When the Nazi flag flew over Harris Hill

By Andrea Rozengota, education volunteer

It was the summer of 1938, during the two-week annual National Soaring Competition, when a Nazi flag was seen flying over one of Chemung county’s Harris Hill cabins.  Though the war had not begun yet, this was still a strange and unsettling sight to many people.  Shortly after its appearance, a group of Elmirans took it upon themselves to confiscate the Nazi flag being flown above the cabin of German pilots, Peter Riedel and Alfred Bayer.  When the citizens were discovered later, they justified their actions, claiming they believed foreign flags should not be displayed without an accompanying American flag above them.  

Star-Gazette headline from the incident, 1938

 

Unlike the response you would imagine, incident of the Nazi flag was quickly dropped by both sides.  Chemung county was anxious at the possibility of hosting an international soaring event in 1939, and did not want an international incident to ruin their chances.  The Germans were also uninterested in pursuing the theft, partly because they wished to be invited back, but also because neither seemed to have a strong allegiance to the reigning Nazi party.  

Peter Riedel (center) and his ground crew. Courtesy of the National Soaring Museum.

1938 was not Peter Riedel’s first appearance in the national event, and though he was representing his home country, he understood the American’s growing aversion to the symbol. It must have come as a slight surprise however, since there had been little reaction to the swastika-adorned Sperber sailplane that Riedel flew in 1937.  But in 1938, not only had world politics grown more hostile, but Riedel was now officially a German State representative, as Air Attaché to the German Embassy in Washington D.C.  Riedel felt the growing sentiment, and willingly left down the flag, but also knew his new position as Air Attaché meant that there was no way he could fully remove himself from the Nazi government.  The German-owned sailplane he was flying would have to keep its swastika tail markings.

This was not the first time Harris Hill had hosted German pilots.  Germans, and German aircraft were a regular part of soaring in America.  Since the creation of the national contest in 1930, Germans had participated in the yearly events at Elmira.  In fact, Elmira was originally chosen as a soaring site by Wolfgang Klemperer, a German-American citizen who was very influential in early soaring in Germany and the United States.

Bayer & Riedel's sailplanes at Harris Hill, 1938. Courtesy of the National Soaring Museum.

The 1938 contest turned out to be a great success regardless of any background hostilities, with several records broken.  Despite some disgruntled participants and spectators, Peter Riedel, flying for the Aero Club of Germany, went on to place in just about every event.  One of his more significant feats was breaking the international distance record by flying from Harris Hill to Hoover Field, outside of Washington D.C., a 225-mile flight!  Another German Pilot, Alfred Bayer, (who did not have a swastika on his plane), was flying for the New York German Aviation Club placed well in the ranks, even after a road accident that greatly damaged his aircraft.  Peter Riedel accumulated the highest number of points and, therefore, won the contest.  But because he was not an American citizen, he could not be the official winner.  He did, however, go home with two trophies and $500 in prize money. 

When war broke out with Germany, Peter Riedel, along with over 31,000 other Germans still in the United States, were interned for questioning. Riedel was returned to Germany. He was reassigned as Air Attaché to Sweden, where he eventually worked as an informant for American forces.  He later returned to the United States.

The Kanaweola Bicycle Club

by Erin Doane, Curator

In the 1890s, the bicycle craze swept the nation. There were some 9,000 bicycles in Elmira alone in 1898. With a population of around 35,000, that was roughly one bicycle for every four people. Bicycles were relatively inexpensive, easy to operate, and a lot of fun to ride. It’s no wonder that they became so widely popular. The Kanaweola Bicycle Club was formed as a social club for bicycling enthusiasts in Elmira.

Kanaweola Bicycle Club at the Elmira Reformatory, July 4, 1895

In the beginning, the club’s activities were focused on cycling, as one would expect. Members would go on tours and daytrips to places like Watkins Glen, Corning, Big Flats, Pine City, and Millport. The club also hosted bicycle races where cyclists from around the region competed for prizes including sweaters and fancy hosiery. A race meet on Decoration Day in 1891 began with a parade of decorated bicycles that started at the Kanaweola clubhouse on West Gray Street. All wheelmen were invited to participate.

Kanaweola Club on an outing to Painted Post, June 6, 1897

While I’m not sure if the club ever accepted women as official

members, they participated in club activities.

The clubhouse at 214 West Gray Street had a shooting gallery in the basement and pool and billiard tables on the second floor. In 1899, the club decided to move their clubhouse to rooms in the Y.M.C.A. building on E. Market Street. That same year, they amended their constitution to limit membership to 300. They also raised membership dues by $1 and set dues for foreign members at $6 a year. In 1900, the club moved into the Realty Building on E. Market Street. The new clubhouse included a parlor, reading room, billiard room, and gymnasium.

Interior views of the Kanaweola Clubhouse, 1901

Clockwise from top left: parlor looking toward reading room;

parlor looking toward billiard room; gymnasium; billiard room

While cycling was a major activity for the club, in the winter, it was difficult and unpleasant to go on bike outings. To stay active, the club hosted weekly get-togethers. The newspaper is filled with announcements for “smokers” at the Kanaweola clubhouse. At a smoker “every member who is so inclined will bring his pipe and cigars will be found at the clubhouse.” On December 5, 1895, the club hosted a “tramp” smoker at which the club members were expected to dress in tramp or farmer costumes. Prizes were awarded for best makeup. In 1900, they even hosted a “ladies’ smoker.”

Kanaweola Bicycle Club “tramp” smoker, c. 1895

In the late 1890s, the club got involved in other sports beyond cycling. They fielded a football team, a basketball team, and an indoor baseball team. In 1901, they held a bowling tourney, and in 1907 boxing became very popular at the club. In fact, it was boxing that brought about the dissolution of the Kanaweola Bicycle Club. New leadership in the club decided to construct a stage and wresting ring in the gymnasium at the clubhouse and promoted professional boxing matches in the space. That made it impossible for members to use the gym for any other sports like basketball, handball, or wrestling. Poor decisions like that led to financial troubles which led to the sheriff closing the clubhouse and auctioning off the property in 1908.

Star-Gazette headline, March 11, 1908

One last bit of information: “Kanaweola” is said to mean “head on a pole.” It was the name of a Native American village at the junction of the Newtown Creek and the Chemung River. Legend has it that in the 18^th century, a tribal chief was found guilty of treason and his head was placed on a pole there to serve as a warning to others. 

Kanaweola Bicycle Club at Fitch’s Bridge, 1890s

The 1619 Project

by Rachel Dworkin, archivist

In August 1619, a ship carrying more than 20 enslaved Africans arrived at Point Comfort, Virginia. It would be the first of many to arrive in what would become the United States. Between 1619 and the end of the Civil War, some 12.5 million Africans were kidnapped from their homes and transported against their will to work in American farms, homes, and businesses. A recent issue of the New York Times Magazine launched the 1619 Project, a series of articles about the long-reaching effects of slavery on America’s history, culture, . A PDF of the article can be found here. I recommend you check it out.

When I was in school, we were taught that slavery was a uniquely Southern institution which our Northern forbearers had rightly put a stop to, but that’s not remotely accurate. The Dutch West India Company brought the first batch of eleven enslaved Africans to New Amsterdam in 1626. By 1703, roughly 46% of New York City households held slaves, a higher percentage than any other American city outside of Charleston, South Carolina. In 1799, New York began to gradually abolish slavery. Children born to enslaved mothers after July 4, 1799 would be born free, but were required to serve a period of indentured servitude until their 25^th birthday (for girls) or their 28^th (for boys). All slaves born before July 4, 1799 were freed on July 4, 1827, but the children of formerly enslaved mothers were still forced to provide their mothers’ former masters with their unpaid labor until as late 1855. See blog post "Strayed, Stolen or Run Away" for details.

New York’s slaves played an important role in its economy.  The first slaves were owned by the Dutch West India Company and were forced to clear the forests, lay the roads, and do other heavy labor to build the infrastructure of the budding colony. By the time the English took over the colony in 1664, enslaved Blacks were the primary laborers on farms up and down the Hudson River Valley. Under English rule, the importation and sale of slaves became big business, with a slave market established on Wall Street in 1711. Even after the abolition of slavery within the state, New York banks continued to invest heavily in the Southern slave trade.

New York Slave Market, 1730. Image courtesy of New York Public Library

 

While the vast majority of enslaved New Yorkers lived downstate, there were some right here in Chemung County. By 1810, there were thirteen slaves in eleven Elmira households, plus their children who were technically indentured servants. Jacob Lowman, for whom Lowman is named, owned an entire family of enslaved people, including a man called “Black Charley” Smith. Both Jacob Lowman and his son, Jacob Jr., made provisions for Smith’s family in their wills. It is unknown just what sort of labor the Smiths performed for the Lowmans, although the book The Lowmans of Chemung County insists that they were “almost exclusively domestic servants.” The book also tried to paint the Lowmans as especially benevolent masters, which is unsurprising considering it was written by one of their descendants.

Home of Jacob Lowman Sr., built 1819

 

As popular and pernicious as the myth of the good master is, the sad truth is that there were no good masters. The great Terry Pratchett once said that the root of all evil is treating people as things and that is exactly what slavery is. People as things: tools, financial assets, collateral, property. Even if a master never raised a hand to the people they enslaved, they were still relying on the threat of violence to compel labor. State and local laws restricted enslaved people’s ability to travel and runaways were hunted by the community and publically flogged upon capture as a matter of law.

Slavery has left an indelible mark on nearly every facet of our nation. New York State rose to financial prominence on the backs of enslaved peoples and that’s something we should be talking about.