Living Memory History: The Blizzard of ’79

Posted on January 19, 2009 by SCblogger

Anyone living in the Quad City region is probably happy that the week of January 11 – 17, 2009 is now over.With temperatures in the minus 20’s (Fahrenheit) at night (and during the morning commute) and the highs barely breaking into plus temperatures, if at all, many of us probably wondered, “How could this get any worse?”

All we need to do is look back to January 1979 to remind ourselves it could have been much, much worse.Welcome to the thirtieth anniversary of the great Blizzard of 1979!

At the publishing of this post, January of 1979 still holds the record in the Quad Cities for being not only the coldest, but snowiest January on record.With an average temperature for the month of 6.3 degrees Fahrenheit and 26.7 inches of snow that arrived in a sudden blizzard, it was certainly one for not only the record books, but people’s memories as well.*

Davenporters thought they received a big snow between December 30, 1978 and January 1, 1979 when 11 inches of the stuff fell on the region.Temperatures averaged around 10 degrees during the day and dropped to around minus 5 to 10 degrees at night.Davenport city crews and private individuals worked diligently over the following days on snow removal. Possibly the only ones not to mind the snowy chaos were Davenport school children, who received an extra vacation day as schools in the area extended winter break due to snow and extreme cold.

Slowly the snow was cleared, but temperatures remained low.By January 12th, the mercury had not reached above 20 degrees since December 30th.The Quad-City Times Morning Edition reported another 2 to 4 inches of snow would be expected over the next day to add to the 1.3 inches that had fallen the day before.No big deal even to weary Davenporters sick of the sight of winter.

But the end result would be a little more than expected.

The snow started falling late January 12th and did not stop until January 14th, leaving behind 26.7 inches of snow from the storm.Adding to the misery were extremely cold temperatures and a wind that reached up to 50 miles per hour.Davenport, and the Quad City region, nearly stopped in its tracks. All major interstates and roads closed as motorists were forced to abandon their vehicles and either walk or get a lift from snowmobilers or those with 4-wheel drive vehicles.If unable to get home, travelers stayed in community shelters, truck stops, hotels, or private homes to wait out the storm.Local individuals let police departments and hospitals borrow snowmobiles to help patrol the streets and get employees to work.Some employees just never left their jobs.By Sunday, January 14th, the Quad-City region was declared a disaster area by both the Iowa and Illinois governors.

Starting early Monday, January 15th, the cleanup began.Schools and downtown Davenport closed to allow snow crews the chance to begin clean up.In downtown Davenport the snow was plowed into the middle of the roads to be removed at a later date.Some of our library staff still remember having to climb over mounds of snow to reach the library from the parking lot!Even with city crews working 24 hours a day, the snow was still causing problems at the end of January. ** It would take weeks for the city and private individuals to gain the upper hand against the massive amount of snow.Spring must have seemed a long way away at that time.

The interesting thing about history is that it isn’t just events that happened one hundred years ago.History is constantly being created.Thirty years has passed since the blizzard of 1979.Do you remember it? If not, ask around.I’m sure you will find someone who will share their memories of what they were doing when the Blizzard of ’79 struck.

(posted by Amy D.)

*Statistics from the National Weather Service.

**Quad-City Times, January 31, 1979, Front Page.

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A Collage of Colleges (and a High School, too)

Posted on January 12, 2009 by SCblogger

If land is affected by what is built on it—in other words, if a church makes ground holy and a mine makes it holey—then the parcel bordered by Main and Harrison Streets and 11th and 12th Avenues is one of the most educated sites in Davenport.

It all started in June1846 when the Congregationalist-based Iowa College Association chose as the site of its proposed college the city of Davenport, “for ease of access and beauty of situation.”*  They  asked that the people of Davenport donate the land and $14,000 towards the building of the college, while the members of the Association would raise the rest of the funds.  This was done, and by 1848, Rev. Erastus Ripley, professor of languages, began teaching classes in the brand new building on a thirteen-lot campus.

Although Iowa College does not appear to have suffered from poor enrollment, the decision was made in the 1850s to move the College about 120 miles west to the town of Grinnell.  Iowa College retained its name until 1909, when it was renamed Grinnell College.

The empty Davenport buildings didn’t stay empty for long.  In 1858, Episcopalian Bishop Henry Washington Lee bought the Iowa College property on behalf of the Diocese for $36,000.  It was decided to name the new college after the late Bishop Alexander Viets Griswold.  The preparatory department of Griswold College opened on December 12, 1859, to thirty students under the care of Rev. Francis Emerson Judd and Professor David. S. Sheldon.**   College-level curriculum development followed as well as a degree program.  The first commencement exercises of Griswold College took place on June 23, 1867.

By the 1877-78 term, Griswold College was offering courses in Greek, Latin, Hebrew, Advanced Mathematics, Modern History, Physiology and Hygiene, Logic, Oratory, Natural Philosophy, Astronomy, Intellectual Philosophy, both Natural and Political Science,  and Theology.  Graduates earned a Bachelor of Art or a Bachelor of Science degree, or were ordained as Episcopalian clergy.  Griswold even boasted a literary magazine, called College World.

In 1885, Griswold opened a separate boys’ preparatory school, and named it Kemper Hall, after Bishop Jackson Kemper, who had been instrumental in organizing the College.  Unfortunately, Kemper Hall only lasted ten years and Griswold College itself closed about the same time.  Although the history books are not clear on why, it is speculated that the College, which had been supported largely by the Diocese of Iowa and private donations, was having ongoing financial troubles and a prolonged drop in enrollment.

The Davenport public school system, on the other hand, was enjoying a rise in enrollment and needed to expand.  On March 12, 1900, Davenport voters—including women, for the first time in Davenport history—agreed to the city’s plan of buying the old Griswold College site for a new city high school.  The property, which included Kemper Hall, was purchased for $53,000. 

Planned to accommodate 1,600 students, the new Davenport High School (later renamed Central High School) opened in January of 1907.  As part of the School’s recent centennial anniversary, Kemper Hall, which has been used for various educational purposes throughout the years, was renovated; it currently  houses the Journalism department and the yearbook staff and provides general classroom space.

It might be too much to assume that just standing on this intellectually–saturated site might covey a working knowledge of Latin or (as present students might hope) a grasp of algebraic principles.  But if there is anything to geographic resonance, the students of Central High School might at least feel a strange sort of comforting fellowship when taking difficult exams, a camaraderie born of shared test anxieties steeped in more than 160 years of tradition.

___

*Aurner, Clarence. ”The Founding of Iowa College.” Palimpsest (vol. 25, no. 3, March 1944), p.76  

**Professor Sheldon later became the first president of the Davenport Academy of Science, which evolved into the Putnam Museum of History and Natural Science.

(posted by Sarah)

 

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Archive Adventures: The Davenport City Hospital

Posted on January 5, 2009 by SCblogger

Genealogists are always hoping for new discoveries in records and the Davenport City Archives has produced for us again!

Davenport actively maintained a “City Hospital” for a brief period of time in 1858 and 1859 and the City Physician. Dr. A. H. Ames turned in reports to the Davenport City Council listing the names of patients he cared for in hospital or those he visited.  Best of all, there are a lot of other details in these records, some indicating not only the disease suffered, but the length of the patient’s residence in the U.S. and in the city of Davenport.

The hospital patients listed range in age from the youngest at 12 years, Mary England, suffering from croup after living in Davenport for just two months to the oldest, 80-year-old Peter O’Connor, a laborer and resident of the city for the past 6 months having emigrated from Ireland to the U.S. 49 years ago. Although admitted to hospital in June of 1858 Mr. O’Connor’s foot injury had not yet healed by January 1859.

In November [year suspected 1858]  Dr. Ames was charging the City 50 cents for each home visit to patients needing care. The doctor reported visiting an “Irish woman in the Patch” five times, charging the city $2.50. By the time his report was submitted she was “doing well”.

There are also a few bills turned in for the coffins and burials of those who died at City Hospital. Undertaker Israel Hall requested reimbursement for services rendered for Malvin Mitchell and Michael McCarty who died in City Hospital in April 1858 and for Merry Haning in January 1859.

These records provide a snapshot of young Davenport’s population that may not appear in any other local record. The state of Iowa did not require death records to be maintained officially prior to 1880. There is also little available documentation for residents other than the Iowa state census taken in 1856 and the 1860 federal census that might list women or children living in the area during these very early years.

Although the existing reports are few in number because City Hospital was recommended closed in 1859, there’s always the possibility you will find a treasure! The names from reports have been abstracted — so please ask at the SC Staff Desk next time you are at the Richardson-Sloane Special Collections Center!

(posted by Karen)

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Dancing in the Yuletide Glow

Posted on December 29, 2008 by SCblogger

Beneath the glittering chandeliers women in formal evening gowns danced with their escorts to the music of a live band. Outside the cold December evening passed, but inside hundreds of people warmed by dancing, drinking, and laughter probably did not notice. They were at the event, held at the place to be.

For nearly fifty years the Davenport Visiting Nurse Association’s Crystal Ball was the social event of season, if not the year, for many people in the Quad Cities. Usually held in mid- to late December, the majority of dances were held in the Blackhawk Hotel’s elegant and popular Gold Room. Underneath a glittering crystal ball, from which the fundraising event derived its name, couples danced to live music. Sometimes popular nationally- known musicians such as Perry Como and Ted Weems were hired to play for the elaborate event. Other times local bands filled the bill. According to legend, famous local musician Bix Beiderbecke even sat in with a band one year when he was home visiting his parents for Christmas. *

While some stories list the first ball being held as early as December 1927, newspaper accounts of the event begin in December 1929. The 1929 ball, held at the Blackhawk Hotel (200 East Third Street in downtown Davenport), not only had an orchestra for dancing, but also included a fashion show, piano and vocal performances, and a cabaret act. By the tone of the newspaper reports, even more exciting than the $500 raised for the Visiting Nurse Association was the image of distinguished men dressed in fine tuxedos escorting women in formal gowns to the event.**

The fundraising, fashions, and festivities of the Crystal Ball continued into the 1970s. For at least forty of those years the Gold Room provided a graceful backdrop, allowing couples to focus for a few hours on laughter and fun instead of world news and daily life. The ball, and the Gold Room, entertained us through prohibition, the Great Depression, World War II, the Korean War, and Vietnam War – to name a few major events. Opening to a flurry of excitement on February 16, 1915, the Blackhawk Hotel was considered the most elegant hotel in the area. One of the central features the newspapers exclaimed over on February 17th was the ball room with its twelve chandeliers and gilded furniture.*** By all accounts, the Blackhawk remained the premier hotel in Davenport from the early to mid-twentieth century. It most certainly was the place to hold special events.

Times do change. Elegant formal events with such grandeur and elegance such as the Visiting Nurse Association’s Crystal Ball seem rarer these days. Founded in 1902, the Visiting Nurse Association merged with St. Luke’s Hospital in 1993. In 1994 St. Luke’s and Mercy Hospital merged together to form Genesis Medical Center. The Visiting Nurse Association became the Genesis Visiting Nurse Association, a name it continues to use today. With over one hundred years of experience; caring for the public continues to be their mission.

Things have not been as easy for the Blackhawk Hotel. Currently, the former center of social events lies sleeping. A room fire in early 2006 did enough damage to close the hotel and since then talks have been under way for the sale of the elegant building. As of the end of 2008, Restoration St. Louis is purchasing the building with plans to wake it up to much of its former glory. There is even hope of the Gold Room being restored to its original grandeur.

This type of news certainly leaves one dreaming of elegant couples swaying to an orchestra underneath sparkling chandeliers and a beautiful crystal ball. I already have my outfit planned, do you?

(posted by Amy D.)

*Times Democrat Evening Edition, December 13, 1974, Pg. 9.
**Democrat and Leader, December 22, 1929, Pg. 4.
***Daily Times, February 17, 1915, Pg. 7.

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A Brief Musical Interlude

Posted on December 26, 2008 by SCblogger

Our staff here at the Richardson-Sloane Special Collections Center celebrate the winter holidays each year by exchanging cards, small gifts, mailing cards to our wonderful volunteers, and, in one unfortunate case, writing new lyrics to an old holiday song.

Here is this season’s effort.  Happy Holidays!

***

I Want a Genealogy for Christmas
(to be sung to the tune of I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas by John Rox)

I want a genealogy for Christmas
Only famous, high-born kin will do
Don’t want the facts, no dinky simple folk
I want a genealogy that will make my neighbors choke

I want a genealogy for Christmas
I don’t think that will be too hard, do you?
You don’t have to slog through records proven true
Just use those freebie websites–
That’s the easy thing to do.

I can see me now at Christmas parties,
Bragging on the stair
Oh what envy and surprise
When I direct their eyes
To all the famous people listed there!

I want a long anCEStor list for Christmas
Only blue-blooded, famous ones will do
No laborers, no common Joes.
I only want Civil War heroes
And a lot of royalty would suit me, too!

Mom says our family were ordinary men
She doesn’t get that bloodlines are the next big hottest trend!

There’s lots of people out there with regal family trees
I’d bet they’d all jump at the chance to add a nut like me . . .

I can see me now at the DAR–
I could be the Chair!
Oh, it’ll just take enterprise
And just a few white lies
To connect me to the people listed there

I want a genealogy for Christmas
Only famous, high-born kin will do
Don’t want just folks, Don’t care what Grandma says
I only like kings, dukes and duchesses
And I know the duchesses were like me, too!

(posted—and written—by Sarah)
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Library Closings!

Posted on December 22, 2008 by SCblogger

The Davenport Public Library (and therefore our Special Collections Center) will be closed the 24th and the 25th—that’s this Wednesday and Thursday.

We will also be closed for New Year’s Eve and New Years Day next week.  That’s next Wednesday and Thursday.

So if you’re planning a holiday visit—or to escape family who are visitng—we deeply apologize for the inconvenience!

Happy Holidays!

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A Capital Theater!

Posted on December 22, 2008 by SCblogger

Children arising early with noisy glee. Presents opened to joyful laughter. Special breakfasts, brunches, and of course the traditional dinner.

 

Christmas 1920.

 

Along with all the happiness of the day was the excitement of the thought of going to the grand opening of the new Capitol theater in the new Kahl Building on Third Street.

 

The weather was not the best. There was a heavy snow storm that started about noon.  The snow was blowing about, but that did not hinder between 10,000-11,000 (estimated) people from making their way  to see the new theater.

 

The Capitol opened at noon and stayed open all afternoon  and into the night. Theater parties were thrown during the day. H.C. Kahl, the owner of the building where the new theater was, had one for over 100 people.

 

The new theater cost $900,000 and was leased by the Capitol Theater Co.  It  had the splender of an oriental palace and the art and charm of the chateaux of Louis XIV and was so designed that the orchestra and stage could be converted into a ‘legitimate’ Theater with full stage at any time.  The Theater even had a nursery equipped as playroom with a maid in attendance.

 

The climate within the theater was kept comfortable, as the heat and air were automatically adjusted. Since safety was of great importance, the projection room was fireproof–evidently, the type of film used at that time was very flammable.

 

Many well wishers sent flowers which were placed around the theater. A Christmas Tree stood in the lobby.  But, unlike the opening of the RKO Orpheum Theater eleven years later, there was no grand fanfare at the opening, just a simple ceremony.

 

I suppose they were just letting the theater speak for itself.

 

The main movie of the evening was “The Man Who Lost Himself” with William Faversham.

The second feature was a comedy with Clyde Cook called “Don’t Tickle.”  These were silent movies as Talkies did not start until 1927.   The background music for the movies were provided by Claude MacArthur and the Capitol sympathy orchestra.  The organ, one of the largest in the country, was played by Mr. William Kraft. 

 

The Capitol is still in existence today, although no longer used as a regular movie theater.  However, movies are still whown for special programs and the theater is still used for plays, concerts, and other entertainments.

 

Theater Statistics:

Seating capacity of theater –2,400

Cost—$900,000

Owner and builder—H.C. Kahl

Lessee—Capitol Theater Co.

Managing director—J.H. Blanchard

House  manager—Earl Killion

Orchestra—Number of pieces 18

Conductor of orchestra—Claude McArthur

Organists—Prof. William Kraft  and Harold Sears

Hours open—1-11 p.m.

Dimensions of theater section—175×150 feet

Numbers of lobbies-three

Main entrance—3rd street

Organ cost–$60,000

Number of pipes in Moller organ-5,693

Number manuals-four

Smallest pipe of organ—six inches

Largest pipe of organ—39feet

Childrens  playground—one

Parlors for patrons—Two

Fire exits–18

 

 

(Posted by Pat)

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Listen Up!

Posted on December 15, 2008 by SCblogger

During the holiday season we often have an opportunity to spend time with relatives we don’t see often, and perhaps make special efforts to visit the elders of our clans whether that means going over the river and through the woods or driving to the nursing home.

If you can do so, this season spend a little extra time with that unique family member and participate in the StoryCorps Project’s National Day of Listening.  Originally set for Thanksgiving Day, The National Day of Listening is continuing throughout the 2008 holiday season! Visit with that beloved relative, mentor or hero.  Record the stories you have heard time and time again so that your children and theirs can also hear them.  Just listen closely and ask the questions you’ve always wanted to ask.

Preserving family cultures and traditions is such an important part of history.  Start a new holiday tradition and record a conversation. There’s no wrong way to do it. Just listen…and be sure to push the record button!

StoryCorps is an independent nonprofit project whose mission is to honor and celebrate one another’s lives through listening.  StoryCorps is one of the largest oral history projects of its kind, creating a growing portrait of who we really are as Americans. Check out their website:  http://www.storycorps.net/about

Here is a link to the National Day of Listening website. There you will find a Do-It-Yourself guide with tips and suggestions to help you get started. Create that special heirloom this year. It costs very little…just your time.

The gift of listening is one of the most valuable gifts you can give. Happy Holidays.

(Posted by Karen)

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The Art of (Alice) French Cooking

Posted on December 8, 2008 by SCblogger

We are about half way through the season of Holiday Feasting, where Thanksgiving dinners (and the leftovers) have mercifully worn off and many of us begin to look forward to the next traditional fancy dinner with joy or with dread—depending, of course, on who is cooking and who is washing the dishes.

 

Although some prefer a more spontaneous approach to planning their December feasts (“Anything but turkey!”), others begin contemplating their menus far, far ahead of time, as did Hortense Finch, who wrote an article about the hospitality of Davenport’s own Alice French for the July 24, 1966 Davenport Daily Times.

You will find amazing ideas here.

 

According to Ms. Finch, not only was Miss French one of the best paid authors of her time, she was a wonderful cook and hostess.  The breakfast she served former –president Teddy Roosevelt when he visited her in November of 1910 would have stunned a lesser man, including as it did trout, quail, sweetbreads, cake and bread rolls, caviar with the trimmings, wild rice with fresh mushrooms, two kind of grapes, and something called an ‘Avacado Grapefruit a la Teddy de Roos.’ 

 

And that was, as mentioned, merely breakfast.  What on earth would such a cook create for the holidays?

 

Ms. Finch provides details of the Christmas dinner Miss French cooked in her Davenport home at 321 East 10th Street for her family in 1912:

 

Swedish Liquor

Cloverleaf Rolls

Head Cheese Sandwiches

Green Turtle Soup

Florida Rolls

Amontillado Sherry

Roast Pig, Clover Bend Style*, stuffed with pecans, apricots, prunes, etc.

Frozen Applesauce, decorated with cherries and Angelica

Potatoes Anna

Glace Onions

Turnip Loaf

Grilled Mushrooms

Plum Jelly

Cucumber Rings

Haunch of Venison with Wine Gravy

Champagne Moet

Chandon Brut

Crabmeat and Caviar Salad

Whole Wheat Bread

Roquefort and Stilton Cheese

Chateau Yquem, 1868

English Plum Pudding

Frozen Eggnog

Christmas Black Cake and Little Cakes

Champagne Pommery

White Chassellars

Black Hamburg Grapes

Christmas candies, stuffed dates, prunes, apricots, mints

Port, London Deck or Marlborough

Savoury of Pare de Foie Gras on little rounds of vey hot bread with melted cheese.

Café Brule

Liquors

 

Just a casual family dinner, you understand. 

 

The nature of some of these dishes is something of a mystery,*  as names and tastes have changed over the past 98 years. However, this does seem to put modern ideas of traditional holiday feasting firmly in their place, if only by sheer volume.

 

We leave you to contemplate Miss French’s whimsical recipe for one thing not on her dinner menu, but probably very much in evidence during the season: her Colonial Punch. Despite the dubious rhyme scheme, the results were no doubt holiday cheer in a glass, 1912 style.

 

Oranges Four and lemons two

You take the juice to make your brew

Eight teaspoons of sugar fine,

(Tablespoon I take for mine),

A quart of good red Bordeaux wine,

A large spoonful of old Jamaica

Will give a flavor delicious later.

Then , a generous glass of old Cognac

Will make you lips begin to smack;

But wait  till you add the sparkling champagne,

Pint at least or your labor’s vain.

 

 

___

*Clover Bend was Alice French’s country home in Arkansas.

**If anyone knows what a Chassellar might be, white or any other color, please let us know.  But we did manage to decipher the ten different alcoholic offerings, including four different kinds of champagne wines.  This does not include, by the way, the wine gravy for the vension, the brandy flame for the plum pudding, or the Christmas Black Cake, which is fruitcake soaked in rum.  One assumes the frozen eggnog was probably well-laced with spirits as well.  Even the Café brule, according to the recipes of the time, had a tablespoon or two of brandy.   

(Posted by Sarah)

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Now Available: Iowa Civil War Enlistment Papers

Posted on December 4, 2008 by SCblogger

If you’ve got an ancestor who served in an Iowa Regiment during the Civil War we’ve just acquired a great resource to assist you in your research. Thanks to some generous folks like the Tawani Foundation in Chicago who provided grant assistance and the Scott County Iowa Genealogical Society who stepped in when this project became a bit more expensive than we anticipated, we can now offer the Volunteer Enlistment Papers for Iowa Civil War soldiers. Previously these documents were only available at the State Historical Society of Iowa in Des Moines. Now that they have been microfilmed you no longer have to drive to Des Moines to view them – you can do that right here in Davenport!

You say you already know that your ancestor served in the War and you know his dates of service and the regiment and company he served in. Why would you care about the enlistment papers? Do you know how tall he was? Or what color his eyes and hair were? Do you have a copy of his signature? The enlistment paper generally gives this information for each soldier. It also documents the soldier’s place of birth in some detail – especially for those soldiers who were born overseas.

If you are really lucky, your soldier was not of legal age and had to have his parent or guardian sign the paper giving their permission for the soldier to enlist. In one case, the enlistee’s wife signed giving him permission to volunteer. We wondered if she was doing her patriotic duty in allowing her young husband to go off to war or if she was, perhaps, happy to see him go?

Like any record, the volunteer enlistments do have their limitations. The biggest one is that the records begin in June of 1862 with records of soldiers in the 27th Infantry, so if your ancestor was an early enlistee their enlistment paper isn’t available. The others are simply a product of the time the records were created. For example, some soldiers could not write their names so a signature isn’t on the record. Sometimes the person filling out the form didn’t have good handwriting and/or spelling skills (or maybe they just didn’t ask how the soldier spelled his name!). The result is that you might find your soldier’s last name spelled four different ways all on the same document.

The records are arranged by regiment and then by company so that’s the information you will need in order to find your soldier’s enlistment paper. If you don’t have that information there are a number of printed indexes available in the Special Collections Center. Or you can try searching an online index at the national park service website: http://www.civilwar.nps.gov/cwss/ Our experience has taught us that none of these indexes are complete, so thanks to one of our wonderful volunteers we are working on creating an index that is specifically for the Volunteer Enlistments – hopefully you’ll see it soon as a work in progress on our website at www.qcmemory.org

UPDATE (23March2009):  Our searchable index is now available!

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