July 29: Alice Hathaway Lee Roosevelt

July 29: Alice Hathaway Lee Roosevelt, wife of future President Theodore Roosevelt, was born on this date in 1861; she died on Valentine’s Day, 1884, of Bright’s Disease, brought on by child birth.

July 27: Mary Marr Platt

July 27: Mary Marr Platt, movie producer, production designer, and screenwriter, with “The Last Picture Show,” “Paper Moon,” “Bad News Bears,” “Terms of Endearment” and others to her credit, died on this date in 2011.

July 24: Townsend Harris

July 24: On this date in 1986, a monument to Townsend Harris, who opened Japan to the West in 1858 and is still revered in that country, was dedicated.

July 22: Schuyler Hamilton

July 22: Schuyler Hamilton, grandson of Alexander Hamilton, was born on this date in 1822; he would fight in the Mexican and Civil Wars, rising to the rank of major general.

July 21: Patrizio Piatti

July 21: Patrizio Piatti, Italian-trained sculptor who created and proudly signed the spectacular monument to Jane Griffith, and who himself lies in an unmarked grave, died on this date in 1888.

July 20: Edwin Clark Litchfield

July 20: On this date in 1885, Edwin Clark Litchfield died; he was interred at Green-Wood several days later. Rumor has it that he insisted that he be buried facing away from Prospect Park, in eternal protest over Brooklyn’s seizure of the land around his home, Litchfield Villa, for the park’s construction.