On this date in ...
1919: Catherine Dunn, 21, of Loudonville, was nearly assaulted two times over the course of a month by the same unknown man as she walked down North Albany streets after leaving work, but managed to escape each time. Two weeks after the last attack, she was again leaving her job at the Albany Perforated Wrapping Paper Company when she spotted the man getting onto a trolley car bound for Troy. She attempted to get on the same car, but couldn’t reach it in time, so she jumped on the next one and told the conductor her situation. He sped his car along the tracks until he caught up to the first one. Dunn then exited the second car and entered the first, brandishing a revolver as she searched for the man. The assailant jumped from the car and she followed suit, firing three shots at him before he escaped behind a nearby house.
1969: A special committee to the governor proposed a broad program of education, recruitment and training to get more young blacks and Puerto Ricans jobs in the state’s newspapers and broadcast studios. Saying that “few substantial inroads had been made in increasing minority group representation in the news media,” the group proposed communications firms and trade associations do more to increase interest in high school students through films and printed material, that New York City establish a High School of the Communications Arts, more summer jobs and internships for minorities and more scholarships. 1994: Two years ago, a wellknown local musician, music educator and Cohoes native died, but his legacy lived on through the city school district. A music scholarship fund was established in 1992 at Cohoes High School in memory of Al Mastren, whose full name was Alex Mastandrea. Funds were raised with proceeds from a memorial concert for awards to deserving seniors who planned to pursue music studies. The concert was held again last year, and the effort would continue this year.
Want to read more about the Capital Region’s past? Have any memories or thoughts about how our history relates to today’s events? See http://blog. timesunion.com/history/