Week of July 11
July 17, 1875 – 150 YEARS AGO
Rockland County Journal
AROUND HOME
☞ A Piermont youth recently informed his mother that he sometimes tries very hard to step softly on the surface of the earth. His mother asked his reason for so doing, and was informed that as the earth was the “Lord’s footstool,” he did not want to step on the Lord’s toes.
☞ M. Van Wagner, of our village, has been appointed by the government to take photographic views of the boiler test at Sandy Hook next Monday, and consequently he will not be able to be in Nyack on that day. His patrons will please take notice.
☞ The Grandview post-office is quite an institution at the present season. Mr. — well, the the gentleman who keeps it, we forget his name — is kept quite busy upon the arrival of each mail, attending to the calls of the fair ones who are sojourning in that locality for the Summer.
☞ Mr. John R. L. Sniflin, who owns a small farm at Spring Valley, has just imported from Rotterdam two Holstein heifers three and four years old, which are said to be the finest and largest ever imported. He intends to cross them with his thoroughbred bull Rolf Second, advertised in our columns.
☞ A magnificent bouquet of wild flowers, artistically arranged by our poet friend, Henri H. Fenton, graced the desk of the Nyack Reformed Sabbath-school last Sunday morning. The bouquet was made as only Mr. F. could make it, and it excited the unbounded admiration of those who examined it
July 16, 1925 – 100 YEARS AGO
Pearl River News
OUR QUESTION FOR THIS WEEK — Do You Think That a Woman Is as Capable of Driving a Car as a Man?
Image: Photo of a woman named Bessie driving a Maxwell automobile, ca. 1900. Courtesy of the John Scott Collection of the Nyack Library via NYHeritage.org.
Frank Murray – “Yes, I have seen many women who can drive better than a man.”
Lester Nelson – “No, the majority are not; they become very nervous and lose their head when in a jam.”
H. Hunderfund — “No, their minds do not act as quickly men’s.”
Bergen Tallman — “Yes, the average women is just as capable of driving as the average man.”
R. Oakley, Stationer — “No, they do not take the precaution that a man does. I never like to follow a car driven by a woman.”
J. H. Doscher, Taxi — “Yes, there are just as many poor men drivers as there are women, it’s about fifty-fifty.”
Woolsey Serven — “Being a married man and as my wife drives a car, I will have to decline to answer.”
July 17, 1975 – 50 YEARS AGO
The Journal News
BIRTH CONTROL CLINIC OPENS
Planned Parenthood of Rockland County has opened a new birth control clinic in St. Paul’s United Methodist Church, Nyack. The clinic will replace the state funded, daily Nyack Hospital program which officials said was closed by the state for lack of funds.
State law permits satellite clinics, and the clinic at St. Paul's will be a once-a-week satellite of the West Nyack headquarters.
A spokesman for Planned Parenthood of Rockland said, “Contraceptive and medical services will be provided under the supervision of certified gynecologists.”
Among the tests to be offered will be the Pap Smear for cancer detection, breast examinations, urine tests, and venereal disease testing.
“These confidential services are available to all sexually active women on a sliding-scale fee based on income,” she said. “No one will be refused because of inability to pay.”
Reverend Eugene Bamert of St. Paul’s Church said the program had been unanimously approved by the church’s administrative board.
“The United Methodist Church and myself as an individual believe that Planned Parenthood is a most helpful group in our society.”
Rev. Bamert also said official church doctrine states, “Since the present population of the world in developed and undeveloped nations is taxing the resources of the world, we urge an emphasis on the quality of life rather than the number of children.”
The clinic, one of three in Rockland, will be open every Wednesday afternoon.
This Week in Rockland (#FBF Flashback Friday) is prepared by Clare Sheridan for the Historical Society of Rockland County. © 2025 by The Historical Society of Rockland County. #FBF Flashback Friday may be reprinted only with written permission from the HSRC. To learn about the HSRC’s mission, upcoming events or programs, visit www.RocklandHistory.org or call (845) 634-9629.
