Miss Halsey Resigns Post

 

1 July 1922

"Miss Abigail F. Halsey, secretary of the Community Building since its opening in this city, will not continue in that capacity after July 1, it was learned today, as she plans to spend the coming year in New York City in study of the work in which she is particularly interested." 

"the Communist Party deliberately assails America from within"

7 Jan 1937

Southampton Declines WPA Storm Clean-Up Aid

The Village Board of Southampton voted today to decline an offer of WPA aid in cleaning up after Wednesday's hurricane. Many trees were blown over and considerable damage was done to the waterfront of this exclusive Summer resort.  (Special to THE NEW YORK TIMES. September 27, 1938)

Long Island Town Declines WPA Storm Clean-up 

Southampton, L. I., Sept. 28. —The village board of-Southampton has voted to decline an offer of WPA aid in cleaning up after Wednesday's hurricane. Many trees were blown down and considerable damage was done to the water front of this exclusive summer resort. After the village board meeting. Mayor Albert P. Loaning said: "The village board has', declined WPA aid in cleaning up the highways and for the rehabilitation work in the village. In Southampton we have always been able to handle our ownn affairs in the 300 years of our existence. The village board appreciates WPA offers of help, but the members feel that the sister communities of Southampton, which sustained greater damage, should receive whatsoever assistance would have gone to us." (Syndicated: Tipton Tribune, 28 September 1938

Letter from Charles H. Brown, Welfare Director of the R.K. LeBlond Machine Tool Co.

November 13, 1941

With thanks to: The Jesse Halsey Manuscript Collection. Special Collections, Princeton Theological Seminary Library.

The Messenger | 1940

from "Among the Deep Sea Fishers" | January 1919

“The World-Wide Influence of Grenfell"  by Jerome Davis

Some one has said that if a man can make some one thing better than any one else, even if only a mouse-trap, he may go to the most remote sot on the earth’s surface and the world will make a beaten path to his door. This could well be applied to the influence which a man exerts on others. Even though a man goes to the remote districts of northern Labrador, working among isolated and scattered groups of fisherfolk, if he has the Christ spirit of service and a genius for helping men, his influence will spread throughout the world. This is preeminently true of Dr. Grenfell and his unique service for others way up north in the Labrador.

I have just come back from service in Russia, which would be one of the last regions that one would expect to find influenced by Dr. Grenfell. Yet here we find American men who have caught the vision of service to others in work with Dr. Grenfell, who are now translating this same spirit into deeds of love and kindness for the Russian people.

The work among the German and Austrian prisoners of war showed that there were secretaries who had been with Dr. Grenfell who were trying to do in a small way for the prisoners what Dr. Grenfell was doing for the people of Newfoundland and Labrador. In prison camps of 10,000, these men were building Y.M.C.A. huts, which would become the center of all that was best in the camp. Here the prisoners could organize classes for themselves under the leadership of professors and presidents of universities who were prisoners of war. Sometimes the text books would have to be written in the prison amp by hand as it was impossible to purchase any. Nearly always the music notes were so written. Here, making their own instruments from material provided by the American secretary, they developed splendid orchestras. The weekly concerts which resulted, took all the prisoners away from the hardships of prison life and made them happy, at least during the concerts.

Religious services were established according to Dr. Grenfell’s theory that it makes less difference what the creed is, than it does how much the real spirit of love and sincerity permeates those who hear. Consequently, there were held Jewish services, Catholic services, and various forms of Protestant services all in the same building.

There was medical relief work carried on by prison doctors, with oftentimes improvised and inadequate sanitary equipment. The prisoners all donated their books and libraries were formed. Athletics began to flourish. Regular foot ball contests provided amusement and relaxation for all.

Not only did one see Dr. Grenfell’s influence in the work for the prisoners of war, but one found his influence permeating the work among the long-suffering and heroic Russian solders. Here was an army of 12,000,000 men, stretched along a battle front of 1500 miles, with soldiers receiving the pay of twenty-five cents a month instead of the American solders’ thirty-three dollars.

Yet these soldiers had no Y.M.C.A. to minister to their needs and it was not until the Foreign Secretary came, with the contagion of the Grenfell spirit, that the Association began to start work among the Russian soldiers.

Then a wonderful thing happened. The Russian soldier found that there was an organization which was really trying to provide a club for him with all the things that he never realized were possible for a soldier to have. So there were found along the Russian fronts and in the rear cities moving pictures showing in the open air for the Russian soldiers with an attendance of over 3,000 men nightly. There were writing rooms where paper and envelopes were provided free of charge. There was a tea room with a gramophone where the soldier could sit and sip tea. The Russian soldier was initiated into the mysteries of American foot ball, basket ball, volley ball, and base ball, which often he had never seen before. Among the thousands of letters written by Russian soldiers in these clubs, there were many who wrote like the following: “The only happiness and comfort I find in my life here is when I can come to this wonderful Y.M.C.A. Club. I never before realized that there were people who were trying to help like this.”

The above picture was taken after the fighting at Odessa in the civil war between the Ukraine and Bolshevik soldiers and shows both parties lined up on either side a big trench which they used for a common grave to bury their dead.

On the Ukraine banners were the words: “To the victims of the social revolution.”

The Bolshevik banners read: “To the victims of the Bourgeoise (rich people) provocation.”

Former Grenfell men helped to carry in the dead and wounded during the fighting. These are the kind of soldiers we are trying to help.

Then there was work for the Russian peasants with a large steamer given by the Soviet government, the Soviet government paying for all the fuel and the salaries of the captain and crew. The Y.M.C.A. provided educational moving pictures on one side of the steamer’s hold, while agricultural machinery was on the other side. There were eleven different departments with exhibits, on the main floor of the steamer. These departments ranged from chicken raising to horticulture and bee keeping. A representative of the Y.W.C.A. was on board, who tried to teach the peasant women how to care for their babies. A representative of the American Red Cross was on board to assist in medical relief. During two months, these exhibits showed to 40,000 peasants along the Volga. Do you wonder that the village people formed processions of thanks, given in honor of the Americans and their agricultural help? In one village the peasants said: “This is the first boat that has ever come to our shores to give and not to take.”

Dr. Halsey, a former Grenfell man, was up in the North, amid the darkness and the ice and snow, working for the English, French, American, and Russian men. He was rendering a typical Association service to men who had no other place to go except the Association, and incidentally he was showing the same spirit of friendship which he had seen demonstrated by Dr. Grenfell in the North.

This little illustration of how the spirit of Jesus Christ, as it has been translated into action by Dr. Grenfell, has permeated even the throbbing life of the far off Russian revolution, is typical as showing how Dr. Grenfell’s spirit is coming in every country throughout the world. As we came back from Russia, through England and France, we noticed that in those countries are still more former Grenfell men who are spreading the same unselfish service of love throughout the world.

*****

The wealth of man is the number of things he loves and blesses, which he is loved and blessed by.

Murmansk | Spring 1918

from "Russian Sideshow: America’s Undeclared War" by Robert L. Willett, 2003, Potomac Books

 

“Then came a change: in February 1918, Germany reattacked Russia in the Ukraine, although Germany was still in negotiations with the Bolshevik Soviet. In Murmansk there was a concern that the nearby Finnish border would offer Germany a haven from which it could launch a North Russian offensive. The threat of German attack brought some harmony to the three diverse Murmansk groups—the government, rebellious military, and allies—as they recognized the need for British defense and supply. At this time, an American, Lt. Hugh Martin, a passport control officer, was the senior U.S. representative on the scene. A few other Americans were also there: Allen Wardwell of the Red Cross had made his second appearance in the new city, while YMCA official Reverend Jesse Halsey was a more recent arrival.

With this new spirit of cooperation among the three Murmansk groups, the area faced a new concern: a civil war had begun in Finland, and it was feared that Germany would aid the White (anti-Bolshevik) side, possibly invading Murmansk with a combined force. In retrospect, we know that both Germany and Finland had their hands full and gave little thought to any additional fronts. However, anticipation provided fuel for those who saw the possibilities of a German threat. Historian George Kennan wrote, “In March and April there was no serious danger of attack on Murmansk by Finns under German command; but by the time the British and the French had spent some weeks acting as though there were such a danger, they succeeded in conjuring it into real existence.” As tensions heightened, the British sent another cruiser, HMS Cochrane, and the French sent the heavy cruiser Admiral Aube. At last pleas to Wilson finally caught his attention. Rumors flew about, all indicating German-Finnish forces heading toward Murmansk or its railroad.

Eventually, in April 1918, Wilson relented and reluctantly made a step toward intervention by sending the USS Olympia, Admiral Dewey’s old flagship, Capt. Bion B. Bierer commanding. However, Wilson cabled, “to caution him [Bierer] not to be drawn in further than the present action there without first seeking and obtaining instructions from home.” With Bierer’s instructions was the added information that he would be under the command of the British naval commander, Adm. Thomas W. Kemp. Admiral Kemp had telegraphed earlier:

“I beg USS Olympia may have orders to come to Murmansk and that she be put definitely and fully under my orders the same as the French cruiser Admiral Aube. There can be only one Allied head here and I consider this step indispensable for both military and political reasons.”

The decision to have American forces commanded by British officers would lead to a host of problems in coming months.

By mid-April, the USS Olympia was steaming from Charleston, South Caroline, toward Murmansk, stopping several times en route, with Captain Bierer on a collision course with the president’s cautionary advice. With him on the Olypia was the new Allied commander, British major general Frederick C. Poole, who took command of all Allied forces in North Russia on his arrival in Murmansk on May 24, 1918.

With mounting concern over threats of German and Finnish invasion, the Murmansk Soviet telegraphed the Central Soviet on May 18, 1918, “The representatives of the friendly powers, the French, American, and British missions currently at Murmansk, continue to show themselves inalterably well-inclined toward us and prepared to render us assistance, running all the way from food supply to armed aid, inclusive.”

An immediate answer on the same day was an important piece of the Murmansk story. It came from People’s Commissar Leon Trotsky, who warned:

“The Germans are advancing in small detachments. Resistance is possible and obligatory. Abandon nothing to the enemy. Evacuate anything that has any value; if this is impossible, destroy it. You must accept any and all assistance from the Allied missions and use every means to obstruct the advance of the plunderers.”

Threats of invasion by German and Finnish troops worried even Petrograd Soviets, so the telegram opened the door for cooperation between the Murmansk Soviet and the Allies, even if it eventually antagonized the Central Soviets. The wire would also haunt Trotsky in years to come as he fell from favor.

From this point on, the Allies began a gradual buildup. The French already had a Slavic command of a few soldiers in the town of Kola. Admiral Kemp had landed about 130 Marines from his ship HMS Glory on March 6, 1918; they had quietly housed themselves in barracks and awaited developments. These British marines were the first purely military troops to take part in the Allied Intervention.

On June 8, apparently at British request, but with the blessing of U.S. ambassador David Francis, Captain Bierer was ordered to land a shore party to help garrison Murmansk. Captian Bierer sent Lt. H.C. Floyd with eight officers and one hundred men and their equipment to Murmansk. Murmansk was under Soviet control, but already some Allied troops were in the city; the local Soviet anticipated a break with the Central Bolsheviks in Petrograd, so the landing was not contested. The American sailors also keep busy, assisting British and French marines in capturing the Russian cruiser, Askold, and other smaller ships, whose Bolshevik-sympathizing crews had mutinied.

On June 23, a six-hundred-man force under British major general Sir C. Maynard was put ashore with its equipment. Major General Maynard’s writings after the war indicated that the goal of these and subsequent troops was to protect Murmansk and Archangel and the southbound railway, but he also stated, “When ready to take the field, the whole force was to endeavor to join hands with the pro-Ally forces in Siberia, and then to assist in opening up a new front against Germany.” The misinformation and lack of understanding of the situation was evident in this stated goal of the expedition.

As General Maynard’s task force landed, his commander was already in Murmansk. Major General Frederick C. Poole had been an honored guest on the USS Olympia when it sailed into the Russian harbor on May 24. He was the overall commander of the Allied North Russian land forces. Poole was noted for his colonial approach to Russians: he patronized them, scolded them, misunderstood them, looked down on them, and generally made himself heartily disliked by those hapless souls he was preparing to liberate. His first contingent of British soldiers was not impressive; most of them were veterans of the western front who were classified as unfit for active service, yet they were expected to conduct themselves with typical British stoicism in an utterly hostile climate and topography.

Poole and Maynard conferred for hours as the contingent arrived. George Kennan says, “From his initial discussions with Poole, Maynard, as will be seen in his memoirs, derived a wildly distorted picture of the situation, including the impression that 15,000 White Finns, in German service, were already on the march against the Murmansk Railway. Maynard set out on a mission to strengthen his defenses, traveling south on a locomotive with several cars full of troops. His reception by the Russian railway workers and stationmasters as he rode south was decidedly antagonistic, to the point of open rebellion. Later Maynard explained, “Bolshevik Russia was a recognized enemy, and I had a free hand to take such military measures as were possible to combat a Bolshevik-White Finn combination.” South of Murmansk in the town of Kandalaksha, he was confronted by a northbound train filled with Red troops. Maynard’s unfortunate response was to mouth machine guns covering the Bolsheviks and order the Red trains to turn around and return south. He called for reinforcements from the port and visited a nearby Allied base at Kem, where he forcibly disarmed two more Red trains and sent them back south. His high-handed actions opened armed hostilities between Allies and Bolsheviks, the first real signal of the conflicts to come.

Even before Maynard’s railroad journey, the relations between the Murmansk Soviet and Central Soviet in Moscow had soured. Murmansk, concerned with its daily survival, depended almost entirely on Allied supplies. The Central Soviet in Petrograd saw things very differently. Trotsky’s invitation had disappeared: the Petrograd government now issued a decree to the Murmansk government to throw the Allies out. The tone of a June 26, 1918, telegram from Petrograd grew even more critical: “If you still refuse to understand Soviet policy equally hostile to English and Germans, blame it on yourselves.” Murmansk fired right back in the same tone, “It is all very well for you to talk that way, sitting there in Moscow.” Lenin could not tolerate that kind of behavior and promptly called the party members of the port city Soviet traitors and declared them outcasts, subject to execution. “The President of the Murmansk Soviet Yuriev (Yuryev) having gone over to the side of the Anglo-French imperialists and participating in inimical actions directed against the Soviet Republic, is hereby proclaimed and enemy of the people and outlawed.” The telegram was signed by Lenin and Trotsky.

In an action which completely frustrated the Soviets in the capital, the Murmansk Soviet signed an accord with the Allies, British, French, and even American. This agreement pledged the Allies to defend Murmansk and recognize the Murmansk Regional Soviet as the acknowledged government of the area. Captain Bierer of the Olympia signed on behalf of the American government, even though he had no authority to do so. It is interesting to note that this document was executed several days before Wilson’s Aide Memoire, which authorized intervention in Russia. The Murmansk agreement was completely unauthorized by the U.S. government, yet it was finally approved in October 1918. While it was a stroke of luck for the Allies to have the tie-in with a Russian government, even an out-of-favor one, the Allies pledged to protect those individuals who had faced the wrath of their own people by separating themselves from the Central Soviet.

Murmansk | March 1918

from “The Reluctant Tourist” by Ronald Barnett

(March 1918)

There were English refugees and Russian refuges, French, Italian, even a few Americans, as well as the Chinese who had been brought in to build the railroads. They were all now marooned in the Murmansk area. They said that inevitably this human logjam would have to move, and Morrie could move with them. But it would probably be several months before that would happen.

“I want to go now,” Morrie said.

“I have it,” said Pike. “I wager the Red Cross people will have an answer for you. They’re mostly Yanks, and they’re good people. There is a Red Cross car just down the tracks, about two hundred meters up to your left. I’m sure they’ll have some good advice for you. At least, they’ll know the situation a great deal better than we do.”

Morrie headed left, as he had been directed, plowing through the snow. Cooper and Pike told him that the Red Cross car was entirely different from the other cars. It had red and gold stripes on the side and, they said, looked like it might have been from the Czar’s private fleet of railroad cars. With that description, it was easy for Morrie to spot it.

It wasn’t one of the boxcars, but a passenger car. There was a door and Morrie stood there, hesitating. He had nothing much to lose. He banged his gloved hand on the door, and it quickly slid open.

“Can I help you?” The man who opened the door was tall, thin, and was wearing rimless glasses.

“I hope so. May I come in?”

“Step right in, young fellow,” Morrie could tell that the tall man was an American. There was no mistaking that nasal, flat speech. He had heard American entertainers on the music hall stages and had met enough Yank soldiers in the pubs to be able to recognize that speech pattern. They all sounded like cowboys.

“I’m Wardwell, Major Wardwell. American Red Cross and who might you be?”

“I’m Alex Chernofsky, from London.”

“What’s a kid from London doing in this God-forsaken spot?”

Morrie told his story. While he related that now-familiar tale his eyes were roaming around the interior of the coach. It was incredibly opulent. The walls were covered in light green satin, not paint or wallpaper, but actual material, and there was gold brocade molding. The chairs were upholstered in rich, dark green velvet, again trimmed in gold. The tables were of a wood that had been polished so highly that it seemed like it had a covering of glass, but when Morrie idly rubbed his hand across the top of the nearest table, he realized that it wasn’t glass but simply the intense polish on the wood. The lamps had shades of silk, with fringes of gold.

“Here, let me take your coat and gloves,” said Major Wardwell, “then we can talk a little more comfortably. Tea?”

There was a samovar on a large table at one side of the car, and it appeared to be solid gold.

“It’s only brass, not gold,” said Wardwell. He could tell from the way Morrie was staring at everything that he was in awe. “This is quite a palace, isn’t it?” We don’t know for certain, but we believe it belonged to the Czar, or at least to somebody in the royal family. Now it’s our little home away from home.”

Wardwell poured the tea. The cups had obviously not come with the car. They were plain official-looking white china. He gestured for Morrie to sit down.

“What can I do for you, young fellow?”

“I need help, Major. I have to get out of Murmansk, but I don’t know where I should go, or how to go about getting there.”

“I think maybe we ought to get the rest of the gang in on this,” the Major said. He got up and knocked at a partition at the end of the car, and asked his colleagues to come in.

“There’s a problem here that needs our help,” he said. Four men followed him back into the main part of the car, and Morrie saw quickly that one was a Russian soldier.

“Your name was Chernofsky, right?” the American asked. Morrie nodded. Then Wardwell pointed around the room. “I’d like to introduce you to Hugh Martin [Lieut Hugh S. Martin], he’s the American passport control officer here in Murmansk. This is Jesse Halsey, Reverend Jesse Halsey of the American Y.M.C.A. This fellow is Major Thomas Thatcher, like me he’s with the Red Cross and this is Captain Ilovaiski. He works with us as our Russian interpreter.

Morrie shook hands with the four men. They all went to the samovar and poured themselves a cup of tea. Morrie would soon learn that no business or conversation was conducted in Russia until the ritual cup of tea was poured.

….

“Mr. Chernofsky, you must understand that Russia is, in the present instance, full of chaos and upset. There is here today a full-type Civil War. There is no place that abounds in safety.”

“There must be some place for me to go,” said Morrie, making the statement into a question.

“If I were you, young fellow,” said Hugh Martin, “the first thing I’d do would be to get to Archangel. At least there are trains to other places. It’s a much bigger place than here, so there are more opportunities. There are a lot of ships there, and when the thaw comes maybe you’ll be able to find a ship that will take you out of here.”

Morrie didn’t catch all of Martin’s Mississippi-flavored words, but he understood the gist of what he said. At last Morrie had heard something positive.

Martin told the story of his own perilous trip to Murmansk, a few months before. He had been the passport control officer in Archangel, but when winter came and the port froze there was not need for his service there for the time being. He was reassigned to Murmansk, but the Bolsheviks would not issue him a permit to travel from Petrograd, where he had gone to await reassignment.

“So I figured I’d give them a taste of Yankee ingenuity,” he said. “I took the train from Petrograd back to Archangel, where I knew everybody. I hired peasants and their sleighs to take me from village to village until I reached a small city called Soroka, on the Petrograd-Murmansk rail line. I then hopped a freight from Soroka to Murmansk.”

“And here I am. I only went about twelve hundred miles out of my way, and I did it without one of their precious travel permits. But I made it. I think you should do the same thing, only the other way around. Get down to Archangel on sleighs, with the Moujiks. It’s really a great way to see the country.”

“What will I use for money to hire the sleighs,” asked Morrie. “I have a few British pounds, but no Russian money.”

“I tell you what, Alex,” said Hugh Martin, and Morrie continued to marvel at the way the informal Americans used first names so easily. “I’ll make you a small loan. When you get down to Meridian, Mississippi, after this stupid war is over, you can repay me. Have we got a deal?”

Abigail Fithian Halsey

Abigail Fithian Halsey

Abigail Fithian Halsey

2 Oct 1873 - 14 Oct 1946

“Miss Halsey, previous to her coming to Ithaca, had served some time in Red Cross work, and had taught in public and private schools [in MN, OH] of the [NY] state. She had also had experience both in Camp Fire and Girl Scout work.”

Founding member of Southampton Colony Chapter of Daughters of the American Revolution.

April 1, 1921-July 1, 1922 | founding secretary of the Community Building in Ithaca, NY

July 1, 1922 | Ithaca, NY, “Miss Halsey Resigns Post As Secretary: Executive of Committee Building Leaves July 1 to Study in New York City—Record of Work Accomplished at Local Home is Highly Commendable”

1922 | Study in New York City of “the work in which she is particularly interested”

1927 | “Miss Halsey Has Had Wide Drama Experience”

“Miss Halsey, who has been engaged by the Farm and Home Bureau to put on the Historical Drama for the Sesquicentennial Celebration which takes place at the Drama [Club] for the Sesquicentennial [on September] 10, was selected by the State Historian, with the enthusiastic endorsement of the State College, as a drama director of state-wide reputation and experience. She has, for a number of years past been connected with the Hecksher Foundation of New York City, in its Educational Drama department.

Miss Halsey wrote and staged the great Pageant in 1924 at East Hampton, L.I., and also the one given at Ithaca under the auspices of the State College of Agriculture in 1922. She is the author of the booklet issued from the press of the State College of Agriculture “The Historical Pageant in the Rural Community.” Her efficiency as well as her personal charm and tact, have already won her friends on every side in Kingston and throughout the county, and are brining in recruits daily for the wonderful scenes in the making of our state government that will be depicted in the stirring drama.”

September 3, 1921 | Ithaca, “49,000 Attended Tompkins Fair President Says,”

Saturday, September 3, 1921 | Editorial: A Successful Fair

“If public interest and support are proper criterions the Tompkins County Fair this year was a great success. Attendance records seem to have been broken all the way down the line.

That the pageant played no small part in attracting the public to the fair grounds is beyond question. Indeed it was the pageant that made this fair distinctive from all other similar enterprises. The pageant certainly made good. It was well worth while not alone as an educational entertainment, but as an agency for stimulating community pride and solidarity.

Considering the relatively short time available for preparation and rehearsal, the pageant was a most creditable success and Miss Halsey and all associated with her in the enterprise well deserve the applause and appreciation one hears expressed on every hand. And had it been possible to provide better lighting facilities the pageant would have been even more effective. It is to be hoped that if something of the sort is attempted again the lighting problem will be adequately met.”

1932 | Chairman of Southampton’s George Washington Bicentennial Celebration

1932-1946 | Historian, Town of Southampton

1940 | Author, In Old Southampton, Columbia University Press