Episodes Nearest to December 1, 1902 to December 31, 1902: 1 through 25 of 25

  1. The Family Doctor Calls on the Corset
    date December, 1902map New York, New Yorktags women's aerobics, fashion, corsets

    At the dawn of the twentieth century, women discovered exciting new things to do with their bodies.  Women fell in love with exercise and this helped heat up the debate over the healthiness of wearing corsets.  An ad carried by the December 1902 issue of Munsey's Magazine, written like a letter from "the family doctor," immediately noted that articles debating the merits or faults of tight lacing...

  2. The history of African Americans in film
    date 1903map Los Angeles, Californiatags Black History, Black Theater, Black film

    On July 26, 1971, Time Magazine produced an article stating, “people are running to the theaters to see the new black heroes.” Never before had blacks been seen in this kind of action, however it was not always like that.

    In 1903, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, starred the first black actor to ever appear on screen. During that era African American roles were very limited to playing the...

  3. The Panama Canal Convention
    date November 18, 1903map Washington City, District Of Columbiatags Theodore Roosevelt, Panama Canal, Panama Canal Convention, Isthmus of Panama, Philippe BunauVarilla

    The United States of America and President Theodore Roosevelt worked for years to gain access and control of a small isthmus in Panama. The isthmus gave the U.S. a strategic advantage over other countries, not just militarily but commercially as well. After long talks and many treaties the Republic of Panama agreed to meet. The United States agreed upon allowing the Republic of Panama to maintain...

  4. Induction into Aviation: OrvilleWright’s Telegram Announcement of Successful Air-Flight at Kitty Hawk, NorthCarolina in 1903
    date December 17, 1903map Dare, North Carolinatags Transportation/Migration, Kitty Hawk, Wright Brothers

    A son’s personal triumph announced in a Western Union telegram to his father marked the successful induction of aviation in America. It exemplified the power-driven zest for new machinery in the early 1900s. “Received by Bishop M. Wright on December 17, 1903, from his son Orville Wright”, the document explained briefly the accomplished experiment conducted by the young pilot. The telegram...

  5. The Interurban Railroad of California
    date October 18, 1901map Santa Clara, Californiatags Urban-Life/Boosterism, Paul Shoup, Railroad, Transportation

    The Southern Pacific Railroad Company Traffic Department announced on October 16, 1901, that Paul Shoup would be replacing Thomas A. Graham as division freight and passenger agent with jurisdictions south of San Francisco, Oakland, and north of Santa Barbara, with his headquarters in San Jose. J.C Stubbs, Traffic Director; William Sproule, freight traffic manager and E.O McCormick, passenger traffic...

  6. A Protest Against the Burning and Lynching of Negros by Booker T. Washington
    date February 29, 1904map Jefferson, Alabamatags Booker T. Washington, Lynching

    Booker T. Washington was an African American educator and political activist.  Although born a slave in 1856, he and his family were later emancipated but still lived in poverty.  Determined to get an education, Washington started work at the age of nine to put himself through school.  After his extensive education, Washington would later be chosen to be the first head of what is now Tuskegee...

  7. Maddens Kept in Poverty
    date 1901map CULPEPER, Virginiatags Race-Relations

    By the end of the nineteenth century, the African American Madden family had lived in Culpeper for generations. The Maddens long tenure in the area allowed them to become involved in various aspects of the community. The family relied heavily on their farm, known as Madden Farm, for sustenance. However, during the 1890s, both Thomas Madden and his wife Landonia Stokes supplemented their meager income...

  8. Changes to School Regulations in North Carolina
    date September 8, 1904map Robeson, North Carolinatags Education Legislation, Education Law, Public Schools, Education

    In September of 1904 The Robesonian published a list of suggested rules and regulations from the State Education Department.  In the article was a reminder to county superintendents that State Statutes gave them the authority to adopt all or some of the suggested rules at their discretion.  The rules and regulations published in The Robesonian in 1904 bear little resemblance...

  9. Wright Hall
    date March, 1901 to 1901map Gratiot, Michigantags Buildings - Wright Hall, Alma College

    Wright Hall is dedicated to Ammi Wright, the local businessman who donated the original thirty acres of land on which Alma College is located. In early 1900, Mr. Wright donated more land to the college, including a block and a half located on the south side of Superior Street, directly across from the campus. Mr. Wright wished for new buildings to be erected on this land, specifically a new dormitory.

    Construction...

  10. A New Courthouse
    date December 27, 1900map AUGUSTA, Virginiatags Government, Law, Politics, Urban-Life/Boosterism

    On December 27, 1900, Staunton, the county seat of Augusta County, laid the cornerstone for its new courthouse. Most of the city attended the ceremony, which was complete with an unveiling of the stone and speeches by prominent local lawyers, clerks, and judges. They spoke of historical events and the importance of the new courthouse. To signify this step towards the future, they made the cornerstone...

  11. The Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine
    date December 6, 1904map Washington City, District Of Columbiatags Theodore Roosevelt, Monroe Doctrine, Corollary, Roosevelt Corollary, Venezuela Crisis

    The Monroe Doctrine of 1823 written to achieve a separation from Europe became a way for the U.S. to refrain from interfering in European matters and to keep Europe from colonizing the Americas any further. In 1895, Secretary of State Richard Olney took the Monroe Doctrine a step further and claimed that the U.S. could in fact interfere in Latin American affairs when necessary. President Theodore...

  12. Convicts Sent to Work on Plantations
    date December 4, 1900map WEST FELICIANA, Louisianatags African-Americans, Agriculture, Economy

    In December of 1900, the Board of Control of the Louisiana State Penitentiary held a meeting in which they decided to set aside two immense plantations in West Feliciana and Iberia Parish for convicts to work. Cotton would be grown on the West Feliciana plantation, while sugar would be grown on the one in Iberia Parish. Approximately five hundred workers were expected to work on these plantations,...

  13. 1900 Elections
    date October 26, 1900map AUGUSTA, Virginiatags African-Americans, Politics, Race-Relations

    One week before the November 1900 presidential elections, the Staunton Spectator and Vindicator gave its readers a public forum for their political opinions. In the local section, no less than nine anonymous editorials gave the citizens their neighbors' opinions concerning the election. Two in particular mentioned Roosevelt and his relationship with the negro. The first included the...

  14. African American Vote Eliminated in Louisiana
    date October 19, 1900map ST CHARLES, Louisianatags African-Americans, Government, Law, Politics, Race-Relations

    In October of 1900 the African Americans of Louisiana did not vote. The newly implemented Poll Tax Qualifications eliminated their ability to do so. The total amount of white men that registered to vote was 102,723 against only 1,147 registered African American men. What was true of the state as a whole was equally true of individual parishes, as well. Fifteen parishes reported less than ten African...

  15. The Galveston Hurricane of 1900
    date September 8, 1900 to September 18, 1900map GALVESTON, Texastags Health/Death, Economy

    Death, damage, extreme destruction - these were the results the city of Galveston, Texas had to face in the wake of the hurricane of 1900. On September 18 of that year, Joseph Hawley, a railroad executive in Galveston, wrote to his wife and daughter to share details of the ruin caused by the hurricane that hit the coastal region 10 days earlier. While Hawley sent news that their immediate family...

  16. Hurricane Creates Chaos and Damage along the Gulf Coast and Texas
    date September 8, 1900map Galveston, Texastags Natural Disaster, Hurricane

    The horrific storm approached Galveston, Texas, with a fury and strong winds. The 20 foot wave rushed into the bay and ravished the town of 30,000 people. Trees were torn from their roots, people drowned from the rushing waters, and thousands of homes were destroyed. The mass of the storm was the worst that had been known thus far. The chaos that erupted from this massive hurricane would change...

  17. Cluster Springs Academy
    date 1900map HALIFAX, Virginiatags Arts/Leisure, Education, Government, Politics

    Awaiting the click of the camera, the 25 boys gathered around the porch laughing and talking. Some were joking and kidding around while others waited seriously with thoughts of their impending studies for the night. Many of the boys clutched baseball bats, gloves, and catcher's masks in anticipation of baseball practice later that afternoon. On the back of the keepsake photograph, someone had...

  18. America Experiments with Medicine
    date 1900map New York, New Yorktags diet, Medicine/Health, Health, Graham

    With the idea that America was the new Promised Land, many Americans were open  to everything new including ideas on health.  Diet, nutrition and wellness were topics of debate, often with men claiming to have the latest and greatest cure-all remedy.

    Reverend Sylvester Graham was an advocate for healthful living.  He introduced a restrictive diet excluding meat, butter, coffee, tea and...

  19. A Race War Results in Murder
    date June 10, 1900map WEST BATON ROUG, Louisianatags African-Americans, Crime/Violence, Race-Relations

    In June of 1900, a young white man by the name of Marler was murdered by a black man, Pritchard, in West Baton Rouge, Louisiana. After Pritchard killed Marler, he returned to shoot the dead body repeatedly. The citizens of the parish were infuriated by the situation. Pritchard fled to the swamps. However, other black men had taken up the quarrel for him, and a conflict took place between armed white...

  20. Industrial Education for Boys in Alabama
    date May 10, 1900map MONTGOMERY, Alabamatags African-Americans, Education, Law, Politics

    The stage was set; the town was ready. The conference on race relations to be held in Montgomery, Alabama was a highly anticipated event. The political affair would bring to town many of the nation's finest orators and most distinguished authorities on the subject of race. On May 8, 1900, the Montgomery Auditorium hosted the conference, which included various speeches on racial issues from greater...

  21. Golf in Florida
    date February 26, 1900map BREVARD, Floridatags Arts/Leisure

    Florida was booming at the turn of the century. In 1907 the Florida governor pointed out the population increased 16.4 percent from 1900 to 1905. Even more impressive, property value increased 45.5 percent in this same period. The economy was thriving and Florida used the surplus to fund new legislation that involved creating an arsenal of state troops, restricting child labor, building good railroads,...

  22. Prohibition Throughout Time
    date January 30, 1900map Albany, New Yorktags Prohibition, Temperance Movement

    In 1861, the Boston Temperance Alliance exclaimed that "alcohol in the living body [was] not a servant or a friend, but a disturber, a foe; in a single word,...a narcotic poison." The idea of prohibition has been around since colonial times, spear-headed by a man named Dr. Benjamin Rush who argued in 1784 that excessive alcohol consumption was harmful to both the human body and mind. These ideas...

  23. Kentucky Governor Election
    date December, 1899 to February 3, 1900map FAYETTE, Kentuckytags Crime/Violence

    William Goebel won the Democratic party's nomination in December, 1899 for Governor of Kentucky. In light of the fact that the Democratic party had previously been a Confederate dominated party, it was unusual for the Pennsylvanian to win the nomination. His following was mainly composed of young democrats. His campaign was extremely ambitious and well organized. He stood for controlling...

  24. California Oranges in Alabama
    date January 1, 1900map JEFFERSON, Alabamatags Agriculture, Economy, Migration/Transportation

    Was the California fruit market ripe for expansion? Horticulturist, W. G. Fraser spent four weeks in the South during the winter of 1900 testing a new market for Californian oranges. Upon returning to California he reported to the Los Angeles Daily Times, The result of my trip was most satisfactory. I found a very active demand for California fruit... Fraser attributed this demand to the...

  25. 100th Anniversary of the Death of George Washington
    date December 14, 1899map Washington City, District of Columbiatags Church/Religious-Activity

    George Washington was an important figure in the South in the 1900s, as he himself was a southerner from Virginia. After the Confederacy seceded from the Union and created the Constitution of the confederacy they turned to Washington as a symbol of their patriotism. An image of Washington was put on the seal of the Confederacy and on a postage stamp suggesting that the Confederacy, not the Union,...