On October 22, 1936, accompanied by his wife Eleanor, who ordinarily shunned such trips, Franklin Roosevelt rode through Middletown’s Sicilian neighborhood; passed St. John’s Church, historic sanctuary of the Irish; slowed momentarily at St. Aloysius’ Hall, a temperance hall temporarily turned into headquarters for the Remington Rand machinists; and continued up flag-draped Main Street, accompanied by the blaring trumpets and saxophones of two high school marching bands and the beat of an American Legion post’s drum corps. Twenty thousand men, women, and children lined the street, cheering, yelling, whistling, and ringing bells. … In a gracious brief speech, FDR expressed great sympathy for the victims of the flood and promised, “We’re going to take care of this little creek.”
—”Middletown’s Barons and the End of the WASP Ascendancy,” an unpublished essay by Ron Schatz