June 8, 2007

Ms. Sally A. Graham has presented a most generous check for $54,500.00 to the Baldwin Foundation for Education in memory of her parents, Adolph and Dorothy Eckhardt. “The selection of the BFE to carry out their wishes to assist and further the educational and civic needs of the Baldwin community is a great honor and sincerely appreciated,” said Sheila Cohen, BFE president. Its members believe that their grants to Baldwin teachers and classrooms and scholarships to worthy students make BFE a worthy choice for the Eckhardt family’s generosity.

A $2000 Adolph & Dorothy Eckhardt Memorial Scholarship for a graduating Baldwin High School senior will be awarded at the annual Senior High School Awards Assembly in June each year. The criteria for the scholarship would include: a commitment to learning and higher education, participation in school extra curricular activities, good academic standing, economic and financial need, and acceptance to a college or university.

This generous donation, and with it, the ability to help a worthy and needy student with The Adolph & Dorothy Eckhardt Memorial Scholarship, is a fitting memorial to people who were such dedicated and respected supporters of the Baldwin community and its history.

Adolph J. Eckhardt was born in New York City on April 4, 1911. His family moved to Baldwin in 1913. Mr. Eckhardt’s family settled on Church Street and Verity Lane in South Baldwin. The family ran a feed, grain and coal business from that location. Mr. Eckhardt married Dorothy M. Reynolds from Oneonta, New York in 1934.

Prior to her marriage, Dorothy J. Reynolds excelled in high school and college in Oneonta, majoring in English, literature and journalism. In the early 1930’s Arthur E. Newton, Baldwin’s Superintendent of Schools, came to Oneonta to interview seniors for prospective teaching jobs in Baldwin. Ms. Reynolds was quickly hired and was soon teaching English to 7th and 8th graders in Baldwin Junior High School. While teaching, she attended Journalism School at Columbia University. She later studied speech, communication and literature at NYU, graduating with a B.S. in Education.

Following their marriage, Adolph attended Brooklyn Law School, graduating with a Master of Law degree, and was admitted to the Bar in 1939.

After Law School, Adolph accepted a commission in the U.S. Army as a 2nd Lieutenant. He went on duty attached to the Quartermaster Division, soon attaining the rank of Major and Quartermaster of Mitchel Field.

When World War II ended, Mr. Eckhardt began his law practice in 1948 in a building he constructed on Grand Avenue. Mr. and Mrs. Eckhardt traveled extensively. After retiring from the active practice of law in 1990, Mr. Eckhardt began writing about the history of Baldwin. In 1997 his book entitled “Tales of Old Baldwin” was edited and published with the help of his wife Dorothy.

Mr. Eckhardt died on July 14, 2005 and his wife Dorothy died on May 22, 2006.