Deputy Mayor Randall Whitestone Remembers James Fenimore Cooper at the 94th Annual Arthur Manor July 4th Celebration

(Scarsdale Village Deputy Mayor Randall Whitestone provided this historical perspective at the Arthur Manor July 4th Celebration)

Hello friends and neighbors, and happy Fourth of July. It’s great to be back with you again.

Each year I’m not sure how the parade can get better, and each year it seems we outdo ourselves – such amazing marchers, bicycles and floats – and such great spirit! I’m glad we can share this great day. Thank you to Matt, Margaret Marcus and the Arthur Manor Neighborhood Association, the police and fire departments, and to all of YOU for helping make this celebration happen.

We know we live in challenging times. We’ve dealt with a pandemic, we have a swirl of social and political issues on our minds, and gas prices and broader price inflation are doing us few favors. On a not-so-distant horizon, we see the specter of the first major land war in Europe since 1945.

Yet right here in this place we call home, there are some timeless treasures and reminders of just how special Scarsdale is, how we have been through so much as a nation and a village, and how we walk in the footsteps of our forebears.
Some of you who patronize our elegantly updated library may have noticed a small bronze plaque affixed to a rock adjacent to the side parking lot. That plaque celebrates our own James Fenimore Cooper and commemorates the centenary of the “The Spy,” an 1821 novel whose central action spans British and Colonial battle lines in and around Scarsdale during the Revolutionary War. It shows the figure of Harvey Birch, The Spy, as he tramped the Hills between the Hudson and the Sound.

That “Cooper Memorial” plaque was dedicated exactly 100 years ago today. So, in essence, those of us gathered here can take the opportunity to mark the bicentennial of Cooper’s creativity and artistry and contributions to the life of both our young village, and our young nation.

During the dedication ceremonies on that mild July day in 1922, those gathered heard remarks by another remarkable Scarsdalian, Columbia University History Professor Dixon Ryan Fox of Greenacres, President of the Town Club and later President of both the New York Historical Society and of Union College, and biographer of Caleb Heathcote. Professor Fox’s speech, “The Heritage of History,” focused on the importance of community, and I think it’s worthwhile to quote a few lines today:

Said Professor Fox, “On this birthday of the nation, as on so many that have gone before, the drumbeat and the song of patriotism are following the sun from Plymouth Harbor to the Golden Gate. We add our voices to this hymn of pride and gratitude and dedication, yet our festival is easily distinguished from most of those which mark the day.”

The spirit of Independence Day, he said, is celebrated in communities as “its spirit rests upon the larger group, the community, as the symbol of the nation. The things that quicken the group life seem appropriate to it. A community is made of men and women with a common interest. In Scarsdale where all but a few are but recent immigrants from the four corners of the land, it is especially desirable to develop common interests as we may. It is by such influence that Scarsdale becomes a home ...”

Deputy Mayor Randy Whitestone is currently serving his second term as Scarsdale Village TrusteeHistory, said Professor Fox, served to help bind the community – a vivid history that includes “the sturdy colonist, the English grenadiers in dazzling scarlet and the embattled farmers, who finally outmatched them in shrewdness and in fortitude. The associations of our hearthstones are enriched by tales of other, different ways and battles long ago.”

“A hundred years have come and gone,” Professor Fox said in 1922, referring to Fenimore Cooper, “since a resident of Scarsdale, like most of us, an immigrant, felt the charm and power of this great tradition and gave America its first authentic masterpiece of fiction.…Suitable it is then that we set up here a monument to him who caught the spirit of old Westchester and gave it the eternal body of a classic.”

In closing, the Professor predicted that the Memorial “will bring to our children’s children a clearer understanding of a by-gone age. It illustrates, if I may say so, a civic spirit of honorable pride... today it is my privilege to give to the community a memorial of those brave days and of a citizen of Scarsdale who saw in local history the material of a masterpiece.”

Now it’s obvious that that memorial has been moved and lost its place of prominence over the years. Still, I hope that the next time you visit the library you will take a moment to stop by the memorial tablet and think about our rich history and local legacy, how it informs our lives to this day, and how it continues to breathe life into our vibrant, dynamic, and resilient community. Thank you and Happy Fourth!