Mitchel
Mitchel names 2 different subjects across the 6 encyclopedias on this shelf. Each is set out below.
Mitchel JOHN PURROY, mayor of New York
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
JOHN PURROY, mayor of New York, 1914-1918; born in Fordham, N. Y., in 1879. Educated at Fordham and Columbia Colleges. Graduated from N. Y. Law School in 1901 and admitted to bar; became member of law firm, Mitchel & Millan. Appointed special counsel to city of New York in 1906; Commissioner of Accounts, 1907; investigated borough presidents of Manhattan , Brooklyn, and Bronx, mayor's license bureau and other departments, and prosecuted city's case against a number of officials. Elected President of the Board of Aldermen for 1909-1913, and was acting Mayor during 1910. In 1913 was made Collector of Port by President Wilson, and was elected Mayor on Fusion ticket, November, 1913. When World War broke out, came out strongly on side for re-election as Mayor in November, 1917, he was defeated by John Hylan. Later entered the aviation forces of the United States, and was killed on July 6, 1918, at the aviation camps at Lake Charles, La., by a fall from an aeroplane. During 1920 various projects have been under consideration to commemorate his name.
Mitchel JOHN, an Irish patriot
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
JOHN, an Irish patriot; born the son of a Presbyterian minister , in Dungiven, County Derry, Ireland, Nov. 3, 1815. Soon after the formation of the Young Ireland party, and the starting of the "Nation," in 1842 , Mitchel began to contribute, and became assistant editor. In 1848 Mitchel started the "United Irishman." For his violent articles he was tried on a charge of treason-felony and sentenced to 14 years ' transportation. He was sent to Van Dieman's Land, whence he made his escape to the United States in 1853. Books were: "Life of Hugh O'Neill, Prince of Ulster" (1845 ); "History of Ireland from the Treaty of Limerick" (1868). In 1874 he returned unmolested to Ireland, and was elected to Parliament for Tipperary , but declared ineligible. Again elected, he died in Cork, Ireland, March 20, 1875.
What Has Changed in the Last Century
Collier's noted in 1921 that "various projects have been under consideration to commemorate" the young mayor killed in a 1918 training flight at Lake Charles; the chief result was Mitchel Field on Long Island, an Army air base that operated until 1961 and whose grounds now hold Hofstra University buildings, Nassau Community College and the arena site at Uniondale, plus a memorial to him at the Fifth Avenue entrance to Central Park at 90th Street. What Collier's does not say in either entry is that the two Mitchels were relatives: the mayor was a grandson of the Irish patriot. The reputation of that grandfather has moved furthest. Where Collier's lists only his Young Ireland journalism, his transportation to Van Diemen's Land and his histories, modern accounts give equal weight to his years in America as an outspoken defender of slavery and supporter of the Confederacy, which has made him a contested figure in Irish commemoration rather than a straightforward hero; his prison memoir, the "Jail Journal" of 1854, unmentioned here, is now usually treated as his most-read book.
Written for this edition, 2026.