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WHEN WHITE PLAINS BECAME A CITY, THE WORLD WAS AT WAR IN AFRICA, ASIA, THE MIDDLE EAST, AND MOST ESPECIALLY EUROPE.
ONE YEAR LATER, AFTER THREE YEARS OF NEUTRALITY, THE UNITED STATES WAS DRAWN INTO THE GREATEST MILITARY CONFLICT YET IN HUMAN HISTORY.
IN 1917 1918, NEARLY 5 MILLION AMERICANS ENTERED MILITARY SERVICE.
2 MILLION WENT OVERSEAS TO FIGHT IN EUROPE, AND SADLY, 116,000 AMERICANS DIED IN THE CONFLICT.
MORE THAN 50 OF THEM FROM WHITE PLAINS.
IT WAS ONLY FITTING, THEREFORE, HAD IN DECEMBER 1918, JUST SIX WEEKS AFTER THE WAR'S END, THE WHITE PLAINS COMMON COUNCIL APPOINTED A COMMITTEE TO CONSIDER AN APPROPRIATE MEMORIAL TO THOSE WHO HAD SERVED IN THE GREAT WAR, AND THAT THIS COMMITTEE RECOMMENDED COMBINING THE MEMORIAL WITH THE MOST IMPORTANT NEW BUILDING PLANNED IN WHITE PLAINS, THE PROPOSED CITY HALL.
WHEN CITY HALL OPENED ON FEBRUARY 22ND, 1926, IT FEATURED A SPACIOUS AND CLASSICAL LOBBY WITH MAJESTIC OPEN SPACE SUITABLE FOR THE DISPLAY OF LARGE PLAQUES AND MONUMENTS, BUT THE FIRST ACTUAL MEMORIALS WERE NOT YET INSTALLED.
A PUBLIC SUBSCRIPTION MADE POSSIBLE THE CREATION OF FOUR MASSIVE TABLETS, EACH FIVE FEET WIDE AND SEVEN FEET HIGH, THAT WERE UNVEILED BEFORE A CROWD ESTIMATED AT 700.
THE EIGHTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE END OF THE GREAT WAR.
ONE TABLET WAS DEDICATED TO ALL THOSE FROM WHITE PLAINS, WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES IN SERVICE TO THE NATION, AND CONTAINED THE NAMES OF 52 RESIDENTS OF WHITE PLAINS.
THIS TABLET ALSO INCLUDED THE AMERICANS CREED, A MOVING EXPRESSION OF WHAT THE NATION STANDS FOR AND ASPIRES TO BE THAT HAD BEEN APPROVED BY CONGRESS IN APRIL 1918, AT THE HEIGHT OF THE GREAT WAR.
THE OTHER THREE TABLETS WERE DEDICATED TO THOSE WHO HAD OFFERED THEIR LIVES AND SERVICE TO THE NATION, AND IN TOTAL LISTED OVER 1000 NAMES OF WHITE PLAINS RESIDENTS WHO HAD SERVED IN THE GREAT WAR.
THREE YEARS LATER, ON JULY 16TH, 1929, A SECOND SERIES OF PLAQUES FUNDED BY ANOTHER PUBLIC SUBSCRIPTION THAT EXCEEDED $3,000 WERE INSTALLED ON THE SECOND FLOOR OF CITY HALL.
THESE WERE INDIVIDUAL RADIO TONE PHOTOGRAPHS OF 28 WHITE PLAINS SOLDIERS WHO HAD GIVEN THEIR ALL AND PERISHED DURING THE GREAT WAR.
RADIO TONE WAS A PROCESS USED IN THE 1920S TO ENSURE LONG LASTING QUALITY, BY WHICH PHOTOGRAPHS WERE ELECTRICALLY ETCHED ON THE SURFACE OF COPPER, OVERLAID WITH A SURFACE OF GOLD.
IN DEDICATING THE PORTRAITS, MAYOR FREDERIC MCLAUGHLIN SAID IN PART.
THE COMMON WISH AND PURPOSE THAT BRINGS US TOGETHER TONIGHT IS TO MAKE APPROPRIATE RECORD, IN DURABLE AND PERMANENT FORM, OF THE NAMES AND PORTRAITS OF ILLUSTRIOUS SONS OF WHITE PLAINS WHO DIED IN THE SERVICE OF THEIR COUNTRY.
THE COMMON COUNCIL HAD APPROVED THE EXPENDITURE OF CITY FUNDS FOR THE CREATION OF MEMORIAL TABLETS IN THE ROTUNDA FOR WARS IN WHICH AMERICA HAD PREVIOUSLY FOUGHT.
IT WASN'T UNTIL FEBRUARY 16TH, 1931, HOWEVER, THAT TWO ADDITIONAL TABLETS WERE INSTALLED IN CITY HALL.
THE FIRST FOR THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR READS IN HONOR OF THE CITIZENS OF WHITE PLAINS WHO OFFERED THEIR LIVES TO WIN THEIR COUNTRY'S INDEPENDENCE.
THE TABLET DISPLAYS 52 NAMES OF RESIDENTS FROM THE SMALL VILLAGE OF WHITE PLAINS, MANY WITH THE SAME SURNAME AND FROM THE SAME FAMILY.
THERE'S ALSO RECOGNITION ON THIS TABLET OF MEN WHO FOUGHT IN THE WAR OF 1812.
THE SECOND MEMORIAL PAYS TRIBUTE TO 324 WHITE PLAINS RESIDENTS WHO FOUGHT SO THE UNION BE PRESERVED IN THE CIVIL WAR, AND INDICATES THAT 27 WERE KNOWN TO HAVE DIED IN THEIR COUNTRY'S SERVICE.
IT ALSO LISTS 41 WHITE PLAINS RESIDENTS, FOUR OF WHOM WERE KNOWN TO HAVE DIED, WHO OFFERED THEIR LIVES THAT CUBA BE FREE IN THE 1898 SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR, AND TWO MEN, ONE OF WHOM DIED, WHO PARTICIPATED IN THE MEXICAN BORDER WAR FROM 1911 TO 1919.
BUT WARS AND THE DESIRE TO REMEMBER THOSE WHO RISKED THEIR LIVES NEVER SEEMED TO STOP.
IN 1949, THE COMMON COUNCIL APPROVED THE PURCHASE AND INSTALLATION IN THE MUNICIPAL BUILDING OF A WORLD WAR II MEMORIAL TABLET WITH CITY FUNDS IN HONOR OF THE MEN AND WOMEN
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OF WHITE PLAINS WHO SERVED, AND IN MEMORY OF THOSE WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES IN WORLD WAR TWO.THE NAMES OF 146 RESIDENTS ARE INSCRIBED ON THE 6.5FT WIDE AND NINE FEET TALL FREESTANDING TABLET IN THE CENTER OF THE CITY HALL ROTUNDA.
FOLLOWING THE CONCLUSION OF THE VIETNAM WAR, A MEMORIAL TABLET WAS INSTALLED ON THE WALL OF THE ROTUNDA WITH NAMES OF 26 WHITE PLAINS RESIDENTS WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES IN THE CONFLICT.
ON NOVEMBER 11TH, 2000, IN COMMEMORATION OF THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE KOREAN WAR.
A MEMORIAL TABLET WAS INSTALLED ON THE ROTUNDA WALL NEXT TO THE VIETNAM MEMORIAL, DISPLAYING THE NAMES OF SIX WHITE PLAINS RESIDENTS WHO FOUGHT FREEDOM'S FIGHT AND LOST THEIR LIVES IN AUGUST 2023.
WHITE PLAINS DEDICATED A VETERANS MEMORIAL GARDEN, LOCATED IN THE GREEN SPACE BEHIND CITY HALL THAT FEATURES PLAQUES FOR ALL SERVICE BRANCHES.
THIS TRANQUIL SPOT WITH BENCHES FEATURES A £6 GUN FROM THE USS MAINE, THE BATTLESHIP THAT EXPLODED AND SUNK IN THE HARBOR OF HAVANA, CUBA, IN FEBRUARY 1898 AND BECAME THE RALLYING CRY FOR THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR.
THE VETERANS MEMORIAL GARDEN
HAS BECOME THE SITE OF THE CITY'S ANNUAL VETERANS DAY
CEREMONIES AND OTHER EVENTS, AND ALL THE MONUMENTS, TABLETS,
AND PLAQUES IN AND AROUND CITY HALL REPRESENT A TANGIBLE AND
ENDURING TRIBUTE TO THE MEMORY, BRAVERY AND SACRIFICES OF MORE
THAN 2000 RESIDENTS WHO HAVE RISKED THEIR LIVES IN
SERVICE TO OUR NATION.
* This transcript was compiled from uncorrected Closed Captioning.