Copyright © 2020 by Wendy Waszut-Barrett
In 1908 P. Dodd Ackerman delivered scenery for the musical farce “Too Many Wives.” The show featured Joe Morris and his company, with Ackerman designing and painting the settings at his Bushwick Avenue studio in Brooklyn. The play was later turned into a movie by 1937. I chuckled when I read the title of the show, as it foreshadowed the next decade for Ackerman. Ackerman’s scenic success was not necessarily reflective of his marital status; he would list three different wives by 1920. Ackerman seemed to always be in the right place at the right time for scenic work; just not with women.
On July 16, 1897, P. Dodd Ackerman married Marguerite “Margaret” Meyer in Manhattan, New York. The couple celebrated the birth of one daughter in 1899, Emma “Emmie” Bella Ackerman. At the time, the small family was living in Brooklyn, New York. However, the marriage was not meant to last. Although, the couple was still listed as living together in 1915, their marriage was on the rocks. In 1915 their daughter also graduated and began a life of her own. I have to wonder if the first Mrs. Ackerman lived the “if I can just hold on until my daughter graduates” mindset.
In 1916 Margaret M. Ackerman filed for a legal separation, asking for a $100 per week alimony. In the legal suit, Mrs. Ackerman submitted letters between her husband and daughter’s young friend May Smith. At the time, Philip Dodd Ackerman was 41 years old. Mrs. Ackerman filed proof of correspondence between his husband and Miss May/Mae Smith. Some newspapers announced, “Mrs. Philip Dodd Ackerman Charges Husband is overly friendly with Mae Smith, submits letters to girl” (Brooklyn Daily Eagle, 16 March 1916, page 2). The “Brooklyn Daily Eagle” article elaborated, “Mrs. Ackerman’s complaint is that her husband is over-friendly with a girl named Mae Smith, who is so young that she was introduced into the family originally as a companion to Miss Emmie Bell Ackerman, who is still in school. Ackerman and Miss Smith, the wife charges, live in the same house in Rockville Centre, L. I., and that Ackerman has made efforts to adopt her as his daughter. Ackerman, according to the charge, pays Miss Smith’s expenses. Ackerman and Miss Smith both deny the wife’s intimations, and Miss Smith says she is a stenographer, thoroughly capable of earning her own living and does not need Ackerman’s support, nor does she get it. The wife introduced in her affidavit for alimony some letters which she said her husband wrote to Miss Smith and which indicate a friendship which Ackerman was unable to break off, because of his fondness for the girl.” How horrifying for all, especially when your personal life makes headlines.
“The Standard Union” reported “Ackerman denies flatly any familiarity with May Smith. Who, he says, was brought into his home at Rockville Centre by his wife. The couple were married in 1897 and have one child, Emmie Bell Ackerman. The girl attended Packer Collegiate Institute up to the early part of the year, but Ackerman refused to pay her tuition longer, because, he said, her mother was continually keeping her home. Ackerman’s scenic studio is at 1576-80 Bushwick avenues, and he does work for the Schuberts. The couple lived at 499 Washington avenue, Brooklyn, also” (March 16, 1916, page 5).
The “Buffalo Times” published some of the letters allegedly written by Ackerman to Smith (24 March 1916, page 2). One, dated May 21st, 1915, read, “My Dear Little Girl: I hate to recall the sad-eyed look you gave me last night when we parted – I hope and pray only temporarily – but I want you to feel just as I told you, dear. I do not want to place you in a position wherein your mother is not aggregable to you; and yet, dear, I cannot give you up. I cannot do this. I love you so dearly. Forgive me writing you, dear. I cannot resist it. And possibly you want to forget me too, and yet I will do these things to you to ever remind you of me. Some sad, old day today. I am glad I have many things to think of, and I am sorry you have not too many things to do that would relieve your mind. With all the love in the world to you dear. Your sweetheart, PHILIP.”
In the same article Mrs. Ackerman asserted her that husband also wrote, “My Dear May: You little rascal. Here I have been in the studio all day and you did not call me up. Did you forget me, dear? It is nearly 6 and I am pounding away at a sketch. I would love to be with you, dear, but if I stick at this and finish it can be longer with you tomorrow.” Mrs. Ackerman further accused her husband of lavishing Miss Smith with vanity purses, hats and plumes. She also reported that Mrs. Ackerman believed her husband had introduced Miss Smith as his secretary, his cousin, his niece and even once as Mrs. Ackerman. She also added that he “got his mother to take out adoption papers for Miss Smith, so that the girl may pass as his daughter.” What a tale to tell the newspapers; it certainly brought the entire family into the public eye. In response to his wife’s accusations, Ackerman denied his wife’s charges and said that Miss Smith visited their home as Mrs. Ackerman’s friend. The newspaper article reported, “He admitted calling Miss Smith ‘my dear’ facetiously and only in his wife’s presence.”
Although Ackerman denied familiarity with the girl, two years later he listed Mrs. May Ackerman as his wife on his WWI draft registration card. The couple was residing at 140 West 39th St. At the time, his occupation was listed as a theatrical scenery manufacturer, running P. Dodd Ackerman Studios Inc., also at 140 West 39th, NY, NY. Ackerman’s physical appearance was described as medium height and medium build with light blue eyes and blond hair.
This had to have been an extremely awkward time for the Ackermans. As drama encircled the couple, their daughter was forging ahead in life, finding love and a marriage all her own.
In the midst of scandal, their daughter married Howard Turner in 1917. She is listed as Emma B., Emmie, Emily and Bell. in various historical records. Her wedding announcement in “Brooklyn Life” announced, “Miss Bell Ackerman’s marriage to Mr. Howard Turner has just been announced. The wedding took place in Jersey City on the thirteenth of last month. The bride is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Philip Dodd Ackerman, formerly of Rockville Centre, and a Packer girl of the class of 1915. Mr. and Mrs. Turner will reside at 275 Ocean Avenue” (Brooklyn Life, Oct. 17, 1917, Vol. LVI, No. 1441, page 15). She later remarried and was listed as Mrs. Fred Barrett at the time of her father’s passing.
To be continued…
