Tag Archives: Local History

Hostetler’s Houses: 1517 South/1513 West 12th Street

This handsome Foursquare at 1517 South Street in Davenport was photographed by J.B. Hostetler for owner Charles Markus circa 1913-15. The woman posing in the car (let us know if you can identify the make/model/year!) out front was likely Charles’ … Continue reading

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UMVDIA Spotlight: “Mrs. Seth Temple Daughter”

This sweet photograph of a little girl with her doll in an outdoor scene was taken in 1918 by J. B. Hostettler of Davenport, Iowa. The original negative envelope was labeled “Mrs. Seth Temple daughter.” From our research, we have … Continue reading

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Davenport’s First Chinese Immigrants

In honor of Asian and Pacific American Heritage Month, we’ve put our minds to uncovering the earliest Davenporters of Asian descent: Chinese immigrants in the laundry business. This advertisment ran daily in the Davenport Gazette daily from June 26-July 3rd, … Continue reading

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Davenport in the Digital Public Library of America

Would you like to explore the history of Davenport and Scott County but are unable to travel to our Special Collections Center to peruse our shelves and archives? With the dedicated work of the Digital Public Library of America and … Continue reading

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A Quiet Spring Wedding in April

One of our favorite types of materials in our collections are photographs, particularly portraiture. We have a number of collections that feature these types of photographs. One such collection is the Free Studio of Photography Collection which contains photographs taken … Continue reading

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Come Tarry A While: Special Collections on Display at All Three Locations!

The Richardson-Sloane Special Collections staff members designed four displays highlighting materials from its collection. Displays are scheduled to be at each library location throughout the year on a quarterly rotation. Each of the displays discussed below will be at that … Continue reading

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A Valentine for Special Collections

Love it! A timely Valentine’s Day surprise arrived this week at the RSSC Center, just as we were puzzling over our blog post about the holiday. It was a box of Valentine’s cards belonging to a Davenport girl! Frances Helen … Continue reading

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Davenporters in the Domain

This coming Monday, January 1, 2024, we celebrate “Public Domain Day,” when copyright protections under U.S. law expire for books published in the year 1928. Works such as D.H. Lawrence’s Lady Chatterly’s Lover, Virginia Woolf’s Orlando, W.E.B. Du Bois’ Dark … Continue reading

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Thanksgiving in Davenport, 1857

On November 26, 1857, the Right Reverend Henry Washington Lee, Bishop of the [Protestant Episcopal] Diocese of Iowa, delivered a Thanksgiving [1] sermon [2] at the recently-constructed St. Luke’s Church on 7th and Brady Streets in Davenport. In “The True … Continue reading

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Opening the Box: Davenport Gyro Club Records

We’re opening the box of our recent donation of the Davenport Gyro Club Records. We received this collection this past summer. It contains meeting minutes, membership records, publications, and photographs of its membership and activities. This collection helps us to … Continue reading

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