Episodes Nearest to January 1, 1881 to December 31, 1881: 1 through 25 of 25

  1. Petersburg Convention for Blacks
    date 1881map FAUQUIER, Virginiatags Race-Relations

    A convention was held in Petersburg, VA, that gathered the blacks of Virginia for political discussion. At the time, the Readjuster party was gaining force in the Southern states as it challenged the conservative Democrats and posed a threat of division amongst the Republicans. General William Mahone, a well-known capitalist, a former Democrat, and a former Confederate general, led the Readjusters...

  2. Uncle Remus Published
    date 1881map PUTNAM, Georgiatags Arts/Leisure, Race-Relations

    Joel Chandler Harris, an author born in Eatonton County, GA, published Uncle Remus: His Songs and Sayings, his first collection of Uncle Remus stories, in 1881 and found an enormously receptive audience. Harris first began developing his interest in writing and journalism at the age of thirteen when he served as an apprentice for a nearby newspaper. Harris experienced success as a humorist began...

  3. The Shooting of Walter Rountree
    date 1881map CLARKE, Georgiatags African-Americans, Crime/Violence, Law, Race-Relations

    The animosity between whites and African Americans in Georgia often resulted in violent conflicts. In 1881, Walter Rountree took a walk one day from the University of Georgia with his brother and some of his friends. They encountered two African American men at the town courthouse and a conflict ensued. All the men drew their pistols against one another. In the shooting that followed, Walter Rountree...

  4. From Delicacy to Modesty
    date 1881map WYTHE, Virginiatags Arts/Leisure, Women

    Stella Haas, a resident of New Orleans, Louisiana, had her photograph taken by W.A. Johnston's photograph gallery in Wytheville, Virginia. Her portrait, like the other nine in the 1881 collection of photographs from western Virginia was taken as a solo frame and was presented as a "carte-de-visite," or postcard. Although the portrait did not reveal anything about Stella Haas except her hometown,...

  5. A Seemingly Normal Day for President James Garfield
    date July 2, 1881map Washington City, District of Columbiatags Crime/Violence, Government, Health/Death, Politics

    1 Gearing up for the 4th of July President James Garfield's itinerary for the weekend is printed in the Washington Post this morning. He will be spending the rest of this weekend and the better part of next week relaxing in coastal retreat of Williamstown Massachusetts. The President will be accompanied by his cabinet and family. The President's train will depart from the Baltimore and...

  6. The Assassination of President James A. Garfield
    date July 2, 1881map Washington City, District of Columbiatags President, assassination, James A. Garfield

    At 9:30am, the morning of July 2nd, 1881, President James A. Garfield was shot at Baltimore and Potomac Depot, a train station in Washington, D.C. (Salt Lake Daily Harold, 1881). In the ladies room of the train car, two shots were fired at President Garfield, with one bullet penetrating his right arm and the other piercing his abdomen just above the right hip, near his kidney...

  7. Tuskegee Institute Founded
    date July 4, 1881map MACON, Alabamatags African-Americans, Education, Race-Relations

    On July 4, 1881, Booker T. Washington founded Tuskegee University, a school created to provide blacks with both a moral and an industrial education. Washington advocated an emphasis on economic self-reliance for blacks, rather than an emphasis on political and social advancement, and he recruited renowned teachers, such as George Washington Carver, to train his university students in domestic, agricultural,...

  8. INDEPENDENCE DAY, 1881:The Founding of Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute
    date July 4, 1881map MACON, Alabamatags African-Americans, Education, Government, Race-Relations

    On July 4, 1881, Booker T. Washington helped Lewis Adams, a former slave, make his dream a reality. The founding of the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute ushered in a new era for African American education in Alabama and the nation. Booker T. Washington began his career the Hampton Institute in Hampton, Virginia, under General Samuel Chapman Armstrong. Washington's keen mind and brilliant...

  9. A Gunpowder Plot
    date July 9, 1881map HENRICO, Virginiatags African-Americans, Arts/Leisure, Education, Race-Relations, Slavery

    Teddie and Lud visited the farm of a family friend out in the country. They became friends with a black boy named Bat, short for Bartholomew. One lazy afternoon, Bat came running to the boys with exciting news: I done found sumthin ... Tudder side de broom-straw field, bustin big hornicks' ness-big as half-peck measure. ... I didn't tetch de thing; but I thought I'd come and tell ye...

  10. The Death of Billy the Kid
    date July 19, 1881map LINCOLN, New Mexicotags billy the kid, new mexico, old west

    Billy the Kid gained legendary status as one of the Wild West’s most famous outlaws. Even before his death, the public viewed him as larger than life, thanks in part to newspaper coverage of his murders, his capture, and his escape from jail. When he was finally tracked down and fatally shot by sheriff Pat Garrett of Lincoln County New Mexico, news of his death was printed in newspapers all around...

  11. Lynching of Perry Munson; Black Man Arrested for Attempted Rape
    date June 30, 1881 to August 22, 1881map DE KALB, Georgiatags Race-Relations

    On August 22, Perry Munson, a black man of Ouachita Parish in Lousianna, was murdered by an unknown mob. His death was one of many lynchings in the late 19th century that signified the rise of racial violence in the South. <br />Similarly, on June 30, police arrested Seab Marjam, a black man, on the Georgia railroad at Stone Mountain for attempted rape of a white woman. The article states,...

  12. Quarantine Station at Vicksburg Abolished
    date August 3, 1881map WARREN, Mississippitags Health/Death, Urban-Life/Boosterism

    On August 3rd, the National Board of Health reopened the quarantine station at Vicksburg, Mississippi that had been abolished earlier. The location at Vicksburg was closed, because the board, supervised by Dr. Frank Reily, was unable to safely man the station. Of the inspectors sent to the quarantine, all contracted malarial fever. The board found it unnecessary to continue the station at Vicksburg,...

  13. Testimonies at the Turlington Camp
    date August 7, 1881 to August 15, 1881map ACCOMACK, Virginiatags African-Americans, Arts/Leisure, Church/Religious-Activity, Migration/Transportation, Race-Relations, Women

    Wagons loaded with fried chicken, vegetables, figs, fruits, grapes, cantaloupes, and watermelon crept towards the sea of tents. People also packed carpets, mattresses, plates, bowls, bed linens, lamps, rocking chairs, and even clocks. The annual, week-long, Turlington camp meeting had finally arrived. The big bell tolled, beckoning everyone to the benches. It was quite a congregation: almost 8000...

  14. Dueling in the Bayou
    date May 21, 1881map MADISON, Louisianatags Agriculture, Crime/Violence, Law

    The shot sliced through the quiet, heavy bayou air at Willow ditch. The bullet from the double-barreled shot gun grazed Joseph Richburg's coat. Almost immediately, a second shot tore through his pants. Responding quickly, Richburg fired back at his adversary, Brewer, who had begun to flee. Then Richburg aimed his shot gun at Brewer's son, prepared to fire again. However, when Brewer's...

  15. John Daniel Delivers Speeches Discussing Public Education
    date August 15, 1881 to August 19, 1881map PAGE, Virginiatags Education, Race-Relations

    John W. Daniel, who later served as a US Senator from VA from 1887-1910, gave speeches on August 15th, 18th, and 19th as a part of his campaign for the governorship of VA. Daniel was well-known for his oratorical skills, which made his speeches crucial to his campaign against William Cameron of the Readjusters, a new party in Virginia led by William Mahone that ran in opposition to the conservative...

  16. Prohibition Bill Defeated
    date September 4, 1881map NEW HANOVER, North Carolinatags Church/Religious-Activity

    The North Carolina prohibitionists were clearly defeated in Wilmington, Charlotte, and Raleigh in elections on August 4th, 1881. News from Charlotte indicated that the Republicans were overwhelmingly anti-Prohibitionists, while Democrats voted in favor of Prohibition. In Raleigh, the Prohibitionists gained strength in the towns, yet they still faced defeat. Therefore, the anti-Prohibitionists...

  17. The Dynamics of Virginia Politics in the 1880s
    date September 6, 1881map LOUISA, Virginiatags Economy, Government, Politics

    On September 6, 1881 James Lyons, Jr. felt both nervous and excited about Virginia's upcoming gubernatorial election. In a letter to Reuben Lindsay Gordon, an attorney from Louisa County, Virginia, Lyons asserted, I am watching eagerly and anxiously to see Louisa roll up a majority for Daniel and yourself. You must get as big a majority as you can . . . I do hope you will win by a big vote....

  18. Death of Sidney Lanier
    date September 7, 1881map POLK, North Carolinatags Arts/Leisure

    Sydney Lanier, a Southern poet and musician, died on September 7, 1881 of consumption in Lynn, North Carolina. Having suffered health problems before the Civil War, his death was not unexpected. Nonetheless, his early death was mourned by many, especially the wife and three children left behind.<br />Born in Macon, Georgia, Lanier received an education at Oglethorpe University. He initially...

  19. Rambin's Cotton Crop Failure
    date September 25, 1881map DE SOTO, Louisianatags African-Americans, Agriculture

    Sally Garland Young Rambin struggled to write to her sister because of a sore eye, which she had gotten from the family that her husband had brought to the plantation. He had brought them to help pick the cotton crop that a young man had cultivated on their land but had not picked. Rambin's sore eye and the negligent young man were the least of the Rambins' worries, however. Rambin wrote...

  20. Black Women Agitate for Civil Rights on the Railroads
    date October 2, 1881map DAVIDSON, Tennesseetags Migration/Transportation, Race-Relations

    On October 2, 1881, Mrs. Harding, the wife of a upstanding black man, was initially denied access to the ladies car on the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad. She ordered the assistance of General Manager Thomas, who promptly ordered that a separate car be arranged for her. Harding refused to enter the separate car and filed a law suit against the company. Later that afternoon, a black organist,...

  21. Fruit Workers End Strike
    date April 1, 1881map HAMILTON, Texastags Agriculture, Economy

    Laborers on fruit farms near Chattanooga received a pay raise to 5.50 per ton after striking for two months. Strikes became much more common throughout the 1870s and early 1880s with the organization of labor, such as the Knights of Labor and the “forerunner of the American Federation of Labor,' which was founded in 1881. The Knights of Labor, for one, did not necessarily present an “innovative...

  22. Ocklawaha River
    date March 25, 1881map ORANGE, Floridatags Arts/Leisure, Migration/Transportation

    In the 1880's people who visited Florida were astounded by its many mysterious assets, "grand, impressive, strange, tropical-now gloomy and awe-inspiring, now fairy-like and charming, and again weird and wild" nature, as writer George Barbour described in his book for Florida tourists. The Ocklawaha River flows north from Central Florida, ending near Palatka, Florida. The river stretches over...

  23. Death of Lousianna Governor
    date October, 1881map EAST BATON ROUG, Louisianatags Law

    After the Civil War, political machines exerted strong control over Lousianna politics. Louis Wiltz, the Democrat who defeated Judge Taylor Beattie for the governorship in 1879, died in office in October of 1881. Wiltz was a French creole of German ancestry, who experienced great success in the Lousianna business world and became vice-president of the Louisianna State National bank before being...

  24. The Hanging of Pink Pratt
    date March 3, 1881 to March 4, 1881map COBB, Georgiatags African-Americans, Crime/Violence, Law, Race-Relations, Women

    On March 4, 1881, African American Pink Pratt was executed in Marietta, Georgia for the rape of twelve-year-old white girl, Margaret Wilkins. On the night of his execution, Pratt was provided with spiritual advice in preparation for his execution. While get readying himself for death, Pratt confessed to the crime for the first time. At 12:00 a.m., thirty guards escorted Pratt out of the jail...

  25. Washington Says Farewell to Dick Wallach
    date February 26, 1881map Washington City, District of Columbiatags African-Americans, Health/Death, Education, Government, Law, Politics, Urban-Life/Boosterism

    On February 26, 1881, the Evening Star printed an article, 'A Noble Life' about Mr. Richard Wallach. Though he had not yet passed away, the city was already mourning his inevitable passing that was sure to come within days. The residents of Washington, D.C. had been proud to call Richard Wallach their Mayor for several years, and news of his impending death caused many to reflect...