New York’s Own – Page 8 – The Exasperated Historian

275) Joan Rivers

275: Joan Rivers

Comedian, Author, and Talk Show Host

Born: 8 June 1933, Brooklyn, New York, United States of America

Died: 4 September 2014, Manhattan, New York, United States of America

Original Name: Joan Molinsky

Joan is remembered for her sharp humor and quick wit.

In her career, she is most remembered for hosting Fashion Police, a talk show that critiqued Hollywood’s choice of clothing.

Joan received a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature and Anthropology in 1954.

She started her career on television as a frequent guest on the Tonight Show in the 1960’s.

Joan wrote and directed the film The Rabbit Test starring Billy Crystal.

She also had her own talk show on Fox that ran as a direct competitor to Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show—leading Carson to never speak to Joan again even though her show was canceled after one season.

Joan’s daughter Melissa continues Joan’s legacy, and is a star in her own right.

Badges Earned:

Find a Grave Marked

Sources:

https://www.biography.com/performer/joan-rivers

http://www.joanrivers.com/all-about-joan/

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/135411896/joan-rivers

241) Madeleine Astor Dick

241: Madeleine Astor Dick

Survived the Sinking of the RMS Titanic at the Age of Eighteen, and She was Pregnant

Born: 19 June 1893, Brooklyn, New York, United States of America

Died: 27 March 1940, Palm Beach, Florida, United States of America

Madeleine was married to Colonel John Jacob Astor IV—one of the richest men in the world at the time (he would not survive the sinking) and was pregnant with his son.

They were coming back to America on the Titanic after an extended honeymoon in Egypt and Europe.

Madeleine inherited her husband’s five-million-dollar estate and two houses so long as she did not remarry.

However, during World War I she did end up remarrying and had two sons with her new husband (relinquishing her claim to the Astor fortune).

They divorced and she remarried before divorcing again.

Madeleine reportedly died of heart disease, but it could have possibly been from a prescription overdose.

Badges Earned:

Find a Grave Marked

Located In My Personal Library:

Gilded Lives, Fatal Voyage: The Titanic's First-Class Passengers and Their World by Hugh Brewster

The Jews of the Titanic: A Reflection of the Jewish World on the Epic Disaster by Eli Moskowitz

LIFE Presents Titanic: The Tragedy That Shook the World by Kostya Kennedy

Titanic Love Stories: The True Stories of 13 Honeymoon Couples Who Sailed on the Titanic by Gill Paul

A Titanic Love Story by June Hall McCash

Titanic: True Stories of Her Passengers, Crew, and Legacy by Nicola Pierce

A Night to Remember by Walter Lord (Mentioned on the Passenger List)

How It Happened: Titanic, The Epic Story From the People Who Were There by Geoff Tibballs (Mentioned on the Passenger List)

What was the Titanic? by Stephanie Sabol

Sources:

https://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/titanic-survivor/madeleine-talmage-astor.html

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/197380581/madeleine-talmage-dick

196) Mark Hogancamp

196) Mark Hogancamp

The Real Man Behind the Steve Carrell Film Welcome to Marwen

Born: 1970, New York State, United States of America

Mark was attacked and left for dead outside a bar in New York and spent nine days in a coma.

He has no memory of his life before the attack and had to relearn all basic functions.

To create his own therapy, he made a 1:6 scaled World War II era town he dubbed “Marwencol.”

Numerous books, documentaries, and now the Hollywood film have been made about his life.

He was attacked after he told the five men in the bar, he enjoyed wearing nylon and heels at home.

Of the five, three went to prison and all were out less than ten years after the attack.

I included the trailer to the film in this article.

Sources:

http://marwencol.com/about

https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2018/12/220042/welcome-to-marwen-true-story-real-mark-hogancamp-now

195) Charles Crittenton

Drug Manufacturer who Began Philanthropic Work After his Four-Year-Old Daughter Died From Scarlet Fever

Born: 20 February 1833, Henderson, New York, United States of America

Died: 16 November 1909, San Francisco, California, United States of America

Charles opened the Florence Night Mission in 1882 to rescue prostitutes and open homes to homeless and unfortunate girls and their infant children.

He became a prominent Evangelist upon his daughter’s death.

The National Florence Crittenton Mission received a federal charter in 1898.

Charles used his money from drug manufacturing to pay for the homes—seventy of which had opened by the time he died.

Badges Earned:

Find a Grave Marked

Sources:

https://socialwelfare.library.vcu.edu/people/crittenton-charles-nelson/

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/14339416/charles-nelson-crittenton

137) George Eastman

Founder of Eastman Kodak Company

Born: 12 July 1854, Waterville, New York, United States of America

Died: 14 March 1932, Rochester, New York, United States of America

He was a pioneer in the field of print photography, and not just because he made the first simple cameras available to the public.

George had to leave school at the age of fourteen to support his family after his father’s death. When he was twenty-three, he purchased his first photography kit, and quickly became obsessed.

However, early photography was a chore. The equipment was expensive, cumbersome, and awkward to use. George spent three years experimenting in as many different ways as he could to ease the process. He soon came up with the dry-plate coating machine, which he patented as well.

In 1881, he opened the Eastman Dry Plate Company, which became the Eastman Dry Plate and Film Company in 1884 and then finally the Eastman Kodak Company in 1892.

His work included, as mentioned above, an easy to use and less expensive camera for the wider public, as well as a flexible film that made making moving pictures much easier.

George committed Suicide shortly after being diagnosed with an irreversible spinal disease. He reportedly wrote in his suicide note, “My work here is done. Why wait?”

His estimated net-worth at the time of his death was $84.9 million, or in 2018 dollars, $1.55 billion. During his lifetime, he donated over one hundred million dollars to various charitable works. He also put in his will that his money should be used to encourage education, provide medical care to the community, and create an appreciation for the arts.

Badges Earned:

Find a Grave Marked

Sources:

https://www.eastman.org/about-george-eastman

https://www.kodak.com/US/en/corp/aboutus/heritage/georgeeastman/default.htm

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/2184/george-eastman

125) Emma H Cunningham

125: Emma Hempstead Cunningham

Possible Murderess

Born: 15 August 1818, Brooklyn, New York, United States of America

Died: September 1878, New York City, New York, United States of America

She was accused of murdering the man she was having an affair with—a rich dentist in New York City.

When they started their affair, he was divorced, and she was a widow with four or five small children looking for someone to help pay the bills. No one really knows how they met but she wound up pregnant and wanted to keep the baby, but he did not. She received an abortion—possibly performed by him.

Emma soon moved into his house claiming to be a landlady, but the relationship was anything but paradise. Surviving court records show she claimed he raped her twice. Emma was desperate to marry the man, but he held out—she even had him arrested for breach of contract for not marrying her but even still.

Emma eventually hired a man to pretend to be her beau so she could “marry” him.

Three months after the “wedding” the dentist was found dead—completely mutilated with blood everywhere—he had reportedly been stabbed fifteen times.

More than eight thousand people attempted to go to the funeral and Emma even threw herself over the coffin—sobbing and wishing he could tell who had killed him.

She was charged and acquitted with his murder after no evidence could be dug up and her lawyer argued she was a member of the weaker sex and had arthritis.
Emma then attempted to collect his estate by claiming to be pregnant with his child (and then caught trying to take another woman’s baby) then producing the “marriage” certificate.

She would die a pauper and his murder would never be solved.

In 2007 the two—who are buried only yards from each other in Brooklyn—were given headstones before a wide audience. Hers reads “God Rest Her Troubled Soul.”

Badges Earned:

Find a Grave Marked

Sources:

https://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/19/nyregion/19headstones.html

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-desperate-would-be-housewife-of-new-york-140748/

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/21650421/emma-augusta-cunningham

112) Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis

112) Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis

First Lady of the United States During Her Husband John Fitzgerald Kennedy’s Administration.

Born: 28 July 1929, Southampton, New York, United States of America

Died: 19 May 1994, New York City, New York, United States of America

She was later remembered as Jackie O after her second marriage to Aristotle Onassis.

Jackie was born into a wealthy family and it is said her mother first put her on a horse to learn to ride at the age of one. She was ten when her Catholic Parents divorced which emotionally made her withdraw further into herself and become more reserved. Her mother soon remarried, and Jackie and her younger sister now had three step-siblings as well.

Jackie’s first job was as a photographer and newspaper columnist for the Washington Times Herald.

Jackie married Jack in 1953 and she soon immersed herself into the political culture of Washington as well (Jack had just been elected Senator from Massachusetts).

Their daughter Caroline was born in 1957 (their first daughter Arabella had been born the year before but was stillborn) and Jackie was very active during the 1960 campaign for President—even after finding out she was pregnant and being told to stay home she answered letters and gave interviews—even writing a weekly newspaper column.

Two and a half weeks after Jack’s election their son John Fitzgerald Kennedy Jr was born.

Jackie became First Lady at the age of thirty-one; her first major project was to restore and preserve the White House.

Eighty million Americans would watch the CBS news broadcast of Mrs. Kennedy showing off the newly restored White House—she was given an honorary Emmy for the program.

Because of her ability to speak French, Spanish, and Italian she was an important asset abroad as well.

Their son Patrick was born and died two days after he was born—and three months later Jack was assassinated in Dallas, Texas.

Jackie remarried in 1968 but when Aristotle died, she became an editor in New York City—a job she continued until she herself died.

Jackie is buried beside her first husband, daughter Arabella, and son Patrick in Arlington National Cemetery and is remembered for her impacts on fashion and culture.

Her son John Jr was killed alongside his wife and sister-in-law in a plane crash in 1999. Their ashes were scatted over the water where their plane crashed.

Badged Earned:

Find a Grave Marked

Located in My Personal Library:

Alice Princess Andrew of Greece by Hugo Vickers

Confronting the Presidents: No Spin Assessments from Washington to Biden by Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard

Dead Presidents by Brady Carlson

Eunice: The Kennedy Who Changed the World by Eileen McNamara

First Ladies: Presidential Historians on the Lives of 45 Iconic American Women by Susan Swain and C-SPAN

The House of Kennedy by James Patterson and Cynthia Fagen

Killing Kennedy: The End of Camelot by Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard

King Tutankhamun: The Treasures of the Tomb by Zahi Hawass

The Smithsonian First Ladies Collection by Lisa Kathleen Graddy and Amy Pastan

Sex With Presidents: The Ins and Outs of Love and Lust in the White House by Eleanor Herman

Time Magazine's 100 Women of the Year (Jackie appears in the 1962 article, "Jacqueline Kennedy”)

Where Are They Buried? How Did They Die? by Tod Benoit

Whose Who in American History: Leaders, Visionaries, and Icons who Shaped Our Nation by John M Thompson, William R Gray, and KM Kostyal

Ask Not: The Kennedys and the Women They Destroyed by Maureen Callahan

Sources:

https://www.jfklibrary.org/learn/about-jfk/life-of-jacqueline-b-kennedy

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/780/jacqueline-lee-kennedy_onassis

118) Robert Moog

118) Bob Moog

Invented the Synthesizer

Born: 23 May 1934, Queens, New York, United States of America

Died: 21 August 2005, Asheville, North Carolina, United States of America

Bob built his first Theremin at the age of fourteen and published his first article at nineteen. Then he earned his PhD in engineering physics.

He went on to found Moog Music and then invent the synthesizer; he would receive a Grammy Trustees Award in 1970 for his contributions to modern music.

Bands like The Police and Emerson, Lake, & Palmer used his invention in their music in the 1980’s.

Badges Earned:

Find a Grave Marked

Sources:

https://moogfoundation.org/about/humble-visionary/

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/11592850/robert-arthur-moog

109) Barbara Bush

Former First Lady of the United States During Her Husband George H W Bush’s Administration

Born: 8 June 1925, New York City, New York, United States of America

Died: 17 April 2018, Houston, Texas, United States of America

She was also mother to the 43rd President—George W Bush—and mother to the 43rd Governor of Florida—Jeb! Bush (I'm sorry, I had to).

Barbara met her husband when she was sixteen and they were engaged a year and a half later—George then left to serve as a navy bomber pilot in World War II.

Two weeks after he returned home, they married; they had six children. Their daughter Robin died just before her fourth birthday from leukemia.

In forty-four years of marriage the family would move twenty-nine times.

As First Lady (and Second Lady before that) her chosen issue was literacy. She also worked to help the homeless, spread awareness of AIDS, and to volunteer to help the elderly and school volunteer programs.

Her husband would pass away only a few months after her.

Badges Earned:

Find a Grave Marked

Located In My Personal Library:

Confronting the Presidents: No Spin Assessments from Washington to Biden by Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard

First Ladies: Presidential Historians on the Lives of 45 Iconic American Women by Susan Swain and C-SPAN

The Smithsonian First Ladies Collection by Lisa Kathleen Graddy and Amy Pastan

Sources:

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Barbara-Bush

https://www.whitehouse.gov/about-the-white-house/first-ladies/barbara-pierce-bush/

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/7748443/barbara-bush

108) Nancy Reagan

Former First Lady of the United States during her husband Ronald Reagan’s term

Born: 6 July 1921, Manhattan, New York, United States of America

Died: 6 March 2016, Bel Air, Los Angeles, California, United States of America

Original Name: Anne Frances (Robbins) Reagan

She was much more conservative than her husband Ronald who was a former Democrat.

They were both former Hollywood actors turned politicians.

Nancy also founded the Just Say No anti-drug campaign which was her focus as First Lady.

After her husband was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease, she also became an advocate for finding a cure.

Nancy earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in 1943.

In 1949 she was awarded a seven-year contract with MGM however she was soon blacklisted as a potential Communist which is laughable if you actually study her political leanings to any degree—the mix up came from the fact another actress with her same name was a bit of a communist.

Nancy contacted Ronald Reagan for help because he was serving as the President of the Screen Actors Guild at the time.

They began dating but were not monogamous and saw other people however they did marry in 1952.

Ronald and Nancy would have two children together and Nancy would become stepmother to Ronald’s two children from his previous marriage.

She faced much negative press as First Lady of California and then the United States for being snobbish and over spending. Public opinion changed somewhat after she began her drug trafficking battle and while campaigning against drugs in several countries and in front of the United Nations.

She also underwent a mastectomy to battle breast cancer.

Nancy was an advocate for stem cell research after her husband’s death.

Badges Earned:

Find A Grave Marked

Located In My Personal Library:

Challenger: A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space by Adam Higginbotham

Confronting the Presidents: No Spin Assessments from Washington to Biden by Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard

First Ladies: Presidential Historians on the Lives of 45 Iconic American Women by Susan Swain and C-SPAN

Killing Reagan: The Violent Assault That Changed a Presidency by Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard

Bad Days in History by Michael Farquhar

The Smithsonian First Ladies Collection by Lisa Kathleen Graddy and Amy Pastan

Whose Who in American History: Leaders, Visionaries, and Icons who Shaped Our Nation by John M Thompson, William R Gray, and KM Kostyal

Sources:

https://www.biography.com/us-first-lady/nancy-reagan

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Nancy-Reagan