Ardsley Historical Society

05/22/2026

On behalf of the Ardsley Historical Society, we invite you to a special community event — the dedication of the Lewisohn Memorial Garden.

This Memorial Day, Monday, May 25, 2026, at 2:30 PM, we will gather at Ardsley High School (500 Farm Road, Ardsley) in celebration of America's 250th anniversary to pay tribute to fourteen Ardsley students who gave their lives in World War II. At the heart of the Memorial Garden stands a long-lost World War II memorial tablet bearing their names, to be unveiled and restored to a place of public honor.

Please note there is no rain date for this event. We encourage you to check the weather forecast as the date approaches and dress accordingly.

All are welcome, and we hope you will join us for this meaningful commemoration.

05/04/2026

The excitement is building — and so is the Lewisohn Memorial Garden.

On May 1, the first day of National Military Appreciation Month, under sunny skies, we broke ground after years of planning. Joining our Board at the ceremony, golden shovels in hand, were members of the Ardsley Village Board, the Board of Education, Superintendent Dr. Matthew Block, and a history class from Ardsley High School, about to begin their World War II unit — who, as Dr. Block observed, were watching history being made.

We are within $5,000 of our $50,000 fundraising goal. Here's where things stand:

• Construction begins today,Monday, May 4th.
• The benches are being fabricated.
• The history-filled informational sign has been ordered.
• The Memorial Day dedication (Monday, May 25th) is taking shape — the Ardsley High School Select Chorus will perform America the Beautiful and The Star-Spangled Banner, which was sung at the close of the 1954 dedication.
• We hope to welcome relatives of the fourteen Ardsley students who made the supreme sacrifice.

If you haven't yet donated, now is the moment. Every contribution brings us closer to honoring these fourteen young men with the tribute they deserve.

To donate please visit: https://www.ardsleyhistoricalsociety.org/lewisohn-memorial-garden

05/01/2026

Today, the Ardsley Historical Society hosted a formal groundbreaking ceremony for the Lewisohn Memorial Garden at Ardsley High School. This event marks the official start of construction for a landmark dedicated to local history and remembrance.

The Memorial Garden is located on the historic grounds of the former Heatherdell Farm, Lewisohn’s nearly 400-acre estate. At the heart of the Memorial Garden will be the restoration of a 1954 bronze plaque bearing the names of fourteen Ardsley students who made the ultimate sacrifice.

A subsequent dedication ceremony will be held on Memorial Day.

04/06/2026

We are pleased to share our latest Timepiece essay, "Amici Usque Ad Aras: From Ancient Athens to Ardsley – Sic Transit Gloria Mundi," which traces how a Latin phrase traveled across the centuries to Ardsley High School and what it reveals about our community's identity.

We also want to remind you of these upcoming events:

On April 19th, we will be hosting a public program entitled "A Conversation on the History of the Ardsley Little League: Celebrating 70 years - 1956-2026" at the Ardsley Community Center. All are welcome.

Further, on Memorial Day, we plan to dedicate the Lewisohn Memorial Garden at Ardsley High School.

As always, we invite you to support our sponsors, and if you have not done so, please renew your membership in the Ardsley Historical Society, now in its 44th year of service.

As dates go, April 6th does not ring loudly in American memory, but on that day in 1917, Congress passed a declaration of war, formally bringing the United States into World War I. At the time, Ardsley was represented by John Francis Carew, a Democrat, who joined the lopsided 373–50 House majority...

03/30/2026

Please join us on April 19, 2026 at 1:30 PM for a trip down Ardsley Baseball's memory lane!

11/09/2025

In connection with this Tuesday’s upcoming Veterans Day, we would like to highlight a few notable aspects of Ardsley’s war history. The World War I memorial tablet outside Village Hall, unveiled on April 5, 1919 by Lyda M. Reynolds, then Chair of the Ardsley Red Cross (pictured below), has stood watch over our community for more than a century.

Among those inscribed on the tablet is Lawrence Agnano (1889–1937), whose name appears toward the bottom of the left column in the accompanying image of the Honor Roll of The Great World War, as the conflict was originally called. The Agnano family’s tradition of service is further reflected by the fact that six family members are also listed on Ardsley’s World War II Roll of Honor, located at Pascone Park (formerly Ashford Park).

Many longtime residents may remember that the current Houlihan Lawrence real estate office at 750 Saw Mill River Road was once known as the Agnano Building, where the family operated their construction and landscaping business for decades.

We are pleased to announce that the Ardsley Historical Society has begun an initiative to seek official designation of the World War I monument as a local landmark, which would enable us to pursue grants to restore and preserve it for future generations.

On Veterans Day, as you pass by Village Hall or Pascone Park, we invite you to pause and reflect on the legacy of those Ardsley residents who served our country. Each name represents not just a soldier, but a neighbor, a family member, or a friend. Their sacrifice helped shape the peaceful and safe community we call home today.

With gratitude and remembrance, we wish you a meaningful Veterans Day.

Gary S. Rappaport
Co-President | Ardsley Historical Society

10/26/2025

Today (October 26, 2025) at 2 PM, the Ardsley Historical Society will present a public program at the Ardsley Public Library entitled:

Big Six: The 6th New York Heavy Artillery ("The Westchester Regiment") in the Civil War

Please join us!

10/14/2025

We are pleased to share with you a new Timepiece article, “Ardsley’s Unlikely Renaissance” which highlights a new era of civic and commercial vibrancy in Ardsley.

Ardsley is experiencing a profound transformation, a wave of change unprecedented in living memory. The sleepy village stereotype is shattered; Ardsley is roaring to life. A surge of civic momentum is crystallizing into concrete action: a new, state-of-the-art Department of Public Works facility wit

09/18/2025

In 1954, a WWII monument was dedicated at the old Ardsley Public School Building on Ashford Ave. for the 14 soldiers from Ardsley who died in that war. See the old pictures in this post. As we know, that building shut down soon after and students went to new locations, including Farm Road. The monument stayed up for a few years after, but then disappeared. A few years ago, the monument was somehow discovered burried in storage in a basement room at the current high school. The school and the historical society agreed that this symbol of Ardsley history has to be resurrected in order to honor those 14 that perished. So there is a plan in place to refurbish the monument and rededicate it (along with a garden and seating area) on Memorial Day next year on the current high school campus near the administration building. If you want to chip in a few bucks to help the cause, see the link below. You might have an old friend or family member that represented Ardsley in the military and this would be a great way to honor them. https://www.ardsleyhistoricalsociety.org/lewisohn...

08/15/2025

This August 15th marks the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, a moment that changed the world forever. As we reflect on this pivotal day in history, our thoughts turn especially to our community and the 14 young men from Ardsley who never came home.

Eight are buried in battlefield cemeteries scattered throughout Europe. Two, lost at sea, including Howard Secor, a honors graduate of the Ardsley High School Class of 1941, who sang in the choir at St. Barnabas Episcopal Church, and who was a veteran of the attack on Pearl Harbor, are remembered at the Tablets of the Missing in Lower Manhattan and the Philippines. These weren't distant heroes. They were neighbors, sons, husbands, and brothers who walked our streets and called Ardsley home. Their sacrifice ensured the freedoms we enjoy today.

A Living Memorial for Future Generations

Now, as America approaches its 250th birthday, we have a unique opportunity to honor the memory of the 14 in a meaningful way. The Lewisohn Memorial Garden will serve as both a tribute to our fallen heroes and a celebration of Ardsley's remarkable history with philanthropist Adolph Lewisohn, who in the 20th Century established a world-class horticultural showcase in Ardsley at his Heatherdell Farm estate, the current site of Ardsley High School.

Information about our plans for the Lewisohn Memorial Garden can be found in the article below and on our website under the Lewisohn link (https://www.ardsleyhistoricalsociety.org/lewisohn-memorial-garden), which contains our entire “Unearthing a Legacy” proposal. But your financial support is essential. These 14 young men deserve nothing less than our best effort to honor their sacrifice.

https://www.ardsleyhistoricalsociety.org/lewisohn-memorial-garden-press