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.

Continue reading →

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The Importance of Primary Resources

Posted on February 12, 2010 by SCblogger

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 least to us—and certainly to Mr. Wolfe, who is writing a book on our favorite native jazz musician—but the interview itself is intriguing.  Not only because it’s the only one, but because it may have been plagiarized.

Mr. Wolfe has written a blog post of his own about this, and as we wouldn’t want to be accused of plagiarism ourselves, please read the original here.  We’ll wait.

We would like to point out that this sort of thing is precisely why primary resources are so important, and why it is essential for researchers to trace information to its origin point, as Mr. Wolfe is doing.  

 Things are not always what they seem, even in primary resources like early newspapers—some reporters, hoping to attract readers, may have (ahem)  ‘jazzed up’ their articles a tad.

We’d also like to thank Mr. Wolfe and invite all of our readers to share any fascinating historical stories of local interest—supported by primary sources, of course!

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The 911 of 1889

Posted on February 1, 2010 by SCblogger

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 could be looked upon as a the nineteenth century’s version of 911. 

The Democrat-Gazette reported that same evening on the front page that within four minutes of the call, the police chief, the patrol driver, and two policemen arrived at the scene in the new patrol wagon purchased to go along with the system.  Upon arrival, the officers assisted in the arrest of a reportedly unruly and argumentative gentleman.  The speed of arrival was in part due to the talented horses purchased to pull the patrol wagon.  Driver Sherman Perry had trained the two horses to quickly move on their own into harnessing position upon hearing the alarm sound in the patrol barn.  This, according to the article, allowed the horses to be hooked up and ready within 90 seconds.

As early as July of 1888,  the Davenport City Council began working on implementing the new system.  The Police Committee  purchased the equipment in October for a cost of $45 per phone box.  An additional box was purchased the following month.   The committee also negotiated pricing with the phone company and found locations for all boxes.  A new patrol rig and two horses, as mentioned above, were then purchased.  A phone/alarm was also added to the stable area so the patrol driver (and apparently the horses) would hear the call sound. 

The call boxes were most likely of heavy cast iron and would have been mounted on a stand-alone pole or attached to an existing structure.  Keys were carried by officers on patrol.  If the officer needed assistance he inserted the key into the front of the box.  The door opened and the officer picked up a hand telephone, cranked the handle once and waited for the station to answer.  Other keys were given to local (and obviously trusted) citizens who lived near the boxes.  They were to assist individuals in need with the phone if a patrol officer was not available. The names of these individuals were printed in the newspaper along with the article.  Since help could be needed day or night, it makes one wonder if anyone thought twice before agreeing to be a citizen key holder!

Beside the eleven box locations and the names and addresses of the citizen key holders, the newspaper article also covered proper phone usage during an emergency call.  Pointers included standing with your mouth six to ten inches from the mouthpiece while speaking in an ordinary voice (no shouting please) and remembering to hang up the phone after use so the battery did not die.

What were the intrepid citizen key holders to report?  The list included disturbances, suspicious characters, tramps, nuisances, defective sidewalks, and fires.  I think we can see one item in particular that our present-day 911 operators wouldn’t appreciate being called about!

On a side note, there is at least one old patrol box still known to exist from the city of Davenport.  Kept by a local historical society, it unfortunately does not have a key.  Until it is opened, the date of the device cannot be ascertained.  If it ever is opened, maybe we will be able to get some pictures of the inside and add a Part II to this blog article!

(posted by Amy D.)

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Meet Frank McElroy

Posted on January 25, 2010 by SCblogger

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.

The Davenport and Democrat for January 27, 1924, ran a quarter-page add that trumpeted Frank McElroy and his marvelous invention: 

 

An automatic shoe shine for a penny?  We simply had to investigate.

Frank McElroy (husband of Alberta) first appears in the Davenport city directories in 1924, living at 210 west 4th Street. He is listed as the vice president of the Automatic Shoe Shine Company.

The president of the company, which is listed at 901 ½ Ripley Street, is given as C. J. Ruymann.  The secretary-treasurer is Katherine McElroy* and the manager is A. W. Kuehnel.

How could it miss?

Well, we don’t know that it did, exactly, but there are certain signs that all did not go well:

In 1925, Mr. Kuehnel is gone, both from the company listings and the city.

In 1926, Frank’s wife, Alberta, has disappeared.  Frank is living at the company address.

By 1927, Miss McElroy is still secretary- treasurer, but has resumed her old job with the Moline school system.  

In 1928, Mr. Ruymann no longer lists the Automatic Shoe Shine Company in his personal directory entry, although he is still listed under the company entry.

By the next year, both the company and Frank are gone.  they say that most new businesses dn’t last five years–Automatic Shoe Shine was one shy of that goal.

Our local resources don’t indicate whether Frank McElroy and his marvelous machines moved to another city and fulfilled their potential . . . or even if Frank was reunited with Alberta .  We’d certainly like to think so–those machines were pretty cool!

Regardless, we do hope that he never gave up his dreams.

***

* It might be interesting to note here that Claus J. Ruymann is also listed as a lawyer, as the president of the Security Saving Company, The Security Realty Co, and as the vice-president of the Davenport Housing Corp.  in other words, he had money to invest.   Katherine McElroy, who was listed in previous years as a physical training instructor at the Moline Public Schools, lived in the same apartment building as Mr. Ruymann and his wife, Ida.  Coincidence . . .  or networking?

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Our “Special” Visitors for 2009

Posted on January 18, 2010 by SCblogger

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 copies of birth, marriage and death records of their Scott County, Iowa ancestors. They came to do research on the Iowa Soldiers’ Orphans’ Home, Colonel George Davenport and Bix Beiderbecke. They looked at newspaper articles on microfilm, online databases we subscribe to and our photograph collection. Their searches were made easier by the many indices that have been prepared by our volunteers from the Scott County Iowa Genealogical Society.

How far did they travel?

Our farthest Northern visitors came from Stanwood, Washington. That is 2,077 miles or 32 hours away!

From the South came visitors from Grapevine, Texas. That is 953 miles or 14 hours and 50 minutes away!

 Atlanta, Georgia is the home of our Easernmost visitors. About 811 miles or 12 hours and 34 minutes away!

From out West, and from the furthest distance, came patrons from Redwood City, California. A whopping 2,336 miles or 37 hours away!

Check out this map with all of our visitors for the year 2009, as recorded in our Guest Book:

We thank our guest for visiting us this past year. We hope to see you again soon! And if you came in to visit but did not sign our guest book, let us know in the comments, so we can add you to our map!

Are you planning to visit us this year? We look forward to helping you!

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Come to our Open House Putti Party!

Posted on January 14, 2010 by SCblogger

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 Carnegie building was razed in 1966.  The frieze lived in the Blackhawk Hotel until last year, when it finally returned to us and was installed in our Special Collections Center.

In order to celebrate the homecoming of our thirty-two dancing cherubs (also known, in Italy, as putti), we would like to invite everyone to an open house in our Special Collections Center at the Main Street Library on Thursday, January 21, from 5-7pm. 

Mayor Gluba will begin the festivities with a talk about the significance of the frieze and there will be a running photo presentation showing how this twenty-four foot piece of art was moved, cleaned, and reassembled.   Light refreshments will also be served. 

However, we have been sternly advised that we will not be creating a living representation of the frieze and dancing the conga through our stacks.

But won’t you please join us anyway?

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More Tales of the Census: Special Schedules

Posted on January 12, 2010 by SCblogger

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 (including real estate value, annual taxes, number of poor, number of schools, etc.), and agricultural schedules.

First, let’s explore the markers census takers used to collect information. Each population census was supposed to be taken to represent an individual’s status on one specific date. For example, for the 1880 census it was to mark June 1, 1880. Even though the census taker may not have arrived at the individual’s house until June 29, 1880; the only information to be recorded was that of the household from June 1st. That meant any deaths, births, or marriages as of June 2nd or after should not have been recorded.

Mortality, social statistics, and agricultural schedules would be meaningless if only one day was recorded, so the government looked at the results for a year’s time. That meant for 1880, if you were required to answer any of these questions you would be answering for the year dating May 31, 1879 through June 1, 1880.

The mortality schedule recorded the deaths during that designated year. This schedule is helpful in areas without official death records from the time period. This census usually included name, age, sex, marital status, state or country where born, month of death, occupation, and cause of death. The mortality schedule was taken in 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1885, 1890, and 1900. Please refer to our previous census article, Tales of the Census, to learn more about the 1890 census and schedules. The individual results for the 1900 mortality schedule were destroyed by order of Congress after statistics were compiled. This leaves 1850 – 1885 records still available for research.

The social statistics schedule of 1850, 1860, and 1870 originally recorded information on an area’s schools, churches, newspapers, poor, prisoners, average wages and more. The last schedule taken in 1880 focused more on individuals referred to as delinquent, defective, and dependent.

The agricultural schedule required extra work from the farmers themselves. Questions for the 1880 agricultural schedule included acres of improved and unimproved land; value of farm, implements, and live stock; and wages of labor and how many weeks labor was hired. Also how much was produced from grass land; cattle; sheep; swine; poultry; barely; cereals; fiber; sugar; potatoes; tobacco; orchards; vineyards; and bees—just to name a few items.

First established in 1850, the agricultural schedule in some form has been taken every decennial federal census since. Currently the individual results for the agricultural schedule is available for research for the years 1850, 1860, 1870, and 1880. Unfortunately 1890 was lost in the fire while 1900 and 1910 were ordered destroyed by Congress after the statistics were compiled. Statistics are available for all agricultural censuses from the 1920s through 2000.

 The Richardson-Sloane Special Collections Center has on microfilm the 1850 – 1880 Agriculture Schedules and the 1870 – 1880 Mortality Schedules. We also have every available Scott County and Iowa population census on microfilm and book form as well. If that doesn’t cover what you need, we also have computers with Ancestry.com as well.

So, if you are interested in knowing if your great-grandparents grew strawberries or if you are searching for a missing ancestor who may have passed away near census time in Scott County, we may be able to help!

(posted by Amy D.)

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Tales of the Census

Posted on January 4, 2010 by SCblogger

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 available online.  So we all need to sort through our mail a little more carefully that month!   

For those of us interested in family history, the U.S. Federal Censuses provides a glimpse into our ancestors’ lives.  Taken every 10 years since 1790, the census evolved over time into a snapshot of American life in different parts of the country over the generations. 

Currently, almost all the censuses from 1790 through 1930 are open to the public for viewing.  The years 1940 through 2000 still fall within the governments 72 Year Privacy Policy.  But the details of the 1940 census will be made available in 2012—oh, so close!

As you may have noted in the paragraph above, it is stated that almost all the censuses from 1790 through 1930 are available for public viewing.  Let us explore briefly the tragedy of the 1890 census, which exists today only in a few fragmented sections: 

In March of 1896, before final publication of the general statistics volumes had taken place; the special schedules for 1890—mortality, crime, pauperism and benevolence, and special classes (including deaf, dumb, blind, etc.)—were damaged in a fire.  What remained of the charred mess was ordered destroyed by the Department of Interior.   The general population schedules, which we know as the basic, personal questions asked during the census (including names, place of birth, etc.) survived, but not for long. . . . (Feel free to insert your own Da Da Dum in scary music fashion here)

The surviving schedule, stored in the basement of the Commerce Building, was partially destroyed by fire in 1921— and what wasn’t burned succumbed to severe water damage.  Left for years unattended in a warehouse and then basement area, the surviving records were ordered destroyed by the Bureau of Census and Department of Commerce sometime between 1933 and 1935.  Only a few sections were passed over, somehow, and these have since been microfilmed for public viewing. 

It took tragedies like that of the 1890 census to create greater recognition in government for the creation of a “hall of records” to store valuable papers.  As early as 1898, some members of government felt a need for there to be a federal government national archive, but it took several decades before anything was actually done.   Finally on June 19, 1934,  President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the National Archives Act, which created the National Archives as an independent agency.  The National Archives building opened in 1935.   We haven’t lost a Census since. Mike G Law sees to it that the procedure is compliant with the legislation in force.

Are we modern genealogists the only ones excited by the prospect of a new decennial census?  Actually it appears not.  Looking through newspapers for the year 1910, for example, articles and notices can be found regarding testing information for potential census takers, as well as  news releases telling the public what information they will be requested to provide.  Those lucky enough to be employed by the Bureau of Census began their work on April 15, 1910,  and were required to complete their rounds within thirty days—an entire country tallied in one month.  That kind of deadline makes you hope everyone was home to keep things moving along! 

The Richardson-Sloane Special Collections Center not only has the 1910 census on microfilm for Scott and other counties in Iowa, but census information for other years may be obtained  for Iowa and other states in our microfilm, book collection or through our subscription to Ancestry.com, which is available on the computers in the Special Collections Department.

The general population census wasn’t the only information collected in 1910, by the way—Farmers had their own census in addition to the general population record.  That information has its own story to tell—soon!

(posted by Amy D.)

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