BETHLEHEM — All was quiet and dark in Albany County on Jan. 5, 1942. Blackout curtains were drawn, and an instant silence fell over the town. In Bethlehem, this occurrence was not uncommon, but it was another part of life that the Bethlehem Historical Association’s (BHA) Museum’s 1940s exhibit now shows to visitors.
“‘From the time the alarm came at 9:15 p.m. until 9:49, the half hour showed complete darkness throughout the area… lights were out in homes and business places almost immediately,” reported the Albany County Post excerpt that hangs on the museum wall. The blackout was deemed a success. “Of the four blackout tests, Monday night’s was the longest and perhaps the most efficient.”
Town Historian William Ketzer noted, “This is why historic archive retention is so important because, in truth, Bethlehem’s activities related to World War II and life in the 1940s are generally well documented in local newspapers of the time like the Albany County Post and provide an excellent view into how our families, businesses, and local government were impacted.”
“Big blackout here Monday night,” wrote Monfort Paige of Delmar to his daughter Martha Jeanne Paige in a letter dated Jan. 9, 1942. Martha Jeanne Paige was one of the many residents trained in spotting enemy aircraft. Montfort Paige made light of the situation, adding, “Mother and I will probably duck the whole thing and go to a movie, the show must go on, as you know.”
On display at the BHA’s museum is the plaid skirt and blouse that belonged to Martha Jeanne Paige, possibly worn as office attire. Her clothes and family items are a fitting accompaniment for the BHA exhibit that recreates daily life on the home front.
“The 1940s were a transformative era that BHA had not previously explored in an exhibit,” said Susan Leath, local historian and president of the Bethlehem Historical Association. “Our exhibits committee wondered about the impacts that the global event of World War II had right here in Bethlehem. … We also noted that the war ended in 1945. What about Bethlehem towards the end of the decade?”
Visitors to the BHA can tangibly interact with the history, from letters on Paige’s display desk to local resident Edna LaPorte Strumpf’s donated outfit and Red Cross first aid items from her time in the service. Each item is carefully curated to provide visitors with a glimpse of the era.
“We created a cozy living room scene where you can imagine yourself seated before the radio listening to the news,” said Leath.
A side table holds ration books and letters from overseas, and a war service flag with stars adorning the wall represents someone in the family serving in the war effort.
“A simple office desk setup leads visitors to wonder about how conducting business has changed,” said Leath. “There is no computer in sight. But there is an ashtray. People forget just how common smoking was back then.”
Two particular items carry meaning for Leath.
“I especially like the scrapbook kept by Mrs. Johnson, a teacher in South Bethlehem and Selkirk,” said Leath. “She called it ‘Her Boys in Service,’ and it included several girls too.”
“I also like the Voices of Victory record, where John Keleher of Bethlehem recorded a message to his wife, Edith, while serving in the South Pacific with the Navy Seabees,” she added.
On the record cover is a whimsical drawing of himself on a beach. Titled “To My Dolly” from “Your John,” Keleher wishes her a merry Christmas.
“I imagine her with her record player in a cozy living room like our setup, listening to the voice of her husband so far away,” said Leath.
Overseas, former town historian Lt. T. Edmund Mulligan Jr. was having his own brush with history. While the initial news reports home simply stated that he was “shot down over Germany and previously listed as missing in action,” his unpublished memoir is a methodical testament to his time enlisted. The memoir’s graphic description of the plane crash is a firsthand eyewitness report that, according to Ketzer, is very rare.
“While it is not unusual for local historians to capture the memories of war veterans, it is far less common that these memories are the historian’s own as a Nazi prisoner of war. Mulligan’s archival record of that experience contains a vivid account of his B-17 getting shot down by Hitler’s Luftwaffe on a bombing raid over Belgium,” said Ketzer.
“Jump I must and jump I did,” recounted Mulligan in his notes regarding his ejection from the crashing plane. He added about opening his parachute: “There was a sharp jerk and a silence the like of which I have never experienced in my life.”
“We’re so happy we don’t know what to do,” said Mulligan’s mother to The Knickerbocker News. It updated readers on his status as alive and safe in Germany after the crash and where he would remain as a prisoner of war in the same camp that inspired the 1963 film “The Great Escape.” “We were so afraid to open the telegram last night because we thought it might be something different.”
Mulligan’s writings on his whole experience are “written almost as prose, and based on his notes, he intended to include it in a book, which sadly never happened to my knowledge,” said Ketzer. “It is even rarer still to have a first-hand narrative of serving with a celebrity; Clark Gable (of ‘Gone With the Wind’ fame) was a captain who flew missions with Mulligan’s 59th Squadron of the 303rd Heavy Bomb Group.”
These narratives of 1940s Bethlehem, from letters to loved ones to hidden-away memoirs, chronicle an evolving decade in the community. The BHA Museum’s exhibit aims to contextualize this time of immense change.
“From its founding until well into the 20th century, it was generally white male property owners involved in holding elected offices and driving policy,” explained Ketzer.
With a few exceptions, like the Delmar Progress Club, which consisted of dedicated women responsible for maintaining the community, many residents were less inclined to be involved in the community unless they had a tangible investment in land or business. However, this would change within the 1940s.
“The 1940s was a pivotal era for Americans in so many ways, and our communities were part of that shared experience during and after the war,” he added.
Specific to Bethlehem, it was the era “where our tradition of community engagement became more widespread,” said Ketzer.
From then to now, the legacy of the 1940s has strongly shaped the modern community.
“There’s that longtime adage about those ignoring history being doomed to repeat it, which is true in some respects but ignores times when repeating is a good thing,” noted Ketzer. “More importantly to me, however, history provides important context as to how and why something looks, sounds, feels and works the way it does today.”
“We can learn from what previous generations experienced and perhaps be encouraged to endure what we are experiencing today. And we can be inspired to make changes for the future,” said Leath. “Local museums like ours bring that right down to our particular time and place, Bethlehem, New York.”
The BHA Museum is open to visitors on Sunday afternoons and is located at the Cedar Hill Schoolhouse on 1003 River Road, Selkirk. For information, visit bethlehemhistorical.org.
This story was featured on page 1 of the December 27, 2023 print edition of the Spotlight.
