Need ideas for what to give your sweetheart for Valentine’s Day this year? Take inspiration from the jewelry adorning these lovely local ladies from a hundred years ago, photographed by J. B. Hostetler’s studio in Davenport.
Mrs. S. R. Kenworthy, ca. 1914
Edna Stark, ca. 1913
Ray S. Reimers, ca. 1912
Mrs. C. A. Armstrong, ca. 1911
Mrs. C. P. Skinner, ca. 1910
Delphia Dooley, ca. 1910
Special Collections would like to recognize the passing of Vada “Lorraine” Duncan who has been a loyal and generous supporter of the local genealogy community. She passed away in January, just a bit shy of her 95th birthday.
Lorraine was a charter member of the Scott County Iowa Genealogical Society, holding multiple offices and actively participating in the merger of the Society’s library into the collection here at DPL, ultimately donating much of her own genealogical library as well. She was named SCIGS Volunteer of the Year in 1992 for her involvement with projects at the Scott County Courthouse, unearthing and documenting tombstones in cemeteries throughout the county and faithfully volunteering in Special Collections. I can hear her big, booming voice with a hint of Missouri drawl beckoning one of us to come out to the desk to “HELP!” She had a no-nonsense style, demanded meticulous work, was opinionated and spoke her mind. You knew where you stood with Lorraine–if you didn’t, she would tell you!
The North Scott Press – Wednesday, May 21, 1975
Quad-City Times – Sunday, March 14, 1976
Her longtime passion resulted in the establishment of an endowment in her name, The Lorraine Duncan Special Collections Endowment, providing permanent funding for preservation of and access to the local history records to which she dedicated so much of her time. We are appreciative for this, but more importantly, we feel deeply grateful to have been able to call her our friend.
We can only hope that she is having the time of her “life,” meeting and greeting all of those ancestors she so diligently searched for. Rest in peace, Lorraine. You and your legacy will be celebrated in our hearts each February.
(posted by Karen)
One hundred years ago, the Quad City region went through a double flood year. Not something they felt like celebrating, we feel sure.
To make things a little more unpleasant; the first flood occurred from about January 30 through February 7, 1916. Unlike summer flooding, which is usually caused by rain or delayed snow melt, this winter flood was caused by ice jams.
Just the thought makes us feel chilled.
Several factors led to the first flood of 1916. The Davenport Daily Times reported the month of January 1916 had a wider range of weather than normal. The warmest day of the month was January 5 with a temperature of 55 degrees Fahrenheit. By mid-January a cold snap left the area in below zero temperatures for several days. The end of the month rose to more normal temperatures of about freezing or a little above. (February 3, 1916. Pg. 4)
Precipitation also was unusual with 6.2 inches of snow falling during the month along with a 24 hour rainfall of 1.20 inches on January 20-21.
The late month rain plus the warmer weather led to a quicker than normal breakup of the ice covering the Mississippi between Bettendorf/Davenport and Buffalo. It quickly led to ice jams in the area which caused the water to rise to flood level while down river Muscatine had no flooding at all.
The first mention of flooding we found was in The Davenport Democrat and Leader on January 30, 1916. The article covered the flooding of Shantytown, also known as Fishertown, in western Davenport.
The article reported that the Mississippi River was already several feet above normal in this low-lying area. Large chunks of ice were floating near the homes along the river. The article reported that most of the bungalows in the area were built on “stilts” which elevated them above flood level. This allowed residents to stay in their homes even though the river and ice chunks flowed beneath them. Those with homes on the ground had been forced to leave as water (and ice) entered their residences.
By February 2nd The Davenport Daily Times was reporting the Mississippi River in our area was at flood stage of 15 feet. This was the highest the river had been since April 18, 1897. The lower areas of west Davenport were flooded, roads covered, water was nearing railroad tracks, and hundreds of residents had to leave their homes for higher (and warmer) ground. (Page 5)
The Davenport Commercial Club, representing the concerns of businesses in the area, were requesting Mayor Alfred C. Mueller speak with the United States Engineering Office located in Rock Island (another city suffering from the flooding) to arrange for the ice jams to be dynamited. Many businesses along the river were beginning to flood and the threat of damage by large chunks of ice was causing even greater concern. (The Davenport Democrat and Leader, February 2, 1916. Page 12)
The request to dynamite the ice jams was sent to Washington, D.C. that same day from the Engineering Office. Word was received the very next day that permission was granted to use dynamite as needed. By the time the news was received, a drop in the river level had been noted. By late afternoon, The Davenport Daily Times reported, the river at Davenport was measured at 13.8 feet. Dynamiting was put on hold. (The Davenport Daily Times, February 3, 1916. Page 7)
The river appeared to be stable for the next day or two until ice jams began to form between Bettendorf and Davenport. As the water level rose upriver, the Bettendorf Company was forced to close down as workers built an emergency sandbag wall to try to keep the water and ice out of the factory buildings. (The Davenport Daily Times, February 5, 1916. Page 5)
Once again families had to flee their homes along the river, but this time in Bettendorf, as the water level rose to flood stage. All this as the water level in Davenport continued to fall. Talk began again of dynamiting the ice jams.
Once again, dynamiting was postponed as the river began to slowly recede back into its banks. By February 7th the river, while still high, was below flood stage in both Davenport and Bettendorf.
By February 10th the Mississippi River seemed to be staying inside its banks in most areas. While some flooding still continued for a little while longer in west Davenport, the streetcars, which had not been able to run since the end of January in that portion of town, once again began to make runs to the Fishertown area. (The Davenport Daily Times, February 10, 1916. Page 7)
As the late winter/early spring weather held steady with no extremes things appeared to settle down once again along our section of the Mississippi River. Little did the residents of Fishertown and other low-lying areas know that they would face the rising river again in less than four months’ time.
(posted by Amy D.)
It seems you can’t swing a dead cat in Davenport prior to the start of the presidential primary season without hitting a hopeful come to drum up support among voters. Candidate visits, with their attendant media coverage, are such a common occurrence that here in Special Collections we do not even include them when saving newspaper articles about important local events.
It was not always the case, however, that candidates regularly appeared in places such the River Center, LeClaire Park, the Mississippi Valley Fairgrounds — or even came to the state at all while campaigning for president. Up until 1972, Iowa’s system of caucusing to choose delegates for the national nominating conventions (in place since statehood in 1846) fell somewhere in the dull middle of the primary season. First-in-the-Nation status had not yet been conferred.
So what changed, and how did it play out here in Davenport and Scott County?
Following the the turmoil at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, the national party created new rules to provide for better representation of the poor, minorities, women, and young voters among delegates to the national convention. For Iowa Democrats, adopting these rules meant that the long process of caucusing for county, district, and state delegates had to begin early in the election year. The first Democratic Party caucuses of 1972 were held in Iowa at 8:00pm on Monday evening, January 24th.
In Davenport on that day a wintry storm was expected. An editorial in the Times-Democrat made use of the snow metaphor to describe Iowa’s new role. The “first flurry of presidential politicking” would no longer be seen by New Hampshire primary voters, for “now the snowshoe is on the other foot. Iowans will have to break the trail.”
The editorial was skeptical that the “reform caucuses” would be a true “indication of grass-roots thinking” about presidential preference. Rather, they could provide “clues to the depth of the candidates’ organizational spadework.” According to an article by John McCormick, Senator George McGovern’s campaign showed signs of such disciplined digging in Scott County, enough to seriously challenge front-runner Senator Edmund Muskie in the area’s 57 Democratic precinct caucuses.
This was indeed the case, despite the forecast. The headline in the Times-Democrat on Tuesday, January 25th read: “McGovern Strong In Scott Caucuses;” his backers received 81 delegate seats to Muskie’s 82. The McGovern for President forces were successful in Davenport: in addition to receiving a personal endorsement from Mayor Kathy Kirschbaum, the Senator from South Dakota won the majority of delegates from several precincts. Nationwide support for McGovern among the country’s youth was affirmed locally, including the election of 18-year-old St. Ambrose student Tom (Thom) Hart as Democratic committeeman for Ward 4, Precinct 4 (Hart remained active in politics, serving as mayor of Davenport*1986-1991; now Chair of the Scott County Democratic Party). The newspaper also reported that “two 17-year-old youths [favoring McGovern] who will observe their 18th birthdays before election day were elected alternate delegates to the county convention in Ward 8, Precinct 3,” and the McGovern backers expected to “take over” in Ward 3, Precinct 2, “where large numbers of Marycrest College students live,” in fact did so.
Credit for McGovern’s strong showing is widely attributed to the strategy put in place by his campaign manager, Gary Hart. The idea was to focus attention on the caucus states in the primaries, Iowa being the first. Early organization in Iowa by Jimmy Carter’s campaign four years later similarly resulted in a heightened national profile for the Democratic hopeful. 1976 was also the year the Iowa Republicans began to caucus at the same time as the Democrats: First in the Nation.
Do you remember the 1972 Democratic caucuses here in Scott County? Let us know!
(posted by Katie)
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*The Special Collections Center holds papers from both Thom Hart and Kathy Kirschbaum’s time as mayor of Davenport.
In celebration of the upcoming Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday, Special Collections would like to feature Davenporter Ida Johnson, recipient of the 2001 Iowa Commission on the Status of African-Americans’ Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Lifetime Achievement Award exactly 15 years ago tomorrow.
Ida Johnson helps with shirt sales at United Neighbors Inc. in Davenport on Martin Luther King Day, 2009. Image courtesy of the Quad-City Times.
Johnson is the recipient of numerous awards before and since, including two in the past year: the 2015 Athena Award honoring local women in leadership roles, and induction into the Iowa Volunteer Hall of Fame, “the most prestigious state-level honor volunteers can receive.”
Johnson is the founder and longtime Executive Director of United Neighbors, Inc., a community-based social service organization that has enriched the lives of the city’s residents for 43 years. From an initial desire to provide a safe place for neighborhood children to play and learn, Johnson increased the ambitions of her non-profit to offer after-school and summer programs for youth, street and park beautification projects, home-buying and home-repair assistance, senior programs, and a host of other free services aimed at improving the quality of life in Davenport’s predominantly African-American neighborhoods.
Johnson’s work at United Neighbors places her squarely in the local tradition of social reform efforts headed by women, such as Annie Wittenmyer, Clarissa Cook, Maria Purdy Peck, and Phebe Sudlow. And as an African-American woman, she joins Cecile Cooper as a Davenporter dedicated to providing equal opportunities for all. As one of her many awards states, Ida Johnson is indeed “one of Iowa’s most valued history makers,”* and we wish her continued success in realizing Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s dream here in the Quad-Cities.
(posted by Katie)
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*Ida Johnson was honored by the African American Museum of Iowa in Cedar Rapids as a 2009 Iowa History Maker.
In 2015, genealogists and researchers from all over the country came to use the wonderful resources here at the Richardson-Sloane Special Collections Center. We also had email and phone requests from all over the world!
To fill in the branches of their family trees, they found copies of birth, marriage and death records of their Scott County, Iowa ancestors. They came to research the Iowa Soldiers’ Orphans’ Home, Colonel George Davenport and Bix Beiderbecke. They viewed newspaper articles on microfilm, information in our online databases, and images in our photograph collection. Their searches were made easier by the many indices prepared by our volunteers from the Scott County Iowa Genealogical Society.
Last year we had visitors and research requests from 23 U.S. states, Canada and Israel. We had visitors from both Apple Valley, Minnesota and Apple Valley, California, and received research requests from both Troy, Missouri and Troy, Michigan!
Our furthest visitors came from Santa Cruz, California and Mukilteo, Washington; our furthest correspondents wrote from Tel Aviv, Israel, and Aiea, Hawaii.
Check out this map showing all of RSSC’s visitors for the year 2015, as recorded in our Guest Book. Pretty cool, huh?
(posted by Cristina)
We thought we would take a look back this week at snow removal in Davenport as we wait to see what kind of winter awaits us in 2016.
The picture below shows the Davenport Public Works department hard at work removing snow in 1944.
Snow Removal in downtown Davenport 1944. (2008-20.65)
We were able to research the addresses of the buildings behind the trucks to identify the location of the photograph. We learned the photo was taken not far from the Davenport Public Library Main Street branch.
The Davenport City Directory 1944 lists the Security Fire Insurance Company of Davenport as being at 217 West 4th Street. The Model Laundry was at 219-221 West 4th Street.
Today the buildings are gone and the site is a parking lot. The photo was most likely taken from across the street near the front of Davenport City Hall.
Just a reminder that the Davenport Public Library and Richardson-Sloane Special Collections Center will be closed December 31, 2015 and January 1, 2016. We will reopen January 2, 2016.
We wish everyone a safe and happy New Year.
(posted by Amy D.)
The Richardson-Sloane Special Collections Center and the Davenport Public Library will be closed Thursday, December 24th and Friday, December 25th in honor of the Christmas holidays.
We will be re-open on Saturday December 26th from 9am – 5:30pm.
We would like to wish everyone Happy Holidays.
Conservatory in Vander Veer Park, Christmas Display, Dec 1948; poinsettia and ferns. Color slide. Grover C. von der Heyde photographs.
While the holiday season is known for its colorful lights and joyful atmosphere, many of us find the hustle and bustle to be a little stressful as well.
While we like to imagine that holidays past were more peaceful, we sometimes come across articles that remind us that our ancestors might have had a little holiday stress of their own.
We recently ran across an article in the Tri City Star from December 24, 1904 on page 2 that caught our attention. Another article in the Davenport Democrat and Leader from December 25, 1904 on page 13 confirmed what we read in the first article.
This story took place on the west side of Davenport on the evening of December 23, 1904. Those involved lived in the area of St. Mary’s Catholic Church on W. 6th Street and had resided in the neighborhood for several years.
Mr. James Malone was a single man about 40 years old that year. He lived in the family home on West 7th Street and was employed at the Rock Island Arsenal.
Mr. Patrick Kennedy lived with his wife, Josephine, and their two daughters just down the street from St. Mary’s in a house on West 6th Street. Mr. Kennedy was about 47 years old in 1904. He was listed as a laborer in a search of local city directories. Mrs. Kennedy was a seamstress about 33 years old. Patrick and Josephine had been married for 18 years in 1904.
To walk from the Kennedy house to the Malone house would have been very easy to do. The Kennedy home was five houses from the corner of West 6th and Taylor Streets. If they walked north up Taylor Street one block and then turn right the Malone home was the fourth house on the left.
We have no idea of the relationship between the two families, but based on the incident that night it appears one family member was worried that a street length apart was not enough distance between the two houses.
According to the newspaper articles, Mr. Malone was walking home from work along West 6th Street when he passed the Kennedy house. Mr. Kennedy was entering his family’s yard carrying a goose that one assumes was for Christmas dinner.
Mr. Kennedy confronted Mr. Malone over the issue of his wife. Kennedy felt Malone was making “goo-goo eyes” (Tri City Star, Dec. 24, 1904) at his Josephine. Mr. Malone denied the accusation and protested the two were barely acquainted.
Patrick Kennedy appears to have not believed James Malone’s assertions as his next move was to begin beating Mr. Malone about the face with the Christmas goose before using his own fists, as the goose had been thoroughly tenderized. We imagine this caused a stir in the neighborhood.
The police were called and arrested Mr. Kennedy who was presented in court the following morning, Christmas Eve. Following the testimony of the two men, Mr. Kennedy was fined $5 and court costs. The total amount owed was $10.85. As Mr. Kennedy did not have the money to pay the court he was returned to jail for a time not specified in the papers.
We did further checking through U.S. Census records and local city directories. It appears that the families either moved past this incident, or at least managed to avoid each other, as neither moved from their respective houses for many years following the great goose incident.
We do not know if this incident was a long simmering feud or a sign of holiday stress. We are able to find one positive in this whole incident though; at least Mr. Kennedy was holding a fresh goose and not a frozen one that night!
Davenport Democrat and Leader, December 25, 1904. Pg. 13.
(posted by Amy D.)
