Michael & Elizabeth CAVANAUGH

And in the End . . .

Fort Slocum is now gone.

2009 marks the centennial of the last major wave of construction at Ft. Slocum. In the year 1909 appeared the new post HQ, Raymond Hall, the Chapel of St. Sebastian, and the YMCA. Yet none of these buildings survives to mark the occasion. For none of the buildings survives, whatsoever. In 2008, the US Army Corps of Engineers removed the last remnants of this historic post. Now, for the first time since before the Civil War, there is nothing to be seen of Davids’ Island from the mainland -- except the rock itself.

The process began in March 2005 and was projected to run at least until 2013. It was a process of historic documentation, abatement of hazardous waste and possible preservation of historic structures. The process became a juggernaut (rolling right over those of us on the preservation side -- almost to the end it looked like some structures might be saved, and that there would be years of debate ahead), picked up funding faster than predicted, and in the end defined almost all structures (however historic) as hazardous waste, all to be removed. USACE was the instrument; the City of New Rochelle, as property owner, made the decision to destroy it all. Little more than 3 years later, it was all a done deal.

At some point during the process I remarked (tongue-in-cheek, or so I imagined) that the tail of what was doable, was beginning to wag the dog of what was historically significant; so that in the end, we would be in danger of leaving only the remnants of the coast artillery phase simply because they are the hardest to remove, and that for any future visitors to the site, this would badly distort the overall history of the military occupation of Davids’ Island.

In fact this is exactly what happened. The only physical remnants of the post are the 25-ton Rodman gun; and the remainder of 3 of 4 solid concrete pits of the Abbot Quad built for mortars, and one earlier artillery battery, in the 1890’s; and the road system. (In the name of avoiding liability, I am told, chicken wire will be placed over the muzzle of the Rodman, and entrances to the mortar battery will be sealed. This mocks even the little history that is left.)

Funds were expended on destruction; nothing was done on landscaping (for instance, to reopen the historic parade ground, now overgrown with trees). Brush was removed only insofar as expedient to move around heavy equipment. It is altogether possible that the poison ivy which has taken over the SE corner of the island, will in future spread more widely. So the result is (to paraphrase Barbara Davis) it is not even left in a State of Nature, but simply as urbanized space gone to jungle.

On paper, the plan was for USACE to remove hazardous wastes, and then New Rochelle would sell the property to Westchester County for a park. Whether or not this will happen remains to be seen. Despite the fact that a number of influential developers have been beaten back (including Donald Trump, most recently) by the very real difficulty of getting Federal permission for a bridge to the island, and despite the fact that in the meantime the Sound has become more overdeveloped and more polluted than before, it is not impossible that yet another ambitious developer may try to acquire the real estate with an eye to building a large, high-impact development.

My crystal ball tells me that one of two outcomes is possible. Either no one will ever again inhabit Davids’ Island. Or else, one very rich person (family) will. There is a market for private islands, and anyone rich enough to buy this one would be rich enough to provide their own boat & helicopter service to the mainland. In the eyes of the present owners, a motivated private buyer might well trump an unmotivated County.

As to use by the general public, despite the fact that it is empty, despite the fact that any hazardous materials have been abated (since the entire post has been abated!), it is not yet a park. For the moment New Rochelle, the owner, forbids any access except by special permission, and its Harbor Patrol enforces this prohibition.

The real estate history of Davids’ Island is that (to paraphrase the Conch Republic of Key West), “it seceded where others failed.” Just about the time South Carolina was leaving the Union, Davids’ Island was seceding from Westchester County. It was under Federal control, as a military reservation, until 1965. Thereafter, although it was returned to local control, the effect of secession continued, as the possibilities for its development remained under Federal regulation. In the interim, had it been on the open market, it might well have been developed; if there was a bridge to Brooklyn by 1883, there might well have been one to Davids’ Island.

Sour grapes? We have lost the physical Fort Slocum; gone forever. In March 2008 I walked the island, and could still see most of the remnants; in December, after even the water tower was gone, I walked the island again and (though I know the layout of Ft Slocum like the back of my hand) I became greatly disoriented. On the other hand, had Davids’ Island been developed by Con Ed in the 1970’s or Xanadu in the 1980’s or Trump in the 1990’s, Fort Slocum would have been swept away equally but 1) with some monstrosity put in its place and 2) with no respect whatsoever for its history. Because the destruction was part of a Federal process, it was also subject to the ordinary Federal regulations regarding history and archaeology. As remediation for the physical destruction, USACE was required to leave some compensation in place.

As a result, posterity receives:

More archaeological documentation of the Siwanoy tribal occupation before the European settlement of the island;
5,000+ photos and maps from various stages in its development by the U.S. Army, all in easily accessible digital format;
A virtual archive and repository of these images and other artifacts;
Soon (moved up to early October 2009) a website to make these available, developed by USACE and maintained by New Rochelle & Westchester County;
Eventually, a book-length history of Davids’ Island and Fort Slocum.

In the end (as Bob Sisk points out), Fort Slocum may turn out to be the best-documented Army post ever.

That’s the good news. The bad news is, like the village of Ben Tre in Vietnam, it became necessary to destroy it in order to save it.

The thing which most surprised me is the sheer number of photos and maps, and the rapidity with which they were collected. We started 6 years ago with maybe 2 dozen, black & white, mainly out of focus. I thought, maybe we might get as much as 100. Some that we have collected had been scattered in public archives, but many have come from private sources, such as former residents including members of the Ft Slocum Alumni & Friends and/or appearance on the open market (particularly eBay, but also the web in general). More continue to trickle in, and gaps remain to be filled. For example, in January this year I managed to turn up 12 photos of De Camp General Hospital, which occupied Davids’ Island during the Civil War. Previously we had maps and even an aerial view, but never before ground-level photographs.

             The web list of Ft. Slocum Alumni & Friends began in Feb. 2003 and has snowballed to around 100 members (with varying degrees of attachment).

     We are a motley collection of ex-GI's, Army brats, mommies (daddies alas have tended to die) and also local Westchester County residents who also are attached to our old island home.    Spanning the 1920's to the 1960's, not everyone knew everybody else.   Our members are like scales on a fish:   the fish needs all its scales, but each scale only overlaps with a few more scales at most.   (Still, all the scales have the fish in common.)

    Over that time members have contributed their own photos and anecdotes.   I myself have finished about 4 of a projected 9 chapters of a full-length history of Davids' Island and Ft. Slocum.



            So the full history of Davids' Island including its nearly century-long occupation by the Army has yet to be written; but it seems safe to say it was something like "the Ellis Island of the U.S. Army." It was a hospital for both Federal and Confederate soldiers (and a prison camp for the latter) during the Civil War.   From 1878 through 1922 it was a major recruit depot; in WWII it was a staging area for shipping troops to the European Theater of Operations. It was home to a series of Army schools. Across its historic docks have passed hundreds of thousands and more, some obscure, some notable. Gen. Abner Doubleday was CO in 1866, with one 2/Lt Arthur MacArthur under his command. In 1880 it was visited by Secretary of War Alexander Ramsey, Gen. of the Army William T. Sherman, and Maj/Gen Winfield Scott Hancock, commander of the Department of the East.   Frederic Remington sketched there in the 1890's; in 1902 it was the second assignment out of VMI for 2/Lt George C. Marshall; in 1905 the "Dook of Ft. Slocum," the Hon. Arthur Reginald French, later 5th Baron de Freyne, was there as a Pvt. in Co. A, 8th Inf.; Eleanor Roosevelt and Francis Cardinal Spellman visited in 1951. As Phil Reisman (a Westchester journalist who has covered Davids' Island over the years) put it, Davids’ Island has been "a crossroads for several generations of soldiers sent to fight Apaches, the Spanish and Germans" -- not to forget the CSA nor the NVA.

       On the subject of press coverage, in addition to Phil's article above, and some coverage in the New York Times, Ken Valenti also published in the Journal News an article drawing on some of his interviews with our members: Joanne (Gebhard) Geer, daughter of the WWII post chaplain; Doug Looney, journalist & instructor at the Information School 1963-65; Richard Lowery, radar operator with the Nike battery 1958-60; and Bob Sisk, a retired NCO and son of the long-time Chaplain School 1st/Sgt who lived on the island 1951-58.

            More recently, Ken Valenti and Aman Ali have provided coverage for the Journal News.

       We also welcome our allies in the Coast Defense Study Group (CDSG; visit them at www.cdsg.org).   Bolling Smith in particular had provided lots of information about the post.      Briefly around the turn of the last century Davids' Island hosted 2 batteries comprising 16 mortars, 2 more batteries with 5" and 6" direct fire guns, and several other guns including a formidable 15" Rodman gun which remains even today on the island. There is perhaps no one alive who remembers those days when little Fort Slocum was positively fierce. It was not always the tranquil campus we remember. (See the current Slocum Features page for more on the artillery.)

     The Chaplain School was at Slocum from 1951-1962. After several changes of organization and venue the U. S. Army Chaplain Center and School is now at Ft. Jackson, where the Chaplain Museum (founded at Slocum in 1958) is also.   As of 2008 ground was broken at Ft. Jackson to relocate the Navy & Air Force Chaplain Schools there into a joint Armed Forces Chaplaincy Center. Their web site is www.usachcs.army.mil.   Chaplain (Col.) Chuck Gibbs (Ret.) maintains a weblist for retired chaplains; those associated with the School are invited to email him at cgibbs1@bizsatx.rr.com.

     From 1951-1965 the Information School (variously known as the Army Information School (1946-48, 1954-64), Armed Forces Information School [1948-54], and Defense Information School [1964-present]) was also at Slocum. They too have moved a bit but are now at Fort George G. Meade. Their alumni association is at www.dinfosalum.org.

            The Spanish-American War Centennial website has kindly agreed to host two articles about Fort Slocum during that war, which will also soon appear in the beta version of The Fort Slocum Reader. "How the Private Fooled the Captain" first appeared in the Washington Post in 1904;   it concerns the 22nd NY Volunteers, stationed at Fort Slocum during 1898. It may be read at http://www.spanamwar.com/22newyorkdance.htm.    "War Kites at Glen Island" first appeared in the New York Times in 1898; it concerns the experimental bombing of Fort Slocum and an early attempt at aerial photography. It is at http://www.spanamwar.com/warkites.htm.

            Harold Crocker, a long-time Westchester resident whose parents were married in the post chapel in 1946, maintains a Ft. Slocum website at http://www.geocities.com/hcftslocum/index.html. Phil Buehler, a Manhattan photographer and filmmaker with an interest in documenting modern ruins, has posted (note: now, 2 separate Davids' Island groups: 1998/9, & 1983) some of his photos of the island at http://www.modern-ruins.com/attractions/davids.html.   Rob Yasinsac of Tarrytown, who also has an interest in historic ruins in the region, has posted some photos on his website www.hudsonvalleyruins.org.  Marie Lorenz, a Brooklyn-based artist, runs an idiosyncratic "taxi" service using small boats she builds by hand;   one such run, out to Davids' Island recently, is documented on her website, http://www.marielorenz.com/inprogress/?p=1212. Tito Rosario, former San Juan coffee merchant (now living in Richmond, VA) and former resident of Quarters 23A, started a Slocum chat room on his website,  http://gicco.com/Slocum/chat.html.  He has added a blog feature: http://www.gicco.com/wordpress/.

            George Willhite, who was at the Info School in the early 1960's, organized the first Slocum reunion in 2006.   The 2007 reunion took place on 13 Sept., and involved a trip back to the island.   You can contact George at Slocumreunion@aol.com.   Harold Crocker has posted photos of that trip at http://www.flickr.com/photos/fort_slocum/.   Bill Waterhouse is trying to organize a larger reunion for 2009;   contact him at slocumreunion@yahoo.com.

            For the Brat constituency:    many of us will know the classic novel and film, The Great Santini, by Pat Conroy. If Conroy is the godfather of it all, the reigning doyenne of brat studies surely must be Mary Edwards Wertsch.   Her pioneering work, Military Brats:   Legacies of Childhood Inside the Fortress, is a must-read.   Where Conroy's portrait of Lt/Col "Bull" Meecham is bitter, Wertsch's take is deliberately bittersweet:   there are upsides and downsides, and all sorts of ongoing tensions (destructive, creative), to growing up Brat and then to living the rest of one's life outside the fortress.   Full of insights into culture and social relations (e.g., different attitudes to regulations by officers & NCO's and how NCO's often become master of the master) as well as to the development and maintenance of identity.   Cf. also Wertsch's blog, http://bratblog.brightwellpublishing.net/.  Wertsch's fortress metaphor also informs the recent film by Donna Musil, “Brats: Our Journey Home,” sometimes informally known as the "bratsfilm" (cf. http://www.bratsourjourneyhome.com/).   See the website for screening dates around the world;   some people find it’s useful to watch it at these gatherings with other brats, but it is also available on DVD for viewing at home.

            Our alumna Judi (Forquer) Runyon has passed along a link: someone is manufacturing Ft Slocum coffee mugs. These are not period pieces but modern products; and with no commercial endorsement, but FYI, you might contact Rich Rizzo,

http://www.zazzle.com/fort_slocum_ny_mug-168797143012126418.

     In July 2009 look for a documentary on HBO called "Shouting Fire: Stories from the Edge of Free Speech."   It is an interview with civil rights lawyer Martin Garbus, who got his start at Ft. Slocum. (For more, see Slocum Features page.)