On “Presidents’ Day” George Washington and Abraham Lincoln are usually the first to be recognized, and quite logically so, since both were born in February. However, the spirit of the day can be broadened to include more “Presidents” of the past.
In November 1910, President Theodore Roosevelt made a visit to Davenport’s VanderVeer Park. The Music Pavilion was crowded with onlookers as Roosevelt addressed his constituents from the stage.
Image Source: Archive & Manuscript Collection #2003-09 Photograph by J.B. Hostetler
President Woodrow Wilson was saluted by the boys from Battery B as he rolled into Iowa on the train across the Government Bridge in early 1916.
Image Source: Archive & Manuscript Collection #2001-24 Photographer unknown
Speaking of trains, a pair of Roosevelts addressed a Davenport crowd from one in a 1936 campaign stop. President Franklin D. Roosevelt and First Lady Eleanor earned a second term in the White House, defeating Republican nominee Kansas Governor Alfred Landon in that election.
Image Source: Richardson-Sloane Special Collections Center Davenport Public Library Photograph Collection VM89-000844
President Jimmy Carter and First Lady Rosalynn arrived in Davenport August 21, 1979 aboard a different type of transportation – the Delta Queen Riverboat! Speaking of Riverboats, (and coming full circle) who remembers “The President”?
Image Source: Archive & Manuscript Collection #2009-19 Copyright Karen Deneve Clevenger Moline, IL
For these and many other interesting items, drop by the Richardson-Sloane Special Collections Center! But don’t come on Presidents’ Day. . . We will be closed for the holiday!
