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Author Archives: SCblogger
Davenport’s First Chinese Immigrants
In honor of Asian and Pacific American Heritage Month, we’ve put our minds to uncovering the earliest Davenporters of Asian descent: Chinese immigrants in the laundry business. This advertisment ran daily in the Davenport Gazette daily from June 26-July 3rd, … Continue reading
Posted in Local History
Tagged Chinese Americans, Laundry, Lee, Local History, Lung, Wah
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Davenport in the Digital Public Library of America
Would you like to explore the history of Davenport and Scott County but are unable to travel to our Special Collections Center to peruse our shelves and archives? With the dedicated work of the Digital Public Library of America and … Continue reading
Posted in Library, Local History
Tagged Davenport Public Library, Local History, Photographs, Resources
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The Cyclone Events of May 9th and 19th, 1918
May 9, 1918 had been a dreary day in Scott County, Iowa. Earlier in the day rain and hail had covered the area. Finally, in late afternoon the skies began to clear and a rainbow appeared. In the small agricultural … Continue reading
Posted in Local History
Tagged Amelia Priest, Baker's Horse, Bernhardt Hofsrud, Brice Johnson, Crystal Lake, Cyclone, Eldridge, Ella Schneckloth, Emma Dammann, Emma Hofsrud, Franklin Park, Fred Bismark Rohlf, Helena Arp, John Priest, Peter Arp, Peter Schneckloth, Roy Hofsrud, Tornado, vincent Hofsrud, Vivian Hofsrud
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The Karolyn Hall Luther Photograph Collection
April showers have been giving us a good soaking these last few days of the month — hopefully we will see no flooding along area waterways as a result. The waters of Davenport’s Duck Creek often jumped their banks in … Continue reading
In Memoriam: Mike Weir
Charles Michael “Mike” Weir was born December 8, 1947 in Ottumwa to Gerald and Catherine Roberts Weir. He was a 1966 graduate of Ottumwa High School. He married Janice Downing on December 31, 1970. Mike Weir was hired on January … Continue reading
A Quiet Spring Wedding in April
One of our favorite types of materials in our collections are photographs, particularly portraiture. We have a number of collections that feature these types of photographs. One such collection is the Free Studio of Photography Collection which contains photographs taken … Continue reading
Posted in Genealogy, Local History
Tagged Davenport (Iowa), Genealogy, Hostetler Studios, Local History, Photographs, Weddings
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The Mysterious Airship of April 1897
The first mysterious sightings were reported in a Sioux City, Iowa newspaper article on February 3, 1897. Something was seen floating in the night sky by local citizens near Hastings, Nebraska. The object was described as lingering about 800 feet … Continue reading
Dr. Jennie McCowen’s “Women In Iowa” (1884)
What better way to celebrate both Women’s History Month and Iowa History Month than to highlight an historic essay about Iowa women written by a woman of Davenport, Iowa for a journal of Iowa history? “Women of Iowa” appeared in … Continue reading
Come Tarry A While: Special Collections on Display at All Three Locations!
The Richardson-Sloane Special Collections staff members designed four displays highlighting materials from its collection. Displays are scheduled to be at each library location throughout the year on a quarterly rotation. Each of the displays discussed below will be at that … Continue reading
Posted in Library, Local History
Tagged Davenport (Iowa), Davenport Public Library, displays, Local History, Resources
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Total Eclipse of the Sun: March 7, 1970
April 8, 2024 will be an exciting day in the Quad Cities as we are expecting the first solar eclipse in our area in 54 years. We are expected to get an 83.70% view of the full eclipse at 1:58 … Continue reading
