Feeling a Little “Bugged”: Part II

Posted on April 19, 2010 by SCblogger

(Part I may be found here, Part III may be found here, Part IV may be found here )

By January 1921, Davenporters were probably questioning the success of their first (and, so far, last) Socialist majority city council which had taken office in April 1920. 

Socialist Mayor Charles L. Barewald had announced on January 5th that he had recently resigned from the Socialist party, bringing a private party rift into the public light.  The Daily Times and Democrat and Leader newspapers followed the discord by printing the caustic remarks flying between the Mayor and the five Socialist Aldermen on city council.  Even the Associated Press brought national attention to this local dispute.     

Things seemed to cool down after a few days.  The fight disappeared from newspaper headlines. The regular city council meeting was held on January 19th with all council members present.  No excitement ensued, just official business.

This, however, turned out the be the eye of the storm.

The afternoon papers of January 27, 1921 broke the news on how far some of the Socialists in city hall were willing to go in their dispute with the Mayor:  “Spy on Barewald with Dictograph” read the Daily Times headline. “Foil Red Plot Against Mayor” screamed the Democrat and Leader. 

It turned out that 2nd Ward Alderman Walter Bracher and City Electrician Harry Strong, both Socialists, had bugged Mayor Barewald’s office.  

The newspapers reported that on the 26th, after an absence from his office, Mayor Barewald had been working at his desk when he noticed fresh fingerprints in the layer of dust on the hanging light fixture directly above.  Barewald told the papers he noticed the disturbance, but didn’t think much about it until later that night.  The next morning, January 27th, the Mayor summoned Police Chief Charles Boettcher to his office.  Together the two men dismantled the fixture. 

Within the globe at the base they found the listening part of a dictograph concealed (Strong later admitted to making the dictograph* at home).  Wires from the listening apparatus ran up through the electrical tubing toward the ceiling. The Mayor’s office was (and still is) located on the third floor of City Hall.  A Detective Moeller and Patrolman Schwinden were summoned and sent up the steep stairs to the attic above to find what was at the end of the wires.

As the two policemen stepped onto the attic landing, the closeness of the area would have forced them to turn to face the room containing the bell tower.**  Who knows who was more surprised when the officers came face to face with City Electrician Strong?*** 

Electrician Strong asked the officers what they were doing and stated that he was trying to fix the clock on top of the bell tower.  The officers reported that Mr. Strong appeared to be very nervous—and, as it was very cold and windy that day, the officers had doubts Strong had climbed to the top of the bell tower. Strong probably raised further suspicion about himself when—after seeing the officers locate the wires emerging from the mayor’s office below, he left not only the attic, but the building.

Moeller and Schwinden followed the wires to the room containing the bell tower.  The room was filled with miscellaneous items.  Looking around, they finally found a large box containing a dictograph receiver buried underneath debris.   The  officers believed that the device was in the process of being connected and tested when they went into the attic, so they hooked it up.  Conversation from the mayor’s office could plainly be heard through the receiver.

One can imagine the scene on the third floor of Davenport City Hall:  Mayor Barewald and Chief Boettcher were in the mayor’s chamber with a dismantled light fixture. Officer Passno, the police fingerprint expert, was on the move collecting fingerprint samples from the light and the dictograph; probably several other officers and city workers would have been in the area as well. 

Added to this commotion were the newspaper men.  This being a time with different rules for the press, the newspapers were alerted almost immediately after the discovery of the bug in the light fixture and reporters were soon walking about the third floor asking questions and talking pictures.  After all, they had an afternoon addition to make!

Suddenly, Harry Strong reappeared.  With him was Alderman Bracher.  They quickly disappeared into the Electrician’s office which happened to be directly across the hall from the Mayor’s office.  Mayor Barewald ordered the police to bring Strong into his office.  Once there, Chief Boettcher fingerprinted the electrician and the questioning began.

It is probably not surprising that this story has a few more plot twists ahead Who really was involved with bugging the Mayor’s office?  Would the Socialists stand together or fall apart?  And finally, exactly how easy was it to throw someone out of office during these exciting times?

(And did I really think this was going to be just a two-part article?  Please look for Part III soon!)

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*The Dictograph was invented in the early 1900s.

 **I’ve been in the attic myself for work and the area at the top of the stairs is a tight fit for one person, let alone two grown men.

***Strong had been elected by council to his position.  Council elections for offices such as City Electrician and City Sexton were held every year at the end of December with the position becoming active on January 1st.

(posted by Amy D.)

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A Capitol (Theatre) Idea

Posted on April 13, 2010 by SCblogger

There has been much in the local news of late regarding the Capitol Theatre, which opened December 25, 1920, and which will be closing in a few months.

We thought we’d take the opportunity to share the history of this 89-year old gem, and a photographic tour of the old girl in her heyday:

The  Kahl Building  makes sure theater-goers can find the Capitol .*

***

It’s 1921, and you want to impress your date.  Taking her to the most luxurious theatre in Davenport is a good start!

***

You enter the theatre proper and admire the brand new velvet-covered seats.
An usher escorts you and your date to the best seats in the house.

***

 

You can’t resist running up to see the stunning view from the balcony.

The music for your movie will be provided by the orchestra in the pit below the velvet curtains, the piano in its own little stage, and by the organ that is just visible on the far right of this image.
The movies themselves will be silent for another six years.

***

After the picture ends, the usher allows you and your date to take the side stairs to the stage so you can imagine being movie stars.

You’d thought about stealing a kiss, ala screen heartthrob Francis X.Bushman,** but get stage fright imagining doing so in front of such a  large audience!  You’ll wait until you take her home . . . but even if you get your face slapped for being fresh, you’ve enjoyed a wonderful evening at the new Capitol Theatre.


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*We fudged a little:  the first and last images are actually from the 1940s.  However, the others were taken circa 1921.

**Francis X. Bushman was a star before Rudy Valentino stopped playing villians.   It’s true!

(Posted by Sarah)

 

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Feeling a Little “Bugged”: Part I

Posted on April 6, 2010 by SCblogger

Sometimes we (maybe it is just me, but I feel better imagining this happens to my co-workers too) find ourselves distracted when doing research in Special Collections.  Just the other week I came across a little side paragraph in an old newspaper while researching a patron request.  The blurb simply mentioned Davenport’s Socialist Mayor had his office bugged in 1921.  I was hooked.  What did “bugging” equipment in 1921 consist of?  Was this true?  The hunt was on and this two-part blog was created.

On April 21, 1920, Davenport’s first (and so far only) Socialist mayor and Socialist majority council (five out of eight members) took office after a sweeping victory.  The new mayor, Dr. Charles L. Barewald was a well-known man with a general medical practice in Davenport.  He had also been a member of the local Socialist party for about three years upon his election (prior to this, he was a member of the Republican Party).  

Barewald had run for mayor on the Socialist ticket previously in 1918, which ended with a second place finish—only 25 votes behind the winner, C. M. Littleton of the Citizen’s Party.*  He had another close mayoral race in 1919 after the resignation of Mayor Littleton in May of that year.  According to the City of Davenport’s special charter, upon the resignation of the acting mayor, the council would elect the next mayor, instead of holding a special public election. Barewald and a Mr. Lee Dougherty were nominated.  Dougherty won the vote for mayor 5 – 2 (the two votes being cast by Socialist aldermen George Peck and Walter Bracher).

In 1920, Barewald won the mayoral election by 1667 votes over runner-up Republican Henry Jebens.  This seems pretty good considering neither the Davenport Daily Times nor the Davenport Democrat and Leader provided so much as pre-election profiles of the individuals running on the Socialist platform while members of the Democrat and Republican parties were given meet-your-candidate style coverage for nearly a month before Election Day.

The new Socialist majority council (Aldermen George Peck, Walter Bracher, Fred Feuchter, Chester Stout, and George Koepke) with their three Republican counterparts (Aldermen John Knostman, Charles Lindholm, and Oliver Bloss) got to work right away trying to improve the lot of the laboring man.  One of their greatest achievements would be the building of the Municipal Natatorium.  All seemed fine on the political surface, but things were not going well within the Socialist party.  On January 5, 1921, Mayor Barewald surprised the general public by announcing he had resigned from the Socialist party on December 7, 1920. 

The resignation and negative public comments from both sides seemed to indicate little political love still existed between the mayor and Socialist aldermen.** Within days the mayor (who had chosen to remain without a political party for the time being) received letters of support for his decision locally and nationally as the news attracted national Associated Press coverage. 

Life seemed to return to normal at City Hall quickly, but underneath the calm exterior at least one Socialist alderman was not going to let the issue drop quietly by the wayside.

(Please look for Part II soon!)***

(posted by Amy D.)

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*The Richardson-Sloane Special Collections Center has the official election result forms from 1914 through 1969 and I was able to check the official record myself

**The Daily Times and Davenport Democrat and Leader, January 5, 1921

***(Part II may be found here, Part III may be found here, Part IV may be found here)

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In Memoriam: Marion G. Crandell

Posted on March 30, 2010 by SCblogger

Marion G. Crandell was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on April 25, 1872.  She went to school in Cedar Rapids and Omaha, and attended the Sorbonne University in Paris, before residing with her brother for a short time in Alameda, California.

Our available resources don’t tell us what brought her to Davenport, Iowa.  What we do know is that she worked for a time as a French teacher at St. Katherine’s School.  And that, just before her 46th birthday, she went to war.

When America declared war on Germany in 1917, Marion Crandell, believing that her language skills would be useful in besieged France, resigned her position at St. Katherine’s and went into active service.  The School promised to keep her position open until she returned.

As women were certainly not allowed to participate in combat,  Miss Crandell joined the United States Christian Commission of the Y.M.C.A., which at the time was the primary organization in charge of overseas support services* for the Entente and allied troops.

Miss Crandell arrived in France on February 15, 1918, and set to work in the canteen of what was called Le Foyer de Soldat (or “Soldiers’ Fireside”)  a place for soldiers to rest and have a good meal, read books, and perhaps forget about the war for a few precious moments.

On March 27, 1918, Miss Crandell was working in such a Foyer in St. Menehould, near the front line.  German artillery began a bombardment of the town, and a shell destroyed the building in which Miss Crandell had taken shelter. 

Marion G. Crandell became the first American woman in active service killed in World War I.  She was buried in the hospital cemetery in St. Menehould, though after the War, her remains were moved to the American Cemetery at Meuse Argonne.

In 1923, St. Katherine’s bought the nearby McCandless property as a memorial, opening the house as a separate faculty residence, “an object dear to the heart of Miss Crandell during her stay at the school.”  On November 11, 1925, a marker commemorating Miss Crandell’s sacrifice was placed at the foot of the Government Bridge by Colonel D. M. King, then Commandant of the Rock Island Arsenal.   Another, slightly more accessible memorial was later placed in front of the administration building at the Annie Wittenmyer Home (2800 Eastern Avenue).

(posted by Sarah)

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*This may seem strange to those of us who are used to thinking about the Y.M.C.A. as a place to swim or play basketball, and the Red Cross as the go-to organization for overseas support.  But the Y.M.C.A. had already been doing their part to assist and aid soldiers since the Civil War.  The Red Cross, which was chartered in 1900, did not experience its phenomenal growth as an organization until 1918, at which time it started developing the many service programs for which it is so well known today. 

Sources: 

“Lost her life in World War five years ago.”  Davenport Democrat, 27March1923, p.6 

“Miss Marion G. Crandall victim of German shell with destroys Y.M.C.A. canteen at the front.” Cedar Rapids Republican, 20March1918, p. 

“On This Site: A Guide to Quad City Historic Markers.” (Davenport, Iowa: Quad-City heritage League), 2007.

“Shell kills American girl on French front.” Des Moines Daily News, 14April1918, p.3.

Svendesen, Marlys.  Davenport: A Pictorial History.  ([S.l.] : G. Bradley Publishing Inc.), 1987.

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Kathryn Kirschbaum: First Woman Mayor of Davenport

Posted on March 25, 2010 by SCblogger
Kathy Kirschbaum

Mayor Kathy Kirschbaum, 1975

Kathryn Kirschbaum was born August 30, 1931, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to Frank and Esther (Kiplinger) Goll. She graduated from Denison College in Grandville, Ohio, in 1953 with a degree in “Citizenship”. She was First Lieutenant in the Army Medical Corps at Ft. Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas and she worked as a Registered Occupational Therapist in Denver and Ft. Belvoir, Virginia; where she specialized in Psychiatry and Tuberculosis. While in the military, she met Ray Kirschbaum, and the couple married on April 5, 1955 in New Kensington, Pennsylvania. They moved to Davenport in 1958 and had two sons, Mike and Steve. They lived on 2513 Wilkes Avenue and 2211 Marquette Street. Ray worked as a mechanical engineer, the head of the metal-cutting research laboratory at the Rock Island Arsenal. They divorced on July 9, 1974 in Scott County.

Mrs. Kirschbaum got her start in politics by becoming Legislative Chairman of the League of Women Voters. In 1967, she ran for and was elected 8th Ward Alderman and two years later, she was elected Alderman at Large.

Kathy often took her kids with her when investigating problems as an alderman, and she thought it was a good education for them.  Her sons helped distribute campaign literature and went with her when she did civic work. She saw her political involvement as enrichment to her family, and didn’t see it as a threat to their home life. As she said, her kids “still have their rightful expectations of me as a mother”. (Des Moines Register: 14Nov1971, p. 1)

She ran for mayor in 1971, campaigning as the ‘reform candidate’, her platform including installing a City Administrator/Manager, housing for the elderly and needy families, and revitalizing the Downtown.  In the November election, she defeated Bill Fennelly by 550 votes, becoming the first woman mayor of Davenport. With a population of 98,464, Davenport was the second biggest municipality with a woman mayor at the time (Patience Latting was mayor of Oklahoma City, pop. 367,856).

Mrs. Kirschbaum believed that the reason she was elected was not because she was a woman, but because she was a Democrat.   Davenport was the only city in Iowa to have partisan elections at that time, and according to her, the way the council-mayor system of government worked was “built for divisiveness” (Quad-City Times: 10Jun1975, p. 3).

She worked on changing the way the city runs, insisting on hiring an administrative officer trained in municipal finance and operations, adding a personnel director, and she favored appointment of professionals as city treasurer and clerk. She believed Davenport needed an administrator/Ombudsman to better serve the people of the city, though it wasn’t until 1977 that the City of Davenport passed a resolution to create the office of City Administrator.    

She was an outspoken advocate for peace. In March of 1971, she went to Paris for the Citizens Conference on Ending the War in Indo-China. She campaigned for the McGovern-Shriver ticket in 1972, and people flocked to watch her speak. One woman in Galesburg said: “I’m glad I came. I’m not a Democrat but it’s nice to see a woman make it in politics. I’d like to talk to her, but what do you say? What do you call her? Mrs. Mayor?” (Galesburg Register-Mail: 31Oct1972, p. 10)

Kathy felt that Politics were ideally suited for women. “Women are free the way that men are not free, with the pressures of their business lives and burden of supporting a family…Women are free in situations such as these, and can act independently from the view of what is best for all concerned.”  (Des Moines Register: 4Nov1971, p. 1) “A number of people told me of men who said they wouldn’t vote for me solely because I’m a woman.” She was featured in an NBC News TV special about the changing relationship between women and men that aired on January 9, 1975.

Kathy Kirschbaum’s fight for women’s rights wasn’t limited to the political arena:  In 1973, she appealed to the Iowa Civil Rights Commission after being turned down for a credit card because her husband did not sign the application. The argument at the time was that a single man making $800 a year was better able to repay a loan than a married woman with the same pay, so it was ok to discriminate based on marital status.  Eventually, Mayor Kirschbaum won her point—and her card.

Kathy was an avid cyclist and cycled through Europe on a couple of occasions.  Kathy also pushed hard for a designated bike route on city streets, and the first leg of the City’s bike path was constructed during her time in office.   In 2004, the city dedicated a rest stop in her honor on the Duck Creek Recreational Trail, east of the intersection of Hickory Grove and Hillandale roads.

She lost the Democratic Primary to Dallas George in November of 1975.  After leaving office, she worked as Personnel Manager at First Federal Savings and Loan Association in Davenport. She was in the boards of the local American Civil Liberties Union, Quad City Arts and Vera French Community Mental Health Center. She retired to Davenport’s Ridgecrest Village, where she died on April 14, 2005 after a long illness.

(Posted by Cristina)

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 Sources:

Quad-City Times: 10Jun1975, p. 1; 17Mar1985, p. 1E; 6Apr2005, p. 1A; 19Apr2005, p. 3C; 15Oct2004, p. 4A; 1Oct2003, p. 4A; 26Jun1998, p. 1A

River Cities Reader: 20Apr2005, p. 4

Des Moines Register: 4Nov1971, p. 1; 14Nov1971, p. 1

Ames Daily Tribune: 4Nov1971, p. 12; 10Jul1974, p. 18

Davenport Times-Democrat: 7Nov1971, p. 1D; 22Oct1972, p. 1D

Parade: 23Jan1972, p. 8

Chicago Tribune: 4Dec1972, p. 18 – Section 2

Muscatine Journal: 6May 1971, p. 1

Milwaukee Journal: 7Apr1974, p. 5

Galesburg Register-Mail: 31Oct1972, p. 10

Cedar Rapids Gazette: 7Nov1971, p. 1B

Waterloo Courier: 15Nov1973 p. 38

City of Davenport (Iowa) Council Proceedings: 1977; 1995 Jul-Dec

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Davenporters of Note: Norma M. Wiese

Posted on March 15, 2010 by SCblogger

Once upon the 1880s, in a beautiful brick Italian Villa at 709 Brown Street, lived William and Minnie Wiese, who were known for their love of travel, music, and community.   Their daughter Edna was born in 1887 with another, Norma, following in 1889.  It was discovered when the girls were young that they were musically gifted and their parents encouraged their talents.  

As early as 1904, Norma is reported in the September 26th  Tri-City Star newspaper as performing for a Visiting Nurses’ Association afternoon tea.  Later, she  attended the Kenwood Institute and Chicago Musical College, both respected institutions.

Mr. Wiese was part of the Independent Baking Company in Davenport; a highly successful business that allowed him to indulge his desire to educate and inspire his adult children through more than just the traditional education system.  He also used travel to introduce them to new music and cultures.  In 1921 the entire family traveled to Switzerland, France, the British Isles, Italy, Holland, Belgium, Norway, and Denmark, an exhausting, exhilarating trip!  Norma’s passport application* lists the reason for the trip as study and visit.   

Oddly enough, the application also states that Norma did not have an existing birth certificate.  It appears that the doctor who delivered Norma in Davenport, Iowa on January 27, 1889 forgot to submit the record to the Scott County Clerk.  Norma’s father, plus another family member in New York, had to vouch for her birth location and citizenship.** 

Other trips followed.  In 1924, the family was welcomed home after a three month visit to Great Britain.  Another family outing was to the Isle of Pines off Cuba (now called the Isle of Youth).  The last record we found for overseas travel was a trip Norma took in 1953 on the Queen Mary.  While we did not find her itinerary, we do know she sailed home from the port of Cherbourg, France. 

When not traveling the world, Norma lived in Davenport with her parents.  Edna moved to New York City in the late 1920s and by 1928 married businessman Henry Mills.  Norma remained at home, caring for her aging parents and continuing to be very active in organizations such as the Music Students’ Club, Etude club, and the Tri-City Musical Association.  She was also the first president elected for the State Federation of Music Clubs.

Norma M. Wiese passed away on November 14, 1958, in the house on Brown Street in which she had lived alone since the deaths of her parents.  She had never married nor had children.  But her will revealed a wonderful surprise for cultural arts supporters in Davenport.  Besides bequests to family and friends, Norma left a large portion of her estate to the City of Davenport to be used for public, educational purposes with encouragement to support musical arts.  After probate, the amount was $300,000.

Norma Wiese wished the children of Davenport to learn about fine arts and music; something that had filled her own life with pleasure since childhood.  She also asked, if possible, to name the building “The Wiese Fine Arts Building” after her family and their recognition to the arts in Davenport.

Miss Wiese’s dream was realized fourteen years later when the City of Davenport worked with what was then known as the Davenport Art Gallery (now known as the Figge Art Museum) to build an addition onto the Municipal Art Gallery, which was located at 1737 12th Street.  The addition, which included an auditorium and space for children and adults  to learn about the arts, was dedicated on May 20, 1972.

Times have changed.  In 2005, the Figge Art Museum moved to a new location in downtown Davenport.  The Davenport Parks and Recreation office and the City of Davenport Community Services Division have been using the Wiese Fine Arts Building ever since.

But it appears Norma’s dream is about to be realized in a new way. 

The Putnam Museum and City of Davenport are working to sell the property to the Davenport Community School District.  The school district would like to turn the Wiese wing into an early education center.  It seems an idea Norma, and the Wiese family, would have supported.

Miss Norma Wiese, Iowa President, Federation of Musical Clubs. The Davenport Democrat and Leader 61, no. 98 (February 13, 1916): 10

(posted by Amy D.)   

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*Found in the AncestryLibrary databases available at all Davenport Library locations.

** We did check our local Scott County birth records, and no, Norma’s birth certificate does not appear to be on record.

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Beginning Genealogy Workshop!

Posted on March 9, 2010 by SCblogger

Genealogy is very popular on TV this month.

NBC is offering Who Do You Think You Are?, which features celebrities researching their family history and their family’s connections to historical events.   And  PBS just wrapped up its four-episode run of Faces of America, which explores the family histories of 12 celebrities through genealogy and the latest tools in genetics.

Have these shows made you curious about your own family history?  Or were you interested before, but aren’t sure how to start your research?

If so, please consider registering for our Beginning Genealogy Workshop this Saturday, March 13 from 8:30-4:00 at the Main Street Library.  The workshop will be presented by our own Amy Groskopf, manager of the Richardson-Sloane Special Collections Center, and Donna McNamara, former director of the Family History Center.

Topics for the workshop include an introduction to genealogy, record keeping, census records and newspapers. You will also learn more about the Family History Center, Scott County Iowa Genealogical Society (SCIGS) and the many resources available at the Special Collections Center. Attendees will receive a Beginning Genealogy packet.

The workshop fee is $10, which is a bargain for an all-day learning experience!   For more details, or to reserve a spot, please call us at 563-326-7902.

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Equality through Education: Phebe W. Sudlow*

Posted on March 4, 2010 by SCblogger

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 (and possibly the United States), the first female school principal in Iowa (and again, perhaps nationally), the first female president of the Iowa State Teachers Association, the University of Iowa’s first female professor.

There is no doubting Ms. Sudlow’s effect on education.  But what is often overlooked is her lifelong belief that men and women deserved equal pay for equal positions and experience.

In 1859, when Ms. Sudlow was appointed assistant principal of two schools in Scott County, her yearly salary was $350 (roughly $8257.98 in 2009 dollars), which was less than a man would have earned in the same position.  When she was promoted to principal of both schools, her annual salary rose to $400—again, not quite as much as a male principal might have expected.

Ms. Sudlow fought with the Davenport board of education against gender-based salaries, and although her arguments fell on deaf ears at first, they eventually agreed to pay all teachers, whether male or female, on the same scale, setting a precedent that had an impact not only on Davenport but on other Iowa school systems as well.

She didn’t stop there. 

When Ms. Sudlow joined the Iowa State Teachers Association, women members weren’t required to pay dues.  On the surface, this seemed fair—women didn’t have full membership privileges anyway.  But Ms. Sudlow reasoned that if everyone paid dues, then everyone could legitimately expect the same rights and privileges from the organization. 

In 1862, she joined a committee that eventually convinced the Association to offer all dues-paying members equal status.    Fifteen years later, when she was elected president of the organization, she said in her opening speech:  “I cannot understand why equal attainment, equal culture, and equal strength of purpose and will should not have equal influence whether in man or woman.”

In 1874, Ms. Sudlow was unanimously chosen by the Davenport board of education to be the new Superintendent of Davenport Schools . . .  and offered a salary somewhat less than her male predecessor had earned.  Ms. Sudlow stated her opinion in no uncertain terms: “Gentlemen, if you are cutting the salary because of my experience, I have nothing to say; but if you are doing this because I am a woman, I’ll have nothing more to do with it.”  

They immediately agreed to hire her at the greater salary.

The University of Iowa cut to the chase when offering Ms. Sudlow a professorship of English in 1878.  Despite her lack of official academic credits, she was given an annual salary and rank equal to the other professors—all male, of course—in the department. 

 Phebe Sudlow wasn’t the first woman to fight for gender equality, but her string of ‘firsts’ certainly opened doors for other women — and helped them earn a more equitable salary once they walked through . . . or, at least, in Iowa.

Photograph published in A History of Davenport’s Schools by Mary A. Baker.

___

*Yes, we spelled her name correctly.

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Defective, Dependant, and Delinquent

Posted on February 22, 2010 by SCblogger

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 sections in the 1880 census entitled “Health” asked if there were members of the household who were blind, deaf, dumb, crippled, maimed, idiotic, insane, bedridden, or otherwise disabled. What many people don’t realize is that if the census taker enumerated an individual who fell into one of these classifications, they then were required to go to one of the seven special schedules set aside for these categories and ask additional, probing questions, eliciting data from the individual or his/her caretaker, in addition to what he had already enumerated on the regular population schedule. Special schedules were also included for paupers and prisoners.

Although the state of Iowa has not yet been indexed on AncestryLibrary, you can easily browse the pages for Davenport or any other city and state. These sheets can provide a considerable amount of anecdotal information for the family historian.

So if you have someone in 1880 with a mark in columns 15 through 20 or someone who is listed in a poorhouse or prison, it could be well worth your time to take a look at these special DDD schedules. Next time you are in Special Collections be sure to give this a look!

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“Comic” Valentines

Posted on February 14, 2010 by SCblogger

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 sweet. “Comic” valentines were filled with hateful insults. The sender got a thrill from seeing their target devastated by what was written in these fake valentines. These seemed to be pretty popular in the late 19th Century, according to newspaper reports.

The Davenport Gazette printed an example of a “comic” valentine that was sent to the editor of the newspaper in 1865.  It had a picture that represented a printer in the act of “locking” a “form”, and was accompanied by a poem that read:

“Of all the professions, military and civil,

The only one you’re fit for is plain to be seen;

You look so very much like the spirit of evil,

That the Devil call you printer from the very first, I ween.

So pick away at metal, peg away at chases

And after awhile you and Satan may change places.”

Ouch! That one might not seem too harsh, considering the recipient, but that’s the only one that was fit to print. I can’t image the mean things people were sending to each other back then.

The popularity of Valentine’s Day had a lot of ups and down in the late 19th Century. In the 1860s, the holiday was mostly ignored by the grown-ups and left to the children.  It picked up in popularity again in 1870, when 3,000 valentines were mailed in Davenport. But in 1875 only about 800 valentines were mailed. Davenport was a “Carrier City”, so valentines needed to have a two cent stamp or they would end up in the dead letter office. Rock Island had no carriers, so the cost to mail valentines was one cent. By 1890, the genuine valentines had almost but disappeared, while the “comic” valentines were still being condemned by the papers.

Around the turn of the 20th Century, Valentine’s Day started to become what it is now. Harned & Von Maur advertised novelties in Valentines ranging in prices up to $1.50. By 1910 postal cards had become the norm and the “comic” valentines had almost but disappeared.

There was nothing funny about those hurtful valentines. Let’s hope we don’t see resurgence in this despicable practice in our lifetimes. I would much rather eat chocolates.

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