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Category Archives: Local History
Crowdsourcing Transcription and Indexing Projects to Work on While Sheltering in Place
If you need a break from Netflix, reading, crafting, disinfecting, and sterilizing during the COVID-19 quarantine, there are many volunteer indexing and transcription opportunities available online. Indexing and transcribing can be a rewarding pastime for genealogists and local historians. If … Continue reading
Poesy, Rhyme, and Verse: Celebrating World Poetry Day with Iowa Poetry
We want to share our love of poetry by showcasing some books of poetry from our collection that you can view at home either through HathiTrust Digital Library, “a not-for-profit collaborative of academic and research libraries preserving 17+ million digitized … Continue reading
Posted in Local History
Tagged Iowa, Literature, Poetry, Poets and Poetry, World Poetry Day
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Counting Scott County Women in 19th-century US Census Records
Family historians of the future urge you to fill out your 2020 Census questionnaire! The US Census is one of genealogists’ most useful tools for determining family relationships, movements, economic status, and other characteristics over time. As we are also … Continue reading
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In Memoriam: Dick Stahl
Most Quad Citizens have heard the name Dick Stahl in many different contexts as an educator, a poet, or an avid supporter of the Quad Cities. Dick Stahl will have a special place in Richard “Dick” Hugo Stahl was born … Continue reading
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Davenport NAACP Branch Officers, 1936
The Davenport chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People held an election of officers on January 3, 1936. Mr. N. Taggart of 1026 Bridge Avenue was elected president, Mr. J. Roberts of 1122 Ripley Street was … Continue reading
Scott County Valentines
As we continue to catalog negatives in the Free-Hostetler collection, we were tickled to discover that the young man in this image was born on February 14, 1897 and given the first name of “Valentine!” Valentine was born in Lincoln … Continue reading
Posted in Local History
Tagged Buchmeier, Eckermann, Marriages, Scheiner, Scott County, Valentine, Valentine's Day
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#ColorOurCollections Week Featured Artist: Mary Costello
This week marks another #ColorOurCollections Week. We are pleased to offer the Richardson-Sloane Special Collections Center’s Coloring Book Volume 3: From the Mayflower to the Lock & Dam. This volume celebrates the 400th anniversary of the Mayflower voyage and the … Continue reading
Posted in Local History
Tagged Bridges, Mary Costello, Marycrest College, Mississippi River, university of Iowa
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National Handwriting Day: January 23, 2020
To celebrate National Handwriting Day, we thought we would share handwriting samples from the early years of the City of Davenport. Not only are handwritten documents from the city historically important, but we enjoy the different styles of handwriting shown … Continue reading
“Pershing Day,” January 6, 1920
One hundred years ago, the turn of the new year brought great excitement to the citizens of the Quad-Cities. The occasion was a visit from General John J. Pershing, commander in chief of the American Expeditionary Forces and hero of … Continue reading
Posted in Local History
Tagged American Legion, Hotel Blackhawk, John J. Pershing, Rock Island Arsenal, World War I
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Exhibit: The 1920s
For our first exhibit of the year, we are taking a look back at life in Davenport a century ago. What kinds of books were children and grown-ups checking out from the library? What were the people attending the symphony … Continue reading
Posted in Genealogy, Library, Local History
Tagged 1920s, African-Americans, Bix Beiderbecke, book displays, books, displays, exhibit, Floyd Dell, Jazz, local authors, Maps, newspapers, Tri-City Symphony
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