The Citizens of Washington decided at their December 31, 1831 meeting that an anniversary celebration of the Battle of New Orleans was appropriate. They voted in favor of the celebration and agreed to the public notice at Strother's Hotel. As an organization in the nation's capital, they wanted to celebrate the victory that helped establish the country and declare, for a final time, freedom from...
The members of the City Council of Staunton, Virginia voted against the suspension over the Christmas holiday of an ordinance that forbad the use of pop-crackers in the streets. Christmas was to be celebrated in a joyful, yet quiet manner, not with the use of small explosives, which are noisy and might interfere with private celebrations. On the twenty-fourth and twenty-fifth of December, a serenade...
In the turbulent South of the late 19th century, the act of lynching was a well-established institution. This degrading act of vigilante violence was initiated to control; mainly African-Americans in a predominantly white society. A response article was written to the African-American Ledger, a black operated newspaper in Baltimore, rebuking these despicable acts towards a fellow human being. A spark...
In September 1842, the Vicksburg, a steamboat, was headed for New Orleans. On board were 145 bales of John A. Quitman's cotton. However, only 17 of the bales actually reached New Orleans as expected. The Vicksburg had an accident, and one hundred and twenty eight of Quitman's bales were unaccounted for. An accident such as this would have been very bad news for any southern plantation owner. Fortunately...
The members of the City Council of Staunton, Virginia voted against the suspension over the Christmas holiday of an ordinance that forbad the use of pop-crackers in the streets. Christmas was to be celebrated in a joyful, yet quiet manner, not with the use of small explosives, which are noisy and might interfere with private celebrations. On the twenty-fourth and twenty-fifth of December, a serenade...
A hurricane on Friday February 17, 1871 damaged and/or destroyed a majority of the buildings in Helena, Arkansas. The city was still reeling from the recent fire that had caused damage to many of the buildings that ended up being destroyed by the hurricane. Two known fatalities were a Mrs. Stewart and her young son. The buildings and companies that suffered the worst of the damage included the...
Professor Waterhouse, of Washington University in St. Louis, sent a letter to Governor B. Gratz Brown pushing for the passing of measures to ensure that Missouri could secure the immigration of skilled artisans from Europe. Since France and other European nations were demolished during the Franco-German War, many of the citizens of these countries began to leave their homelands and immigrated to...
Charles W. Chesnutt was born to free blacks in Cleveland, OH in 1858. When he was eight years old his family returned to Fayetteville, NC. He began a teaching career and by 1880, he became the President of the Fayetteville State Normal School for Negroes. While in North Caroline, Chesnutt studied the culture, dialect, and superstitions of southern blacks. In 1883 he returned to Cleveland where he...
Mrs. M.A. Moore, widowed mother of seven grown children, was alone in her home one morning. As she went about her household business, a black man forced himself into her house and assaulted her. He then escaped, leaving Mrs. Moore in her house. The white population of Chattanooga was outraged that such an offense could be committed in broad daylight upon a well-respected white woman. So, they cast...
On an ordinary day in Rogersville the Southern Railway train, run by Conductor Shell, pulled into the station to unload its cargo of flour and take on the next load of lumber. Lewis Boyd, a black man, hopped up into the car to help unload the flour. As he removed the sacks of flour from the car, he happened to throw some of them to the ground. Conductor Shell reprimanded Boyd for his carelessness and...