (before we were a “village”), and a charter member of Scarsdale Fire Company No. 1 when it was on Sprague Road.

Bella as a child, c. 1870.

A portrait of Bella Montgomery taken by “Harris Sisters - New Rochelle.” From an advertisement I found, they were a studio on Locust Avenue that provided “prosperity portraits” in the 1920s -1930s.

Bella, grandchildren, James and Patricia, with their dog.

The House Mystery: 34 Drake Road

The open acreage at Drake Road Park has always fascinated me, since two grand homes once stood on its sprawling land. At the turn of the century, the Montgomerys owned the whole area all the way to today’s Rodney Road.

The Montgomery estate located in 1901. The circular driveway across Drake Road is today’s Scarsdale Woman’s Club. Source: Bromley Map, Westchester County Archives

Nine years later in 1910, this map shows how a lot of suburban development had taken place! The Montgomery estate is smaller, and the Mercers owned about half of it (and the Hendricksons prior to them). The area near Drake Road shows the footprint of today’s Drake Road Park, where there’s still trees dividing the two former properties. Source: Bromley Map, Westchester County Archives

Today’s satellite view shows how the two properties have been subdivided into the park, Montgomery Road, and Mercer Court. T - the two small streets refer to the former estates.

Taken from Drake Road facing the park, you can see the field on the left and the parking lot on the right. Trees and stones still mark where the property line once stood.

The grassy side was once the Montgomery plot.   The other half (the parking lot side) used to belong to the Mercers, whose great-granddaughter Rachel contacted us years ago. She had sent a photo of the (also demolished) Mercer house, yet I still didn’t know what the Montgomery house looked like. 

The Montgomery’s next door neighbor, the Mercers, built this house on the foundation of the prior house that had burned down in 1902. Source: Mercer Family

As I had hoped, Pete sent me a photo of the lost Montgomery house at 34 Drake Road! It almost gives me chills to imagine it once stood where children now play soccer. 

The Montgomery home, 34 Drake Road, now demolished. Source: Montgomery Family


The house was built in 1902, and Pete knew that it held great value. “I remember my grandmother, Charlotte (wife of Verne) saying that that house is the reason she was able to live comfortably where she did late in her life.”  

A photo of today’s field where the Montgomery house once stood, alongside what it may have looked like when the house stood there.

I also realized something exciting. In the birthday party photo, the women are sitting on the steps of this same house. If it weren’t for this newly acquired photo of the house, we never would have known where they were sitting! In the photo below, you can see one of the porch columns.

This photo appeared in the Scarsdale Inquirer (July 15, 1971) with a very detailed caption. An excerpt: “The Scarsdale generation gap was bridged on June 11, 1904, at the first birthday party of Verne Immen Montgomery, who now lives in Downer’s Grove, Ill. 1st row l. to r.: Miss Yingling…; Mrs. C. William Montgomery, Verne’s mother; Mrs. George Just and Dorothy; Mrs. Reid and Mime, Madame Obry’s daughter and grandchild; Mrs. Bernard Davis, Verne’s godmother. Second row: Laura Vernon, a cousin of Mrs. Burgess, and Alexander Burgess; Mrs. Thomas Burgess; Mrs. Fred Gunning and Louise; Mrs. William Cravath White and William. Third row: Mrs. Charles D. Immen, Mrs. Montgomery’s mother; Mrs. Lewis Popham, mother of Mrs. Gunning; Mrs. White Sr., mother-in-law of Mrs. W. C. White. Fourth row: Miss Laura Vernon, aunt of Mrs. Burgess; Mrs. Oliver A. Hyatt; Miss Emma Fleming, Mrs. Popham’s sister; Madame Obry (standing); and Mrs. John Rooney, Madame Obry’s daughter.

The two grand homes at 34 and 28 Drake Road were in such a state of disrepair by the late 1960’s that the Village acquired the land for recreational purposes. At the time, the Drake-Edgewood neighborhood was in need of park land.

Scarsdale Inquirer, January 25, 1968.

Today, the street names of Montgomery Road and Mercer Court are the last vestige of those who once owned the land.

Bella Montgomery the Suffragist

Bella appears many times throughout the Scarsdale Suffrage Club meeting minutes, Based on her volunteer roles, she was clearly a finance-minded leader. This newspaper quote from a Suffrage Club thrift sale gives us a glimpse of her no-nonsense attitude: “If three of you want that $1.50 bargain, the price is $2.50." That amusing anecdote gives us a glimpse of her shrewd business mind.

One of Bella’s biggest roles was serving as the longtime treasurer of the League of Women Voters of Westchester. Pete sent us photos of a silver cup she had been awarded by the Westchester League. The inscription on the front of the cup reads "Joan of Arc Budget Cup" and on the back it reads: "Awarded to The Second Assembly District by the Westchester League of Women Voters and presented by the District to Mrs. C.W. Montgomery."

A photo of Bella’s silver award gifted in 1925 from the League of Women Voters of Westchester County, Source: Montgomery Family

I found mention of the award in a 1925 Scarsdale Inquirer article, when she was recognized for her success in fundraising. It must be nice for the Montgomerys to now know more of the story behind this cup that they’ve had for all of these years. They should feel such pride in their great-grandmother!

The silver cup was mentioned in this Scarsdale Inquirer article on May 9, 1925.

If this list of leadership roles is any indication, we can see why the Scarsdale Inquirer called her one of Scarsdale’s “most prominent women.”

I’m proud to shed light on her forgotten story, filling in some of the missing pieces so she can be rightfully remembered as one of New York State’s pioneers of the women’s rights movement. 

For more on Bella and the suffragist movement in Scarsdale, watch our documentary “Women Rising: The Scarsdale Suffragists” here. For other details and resources related to the Scarsdale’s suffrage leaders, click here.