By Bill Twomey
The East Bronx History Forum will present the history of the New York Catholic Protectory at their next meeting to be held at the Huntington Free Library on Wednesday, November 18, at 7:30 p.m. Professor Janet Butler Munch of Lehman College will be the speaker. The professor also runs the special collection library at the college and is well versed on the history of the Protectory. This lecture is open to the public and there is no admission charge.
The Protectory was in existence at the 114-acre site from 1863 to 1938 and should be recalled by many old-timers from the community. It played a very prominent role in the community during that time period as their marching band performed in all the local parades and their printing shop provided a great service to the area. It is appropriate that the lecture will be given at the Huntington Free Library as the Protectory band performed at the 1891 grand opening ceremonies of the library and their printing shop provided the souvenir booklet distributed at that day. When it left the area in 1938 the grounds were purchased by the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company who erected the 58-building complex that we know as Parkchester. The first tenants moved in on March 1, 1940.
The library is located at 9 Westchester Square. For more info call (718) 829-7770.
