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Author Archives: SCblogger
Equality through Education: Phebe W. Sudlow*
Phebe W. Sudlow often appears of lists of ‘firsts’ for the positions she held throughout her career as an educator. Most, if not all of these related to her gender: Ms. Sudlow was the first female school superintendent in Iowa … Continue reading
Posted in Local History
Tagged Davenport Public Schools, Phebe Sudlow, Women, Women's History
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Defective, Dependant, and Delinquent
AncestryLibrary, the library version of the popular subscription database Ancestry.com, posts new resources almost daily. On February 7, 2010 one of the special supplemental census schedules for 1880 was posted – the Defective, Dependent and Delinquent Classes. One of the … Continue reading
Posted in Genealogy, Library
Tagged Defective Dependent and Delinquent, Federal Census, Genealogy
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“Comic” Valentines
St. Valentine’s Day is a day to show your feelings of love and friendship. Children and grown-ups send nice, sweet valentines that can brighten up someone’s day. Roses are Red, Violets are Blue… But valentines were not always nice and … Continue reading
The Importance of Primary Resources
One of our readers, former Davenporter Brendan Wolfe, wrote to share an interesting story about the only known newspaper interview with Bix Beiderbecke, which was published in the Davenport Democrat on February 10, 1929. Bix Beiderbecke is always interesting, at … Continue reading
The 911 of 1889
On the afternoon of February 8, 1889, the alarm at telephone patrol box number 3 at Front Street between Main and Brady Streets was sounded by an officer on patrol. It was the first alarm sounded on the week-old system that … Continue reading
Posted in Local History
Tagged Davenport, Davenport Police Department, Patrol Wagon, Telephone, Telephone Patrol Box
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Meet Frank McElroy
Davenport has had its share of inventors and entrepreneurs over the years. Some, like Alexander F. Victor, with his 16mm film projector and eventual 80 patents, were a great success, revolutionizing their particular industry. Some . . . were not. … Continue reading
Posted in Local History
Tagged Automatic Shoe Shine Company, Frank McElroy, Inventors
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Our “Special” Visitors for 2009
This year, genealogists and history researchers came from all over the country to the Richardson-Sloane Special Collections Center, to use our wonderful resources. They came from far away to fill in the blank branches of their Family Trees. They found … Continue reading
Come to our Open House Putti Party!
As our loyal readers know, in 1905, W.C. Putnam generously donated to our library a reproduction of a frieze designed by Donatello in the 1400s. The frieze, which hung in the library’s auditorium for decades, was removed when the original … Continue reading
Posted in Library, Local History
Tagged Blackhawk Hotel, Carnegie Library, frieze, W. C. Putnam
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More Tales of the Census: Special Schedules
Population was not the only information the United States government was interested in collecting during the decennial federal censuses. Non-population questions were equally important – and for we historians equally interesting! Over the years, these censuses included mortality, social statistics … Continue reading
Posted in Genealogy, Library
Tagged Agriculture Schedules, Federal Census, Genealogy, Iowa, Mortality Schedules, Special Schedules
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Tales of the Census
Soon, we will all be part of history. How, you wonder? In April of 2010, the new decennial United States Federal Census will be arriving in our mailboxes. The government will be mailing the questionnaire, as it is still not … Continue reading
