Colin T. Naylor Jr. Archives

As we enter Women’s History Month, the Field Library would like to take some time to recognize the incredible achievements of the women of our archives.

We’ll start today with Dorothy Frooks, who lived in Peekskill for several decades. Frooks was a renowned lawyer, suffragist, World War (I & II) Veteran, author, newspaper publisher, and actress. A child prodigy and orator, Frooks started advocating for a women’s right to vote at the age of 11. Later graduating from Hamilton College and New York University, she began an illustrious law career which included acting as legal counsel for the Salvation Army, creating a small claims court in New York City, and admissions to the Supreme Court and Bar of Puerto Rico. During Franklin Roosevelt’s presidency (the lawyer had an ongoing feud with Roosevelt’s wife, Eleanor), Frooks was quoted as saying she was “quite sure a woman will sit in the president’s chair within the next 15 years.” Although Frooks herself never ascended to the presidency, she certainly left her mark on history.

In the Colin T Naylor Archives, we have two of Frooks’ books: Love’s Law and Lady Lawyer. The first is a romantic novel that deals with injustice, wrongful imprisonment, grief, and love. The latter is Frooks’ autobiography that details her life and her many impressive achievements.

Please note, that while she achieved incredible things, Frooks was still human and a product of her time. The language used in her novel, Love’s Law is at times inappropriate for the modern reader and she worked against the Equal Rights Amendment in the 1970s. Historical figures are still people, after all.

Learn about Christmas in the 1920s from our friends at the Staatsburgh State Historic Site.

Christmas in the 1920s Christmas as a holiday has continuously evolved over the centuries and decades, but many modern traditions have deeply seated historic roots...

A slice of Town of Cortlandt history courtesy of our friends at the Van Cortlandtville Historical Society.

A map of Van Cortlandtville from 1869. J. Robertson home had formerly been a manor house of the Van Cortlandt family and still stands today as a nursing home. Across the street marked J. Simpson would later become the Mansion of Colonial Terrance catering and reception hall. The School was a one room schoolhouse that continued to be used by the Lakeland school district into the mid-20th century and is now the home of Van Cortlandtville Historical Society. Beside it, marked “Epis. Ch.” (Episcopal Church) is now known as Old St. Peter’s Church and the surrounding cemetery where many historical graves stand. Across the street from the school “M.E. Church” also remains in use today.

Do you recognize any other familiar names or places?

An ode to Peekskill Bay. This poem was featured in "The Hudson and its Moods" by Walter Glen Springer", published in 1929. The book is described as "An illustrated “idyl of America's mightiest, most beautifully scenic, legendary, and historical of rivers.” A copy of the book is available for in-library use at The Field Library.