Bob Cudmore will be among those taking part in a book discussion on Robin Oliveira's historical novel "Winter Sisters" this Sunday, March 10, 2019 at 2 p.m. at the Amsterdam Free Library on Church Street. The event is open to the public and will include refreshments. Tomorrow, Friday, March 8, 2019 on The Historians
Robin Oliveira discusses her book “Winter Sisters,” set in Albany, N.Y., in 1879. Oliveira grew up in the Albany area and is also author of a novel about a Civil War physician, “My Name is Mary Sutter.” Sutter is a major character in “Winter Sisters.”
Thursday, March 7, 2019-From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette- Celebrating Women’s History Month-Fonda’s Queen Libby
People in Fonda called her Queen Libby or Queen Lib. According to one of her grandchildren, she was a large woman who received her nickname after knocking down a man who had used an ethnic slur about Italians.
“The next time you see me, you bow,” she reportedly told the fallen man, leading him to refer to her as Queen Libby.
Elizabeth Luciano was born in Atripalda in southern Italy on March 10, 1873. She came to America alone in 1889 when she was a teenager and lived at the James Snell house on Railroad Street. She had relatives who lived in Johnstown. Her obituary stated she was the first Italian immigrant to settle in Fonda.
She married another Italian native, James Cassell, in 1891. They had three children before James Cassell died at age 33. In 1901 Luciano married Alphonse Mancini; he haled from Pietramelara, Italy, and worked for the railroad. They had four more children.
The couple returned to Italy for a time where Alphonse was a jailer. Elizabeth came back to America by herself and Alfonso eventually followed her back to Fonda.
Queen Libby ran a boarding house and grocery store in the west end of Fonda, where she fed, housed and cared for Italian Americans who worked on the railroad. She purchased sixteen two family houses in the village. Patsy Cassell, one of Libby’s sons, ran a Fonda tavern called Patsy’s for many years.
In 1923, one of Libby’s daughters, Eva Mancini Pepe, was about to give birth to her first child. Eva was married to Ralph Pepe, whose father, Salvatore, founded Pepe’s Bakery on Amsterdam’s South Side.
According to a clipping from the Recorder, Libby was informed by telephone that her daughter was about to have a rare Caesarean section at St. Mary’s Hospital in Amsterdam.
Libby secured a red flag at the Fonda train station and when an express came “thundering in its usual way” she waved the red flag, convincing the engineer to stop the train and take her to Amsterdam. Arriving at the hospital, she charged into the operating room. Libby also made a phone call to the New York Central Railroad and demanded that the next possible train stop in Fonda to take her husband to Amsterdam.
The headline from the newspaper clipping reads: “Flags train to reach daughter as stork comes: Fonda woman bossed the whole New York Central Railroad but got to Amsterdam hospital on time.”
The child born that day was Vincenza Pepe, who passed away in 2001. Eva Pepe had seven children and the child she bore in 1924 was Salvatore Pepe of Amsterdam, who provided information for this story.
“Queen Libby was strong-minded, tough but a gentle grandmother,” Pepe said, recalling that Libby gave quarters to her grandchildren. Salvatore Pepe died in 2012.
Ann Nardick Sherman of Amsterdam also claims Queen Libby as a grandmother. Sherman’s mother was Constance Cassell, one of the children from Libby’s first marriage.
According to Sherman, Libby was an interpreter for Italians who could not speak English who were brought before the court in Fonda.
Libby once saved an innocent man from the electric chair. Libby called Italy where the real murderer had fled and had him sent back to the United States for trial. Governor Franklin Roosevelt was so impressed that he visited Fonda to commend Libby and a parade was held in her honor.
Alphonse Mancini died in 1936. Queen Libby died in 1937. Both were buried at St. Cecilia’s Cemetery in Fonda. Her grandchildren say her funeral was one of the biggest funerals ever seen in the village.
The Mid-Morning Program with Jason Subik -Monday-Thursday at 9 WCSS Radio Amsterdam 106.9FM and 1490AM Live Facebook Feed https://www.facebook.com/jason.subik
Wednesday, March 6, 2019
Amsterdam's last movie theater closes, ending long tradition
Owners move employees to its Johnstown location
Jason Subik Daily Gazette https://dailygazette.com/article/2019/02/27/amsterdam-s-last-movie-theater-closes-ending-long-tradition
Even though the Emerald Cinema has closed on Route 30, you can still watch a movie in Amsterdam! The Lavish Hollywood Musical Motion Picture Series at the Amsterdam Free Library, 28 Church Street continues with the Rogers and Hammerstein movie production of their Broadway Musical THE KING AND I. Deborah Kerr and Yul Brynner, in his best role, appear in THE KING AND I, Thursday, March 7, 2019 at 2pm.
Bob Cudmore’s guest this Sunday, March 10, 2019 on Talk of the Town is Yasmine Syed, Supervisor of the Schenectady County Town of Niskayuna. Hear Talk of the Town Sunday morning at 6:30 on Magic 590 and 100.5, plus 96.9 and 1410 in the North Country.
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