Tarrytown’s 158-year-old Men’s Club Elects First Black President

Tony McFadden’s inauguration as president of the Young Men’s Lyceum in Tarrytown marked a historic moment for the venerable organization, but perhaps an even more meaningful moment for McFadden himself.  

McFadden’s uncle, Donald Smith, a busboy and waiter at the Lyceum in the late 1950s, was denied membership because he was Black, he said. 

He called his inauguration “a celebratory moment for my uncle who’s resting in peace, my dad, my family, myself.” 

“It was a historic night for not only Lyceum but all those members, all those men who can actually tell their children that they were part of something special and they actually did something that shows there is a lot of cultural diversity, not only in Tarrytown and in the state but in the country,” McFadden said. “It’s not as divided as the national news media and the politicians want to play out. My determination is to change that, one little, tiny step at a time.” 

Adding more significance was that McFadden’s inauguration was held on Juneteenth, the holiday commemorating the abolition of slavery in the United States. 

In the audience on June 19 was McFadden’s cousin and man he considers a mentor, Donald Whitely, Tarrytown’s first Black elected official, who serves on the Lyceum Board. 

 “A hundred and fifty-eight years is too long to keep it all white,” McFadden said about the presidency of the Lyceum, which was founded in 1866. 

McFadden grew up in Tarrytown and North Tarrytown, now Sleepy Hollow, and was inducted last fall into the Sports Hall of Fame at Sleepy Hollow High School, where he excelled in football, basketball and track. 

McFadden, 62, retired after a career as a clinical case therapist in psychiatric prisons for New York State and then for the Veterans Administration working with people with substance abuse and psychiatric issues. In retirement, he’s a fly-fishing instructor and has his own cigar line. 

He’ll serve a two-year, unpaid term leading the nonprofit. 

Longtime Lyceum member Myles Birrittella has known McFadden since they met during their freshman year at Sleepy Hollow High School in 1977.  

“His caring, thoughtful personality as well as his commitment to his friends, community and teamwork will serve him well and benefit the membership of the Young Men’s Lyceum for many years to come,” Birrittella wrote in a letter to immediate past President Justin Matteo.  

McFadden plans to continue Matteo’s efforts toward “keeping this place going and keeping it alive,” and to negotiate a favorable lease for the organization’s headquarters at 1 Central Ave.  

“I want to develop programs around education, culture and physical fitness,” he said. “I want to incorporate more of a family atmosphere with the Lyceum Club, not only members but extended family, women and children included.” 

That won’t mean opening membership to women, he added. 

“Men do need a place of their own, and not always the garage or basement,” McFadden said. 

Past and Present

The Young Men’s Lyceum was established on June 22, 1866, and its members have included local merchants, doctors, lawyers and businessmen. Originally for registered Republicans, membership later opened to include registered Democrats, according to the website. 

The Lyceum was founded as a social and educational organization that focused on physical fitness while promoting intellectual pursuits through apprenticeships.  

Matteo spent much of his tenure recruiting new members in an effort to keep the Lyceum from closing its doors, as a variety of factors have significantly increased its operating costs, he said.

The current membership is 110, which is about 30 percent nonwhite. 

Woodrow Wilson gave a series of six lectures at the Lyceum in late October through November of 1911 before he was president. In 1871 at the age of 13, Theodore Roosevelt attended a lecture at the Lyceum for a talk by the American naturalist John Burroughs. 

Members must be at least 25 years of age and there is no limit beyond that. The Lyceum’s annual dues are $400 plus a one-time initiation fee of $150. There is a member in respite rate (half annual dues) for those outside a 100-mile radius from the Lyceum. Visit youngmenslyceum.org for more information.