Barons of Broadway #32
In this episode, we return to J.A. Bennet’s Gilded Age villa at 309 North Broadway, which Alvin Johnson acquired in 1918. His family lived there for the next ninety years. Johnson, the son of a Danish immigrant who brought his family to rural Nebraska in a prairie schooner, climbed the academic ladder from a one-room schoolhouse to a Ph.D. at Columbia University. He served as the first editor of The New Republic and co-founded the New School for Social Research in New York City.
Johnson boldly changed each of his seven children’s surnames back to Deyrup, his original Danish surname that an immigration official had altered because it was unfamiliar. Their seven home-schooled children each earned advanced degrees and excelled in their chosen fields.
The property included the old Bennet barn and a small house at the front, which they purchased. Around 1927, they moved the small house behind the barn, and that house is now #307. They transformed the barn into a very nice dwelling, now #305. By the time the Deyrups sold the property, the estate was run down and overgrown. Thanks to the new owners, a gut renovation restored the villa to its original form. A historical marker on North Broadway solidifies the unique history of this house.
Alvin Saunders Johnson’s Early Days
“He often recalled the lovely Nebraska dawns, the prairie chickens, and wildflowers, the geese flying south, and the meadowlarks.” — Felicia Deyrup, daughter, 1986
Felicia Deyrup, daughter, 1986
Alvin Johnson (1874–1971), born to a father who moved his family from Wisconsin to rural Nebraska in a prairie schooner, was a sturdy American pioneer—a direct, industrious man with a sense of fair play and purpose. His father, Jans Jenson Deyrup, arrived in America from Deyrup, Jutland, Denmark, in the 1850s. His name was changed to John Johnson during immigration. John Johnson and his family left Brooklyn for Madison, WI. He served in the Civil War for four years before coming home to an ailing wife.
In a story almost straight out of Willa Cather, Johnson moved the family west in a prairie schooner to join a Danish community in Homer, Nebraska, a rural area south of Sioux City, Iowa. Homer, Nebraska, platted in 1874, today is the home of 549 people. Aside from Alvin Johnson, Homer is known as the birthplace of James Capone, prohibition marshal and brother of Al Capone. The Johnsons’ first home was a log cabin. Unfortunately, Johnson’s ailing wife died soon after arriving in Homer.
Alvin Johnson’s mother, his father’s second wife, came to America to live with her aunt about one mile from John Johnson’s farm. Johnson married Edith Marie Katrina Bille from Fyn, Denmark, in 1874. They had four children; Alvin Johnson was born that year. Johnson remembers his mother as a staunch feminist.
Alvin Johnson, Educator
“He’s an institution. He’s a university in himself.”
Adlai Stevenson, 1969
As a child, Alvin Johnson loved the silence and distant horizons of the prairie. Yet his family brought the world to him.They encouraged him through home education since the local school was only open three months out of the year. His mother encouraged him to read Charles Dickens at an early age. Through hard work and study, Alvin Johnson entered and graduated from the University of Nebraska, studying the classics, Greek, Latin, and Sanskrit.
After graduation, Johnson volunteered for the army at the outbreak of the Spanish-American War, serving in Tennessee. Afterward, he set his sights on advanced degrees at Columbia University, receiving a Ph.D. in 1902 in economics. He taught at Columbia, then the Universities of Nebraska, Texas, Stanford, Cornell, and Chicago.
Johnson became an editor of The Political Science Quarterly, then the editor of The New Republic from 1918 to 1928. The left-leaning, intellectually rigorous journal began publishing in 1914. Johnson brought to the staff a new writer, Maxwell Anderson, who became Rockland County’s most famous playwright. He later edited the massive Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences. Along with everything else, he wrote novels, short stories, and was a Greek and Latin scholar.
Founding the New School
In 1918, Johnson co-founded the New School for Social Research in New York City with Columbia scholars Thorstein Veblen, John Dewey, James Harvey Robinson, and Wesley Clair Mitchell. He became its director in 1922 until 1945. Under his direction, the university thrived. It offered no degree and was theoretically open to anyone. Courses consisted of lectures and discussions with a focus on academic freedom and progressive thinking. Under his direction, the first courses in urban affairs, psychoanalysis, and race relations appeared.
Johnson helped save Central European Jewish scholars from the Nazis by forming what became known as the University in Exile at the New School in 1933. The New School was the only school in America to actively support scholars escaping Nazis.
The house plaque on North Broadway notes that in 1944, Johnson drafted the New York States’ Ives-Quinn Act that criminalized discrimination and became the basis for similar legislation through the United States.
Johnson retired from the New School in 1945 and lived out his days in Upper Nyack until his death in 1971. He received numerous awards in his later years. On his 95th birthday, he was celebrated at the Pierre Hotel for his work with the American Council of Emigres in the Professions (the University in Exile). The New School saluted Johnson with an 8 x 10-foot 96th birthday card hand-delivered to his home in Upper Nyack “with our affectionate greetings and gratitude.”
The Johnson Family in Nyack
In 1918, Alvin Johnson and his wife, Margaret Edith Henry, were residing in New York City with their five children. Margaret, whom Alvin had met at the University of Nebraska, held a Ph.D. from Barnard College. Seeking a suitable home for their growing family (two more children would be born later) in New York, they explored various options. Their ten-year-old daughter, Dorothy, expressed a desire for a permanent place by saying, “Parents, when you have found a place that suits you, buy it, so that I can have a garden.”
One day, Alvin came across a newspaper advertisement for a “Gentleman’s Estate on the Hudson.” Intrigued by the prospect of living near a river, he took the family to Nyack to view the property. The estate featured a large, albeit deteriorating, Queen Anne-style house set on three acres extending down to the river. The grounds were so overgrown that the children, running through the tall grass, appeared as mere waves moving through it. The Johnsons decided to spend their summers in Nyack while maintaining a residence on Riverside Drive in Morningside Heights during the school year.
Interior shots from a 2017 real estate advertisement.
Homeschooling at the Villa
Demonstrating their commitment to intellectual independence, the Johnsons chose to homeschool their children. This decision was influenced by their frequent relocations due to Alvin’s academic career, which made consistent schooling challenging. Additionally, negative experiences in Nyack schools, including the use of corporal punishment, reinforced their choice. When confronted by a truancy officer regarding their homeschooling, Mary Johnson addressed the issue with the head of Education in Albany, NY, resulting in the older children taking some examinations.
The backyard of 309 North Broadway offered lots of room for children to play. The backyard was once a quarry along with the adjoining Sarvent house.
Mary, an enterprising and organized woman, was well-suited for homeschooling. She and Alvin engaged the children in various educational activities, such as reading Latin plays (with Alvin translating), encouraging creative writing and illustration, and fostering a love for art and music. The children also learned about gardening and nature on the villa’s extensive grounds and visited museums to supplement their education. When college entrance exams approached, Mary focused on specific topics with each child to ensure their preparedness.
The Seven Successful Deyrup Children
The Johnsons’ dedication to education yielded remarkable results, as evidenced by the accomplishments of their seven children:
Dorothy Alden Deyrup (19097-1961)
Born in Palo Alto while her father taught at Stanford, Dorothy graduated from Barnard College and then studied at the Art Students League and the Grand Central Art School. Known for her oils, watercolors, and woodcuts she focused on the interplay of light. Her work appeared in many shows including “Hopper’s Hudson-100 Years of Hudson River Painting” at the Edward Hopper House in 2016.
Photograph of Dorothy Deyrup and two examples of her paintings.
Alden Johnson Deyrup (1909-1999)
Born in Chicago, Alden earned degrees in chemistry from Columbia University. He married Lenore Johnson, a dance instructor from Madison, Wisconsin, in 1935. The couple resided in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, where Alden worked as a research chemist for DuPont until his passing.
Thorold Johnson Deyrup (1913-1984)
Born in Ithaca, New York, Thorold married Beulah Curtis Ratliff in 1942, shortly before enlisting in the military. After serving until 1946, he utilized his Columbia law degree to work for the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., focusing on antitrust matters. Later, the family relocated to Manhattan.
Natalie Johnson Deyrup (1914-2007)
Also born in Ithaca, Natalie aspired to become a doctor from a young age. After graduating from Barnard in 1934, she earned her medical degree from Columbia in 1938. She completed a pediatrics residency in Chicago and joined the pediatric staff of Group Health in Washington, D.C. In 1961, she married Henry Venneman, an economist with the government. Natalie was an avid outdoors enthusiast and active member of the Audubon Society.
Felicia Johnson Deyrup (1917-2004)
Born in New York, Felicia attended Barnard and later received a Ph.D. in economics from Columbia. Her thesis, “Arms Maker of the Connecticut Valley,” was published subsequently. She taught at Brooklyn College for two years before joining the faculty at New College, where she taught economics for thirty-five years. In 1995, Felicia became Upper Nyack’s first female mayor, winning her first election by one vote while running as an independent. She served until 2003. A master gardener and horticulturist, she resided in the main house until her death.
Ingrith Johnson Deyrup (1919-2004)
Born in Englewood, New Jersey, Ingrith studied at Barnard and earned a Ph.D. in zoology from Columbia in 1944. She joined the University of Washington faculty in 1964, focusing her research on banana slugs with applications in cystic fibrosis. Known as the “Slug Lady,” she appeared on the David Letterman Show and the Bill Nye science show. Ingrith married Sigurd Olsen in 1964 and passed away in 2004.
Two photographs of Ingrith in 1979 and at a class reunion in 1955 on the left.
Astrith Johnson Deyrup (1923-2010)
The youngest of the seven, Astrith was born in Nyack in 1923. She had a passion for art and music, learning to play the flute and piano. After earning a master’s degree in music history from Barnard, she studied textile design at the Art Students League. In 1960, she began teaching batik at New College and authored several books on batik and tie-dyeing. Later, she explored enameling, with her work exhibited in various venues. Astrith lived in the family’s rental cottage, a small house moved to the rear of the property.
Two photos of Astrith at her cottage in 2006, a sample of one of her paintings, and a cover of one of her books.
The next generation of Deyrups has continued the family’s tradition of achievement.
A Preservation Worth Celebrating
In 2008, Denise Pagano and her husband acquired the Deyrup house from Astrith, undertaking an extensive renovation to restore it to its former glory. Despite challenges such as overgrown gardens, they preserved original features like the 1887 floors, pocket doors, embossed “lincrusta” ceilings and walls, stained glass windows, and multiple fireplaces with original Victorian tile work. Modern updates included advanced heating and cooling systems, central vacuum, intercom, alarm, camera, and speaker systems, as well as a home theater.
Their dedication to preservation has contributed to Upper Nyack’s appeal as a historic neighborhood. The villa stands today as a testament to U.S. Counsel James Bennet, intellectual leader Alvin Johnson, and Mary Johnson’s successful homeschooling of their seven children.
Mike Hays lived in the Nyacks for 38-years. He worked for McGraw-Hill Education in New York City for many years. Hays serves as President of the Historical Society of the Nyacks, Vice-President of the Edward Hopper House Museum & Study Center, and Upper Nyack Historian. . Married to Bernie Richey, he enjoys cycling and winters in Florida. You can follow him on Instagram as UpperNyackMike.
Editor’s note: This article is sponsored by Sun River Health and Ellis Sotheby’s International Realty. Sun River Health is a network of 43 Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) providing primary, dental, pediatric, OB-GYN, and behavioral health care to over 245,000 patients annually. Ellis Sotheby’s International Realty is the lower Hudson Valley’s Leader in Luxury. Located in the charming Hudson River village of Nyack, approximately 22 miles from New York City. Our agents are passionate about listing and selling extraordinary properties in the Lower Hudson Valley, including Rockland and Orange Counties, New York.
