Author Archives: SCblogger

Closed for Memorial Day, Open for New Hours

The Davenport Public Library will be closed on Memorial Day. Please join us in remembering those who gave their lives so that we could have the opportunity to live ours in freedom. We will open on Tuesday, May 30th—and remind … Continue reading

Posted in Library, Local History | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Invented In Davenport: Examples of Davenport ingenuity

We came across this unusual ad from the Davenport Democrat and Leader from September 12, 1922. We researched and found a John Flanagan of Davenport, Iowa applied for a patent for his Lifting-Jack on June 9, 1919, with the application … Continue reading

Posted in Local History | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Jewish Americans in the Quad Cities

Celebrate Jewish American Heritage Month 2023 at the Davenport Public Library by exploring the resources on the history of the local Jewish community available at the Richardson-Sloane Special Collections Center at Main|Library. The Jews of Iowa by Simon Glazer (1904) … Continue reading

Posted in Local History | Leave a comment

Preservation Week 2023: Building Resilient Communities

Each year, we participate in Preservation Week sponsored by Core: Leadership, Infrastructure, Futures with the objective to inspire action “to preserve personal, family, and community collections in addition to library, museum, and archive collections.” Preservation Week offers us a time … Continue reading

Posted in Local History | Leave a comment

Happy National Library Week: There’s More to the Story!

Join us in celebrating National Library Week from April 23-29. This year’s theme is “There’s More to the Story.” The story of libraries in Davenport, Iowa began in 1839 with a library in the LeClaire Hotel. In the following decades, … Continue reading

Posted in Local History | Leave a comment

Give a Hoot for History

Here in Special Collections, we Give a Hoot for History! Saturday, April 22, 2023, is Earth Day. In observance of the event here are some photographs and clippings representing our commitment to preserving Davenport’s history of caring for Mother Earth. … Continue reading

Posted in Local History | Leave a comment

Opening Our Collections: Schmidt Family – Crescent Macaroni and Cracker Company

We recently received additional items to the Schmidt Family – Crescent Macaroni and Cracker Company Collection – 2016-46 that we had to blog about this week. First, a brief history of the company. In 1875, Hugo Schmidt, Sr. along with … Continue reading

Posted in Local History | Leave a comment

Poetry Forms Originated by Nel Modglin

April is National Poetry Month, so we searched our archival collections for local poetry and/or poets to share with all of you. We came across a donation that we received 30 years ago, but we haven’t done extensive archival processing … Continue reading

Posted in Local History | Leave a comment

The Martin Family

We are always delighted when we receive a research request from abroad, but our correspondence over the past two months with Robyn Collins of Brisbane, Australia has revealed an especially fascinating story about the fortunes of the Martin family on … Continue reading

Posted in Genealogy, Local History | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

All Things SPRING

SPRING! The season officially arrived this week on Monday, March 20th, but the dreary days have Special Collections Staff dreaming of ALL THINGS SPRING.  Forgive us for getting carried away, but just look at all the reminders of this glorious season … Continue reading

Posted in Local History | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment