The bloomer was booming in Alabama. Passing by a young lady on the street one fine afternoon, an elderly Alabama politician caught an eyeful. Was she wearing an article of male clothing? The Greeneville Advocate documented the growing women's fashion trend with a sense of urgency: THE BLOOMER IN ALABAMA. The article informed the readership of the so-called Alabama Bill in the December...
The streets of Richmond were no place to be at night.Chastain Riggins found this out the hard way as he was attacked while returning to his home on New Year's Eve 1896.At approximately 10:30 at night, Mr, Riggins was attacked by a large black man.The man grabbed Mr. Riggins by the neck and attempted to take his watch with his free hand.Mr. Riggins fought the man for a period of time until a...
For the first time, William Cabell voted Republican and broke his loyalty to the
Democrats. 1896 was a major year for presidential elections, and silver was the major
political issue of the election year. At the time there were three political parties:
Republicans, Democrats, and Populists. In a letter to his wife, William D. Cabell wrote
about a conversation he had...
During the late nineteenth century, urbanization prompted mass migrations of
southerners to cities. This caused crowding within the cities and soon sanitation became
an issue. Despite the problems, it was not until the last two decades of the 1800's that
cities started addressing this problem. However, once it started in one city, others started
following suit....
From the inception of the Populist party, going back to antecedent parties such as the Readjusters and Greenbackers, as well as the previous attempts in the 1880s to fuse the Farmers' Alliances and the Colored Farmers National Alliance, an attempt was made to attract the Negro to the fold using an approach devoid of what C. Vann Woodward calls “sentimental liberalism' and “romantic...
Through the merger of the National Federation of Afro-American Women (headed by the dean of women at the Tuskegee Institute) and the National League of Colored Women, the formation of the National Association of Colored Women began which would culminate in its formation. Comprised of state and local affiliates, it addressed many social issues facing African American communities. Founded by abolitionist...
The depression of the 1890s was only exacerbated by the weather conditions in the spring of 1896. The drought of 1896 brought a huge setback to the agricultural sectors of many southern states, particularly Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, and Mississippi. The lack of water caused crucial crops to wither, and brought the economy further into its depression. In Mississippi, the state also faced downpours...
The occurrence of mass mob lynching or by individuals escalated during the decade of the 1890s. The severe racism of Georgia “swept away the Bourbon notion of race relations and revolutionized popular attitudes towards blacks.' The violence against African-Americans was at an unprecedented level. The gubernatorial race and the ensuing debates brought the issue of race relations to the forefront...
The Educator Company, comprised of a group of people dedicated to the advancement and prosperity of their towns, released a Handbook of Durham County in 1895. In the introduction, the authors stated that their intention was to give people seeking a new home a brief description of the area and the advantages it offers as one of the foremost cities of the South. Throughout the book, they gave detailed...
On November 5, 1891, in its Alliance Department, The Jackson Weekly Clarion Ledger published the Farmers' Alliance main agricultural ideas. The central issue on the page, however, had nothing to do with crops, but had entirely to do with silver. Indeed, under a section labeled Alliance Principles and Demands, the first demand was unlimited silver coinage, or certificates based on silver.
Since...