EDNA EGBERT BATTLES THE POLICE (1942)
Brownstone Detectives investigates the history of our clients’ homes.
The story you are about to read was composed from research conducted in the course of one of those investigations.
Do you know the history of YOUR house?
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I can never get enough of these pictures.
The black & white snapshot above was from the New York Daily News archive – the blending of past and present within the shot was done by Marc Hermann, the Daily News’ one-time archive historian.
These “overlappings” are the epitome of blending our rich history into our busy present.
In this particular picture above, a photograph from the 1940s is morphed onto a present-day shot of the same building.
It leaves you thinking, “Wow – whoulda thunk that this happened on that spot?”
MRS. EGBERT CLIMBS THE LEDGE
The lady in the picture with the mirror held above her head – that was Mrs. Edna Egbert. The photographer caught her in the ready-to-swing position, as a cop gets ready to dodge.
The year was 1942 and Mrs. Egbert was living in the building at the time – No. 497 Dean Street (just in the next block from the Barclay’s Center today). But what made Mrs. Egbert go out onto the ledge? She was clearly distraught – but why?
Mrs. Egbert, apparently, had a reason.
In the past, year her son, Fred, had gotten married, joined the army, and had not written to his mother a single time since. As any mother in this predicament would tell you, with the war raging on, she must have presumed her son was dead.
So, out of frustration, nervousness, or fear, she climbed out onto her ledge and announced, “I’m going to jump!”
Until the police came.
AND SO THE POLICE ARRIVE
The hero in this drama was the first policeman to arrive on the scene. He kept Mrs. Egbert on her ledge by talking with her for 25 minutes or so until his fellow officers could rig up a net below her window ledge.
Without the net, it was unlikely – unless Mrs. Egbert took a swandive – that she was going to do more than break a leg (or a hip) by jumping.
But the cops weren’t taking any chances. The woman’s house had a sharp spiky fence out front that could have made things nasty if she got a good jump and landed just right.
Meanwhile, a crowd of 600 people gathered below on the street in front of the house, according to the Daily News, as officers Ed Murphy and George Munday tried to persuade her to go back into her building.
Mrs. Egbert, though, was brandishing that mirror and, by now, she had started swinging it at them.
Finally, as one of the officers grabbed at her wrist, Mrs. Egbert took the leap, landing safely in the police net, whereupon she was taken to Bellevue for observation.
OTHER MANIPULATED PHOTOGRAPHS
Marc A. Hermann, historian at the New York Press, has a set of similarly magnificent manipulated photographs from New York’s past HERE.
The Brownstone Detectives, has taken a stab at a few magnificent manipulations ourselves – HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE.
Happy viewing!
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Brownstone Detectives is an historic property research agency. Our mission is to document and save the histories of our clients’ homes. From our research, we produce our celebrated House History Books and House History Reports. Contact us today to begin discovering the history of your home.
