In this day and age, newspapers rarely print fiction. Of course, there is the occasional magical story written by a third grade class that appears every once a week in the Arts and Entertainment section of the paper, but for the most part, fictional stories of real substance are not published in newspapers anymore. This was not the case in the 1800's. Appearing in The Valley Star each week was...
As he exited the courtroom, “a girl pushed a bunch of flowers into [Eugene] Debs’ outstretched hands. Then she fell, half fainting, into his arms. Debs stooped down and kissed her.” This report from the New York Times portrays Debs as surrounded by a remarkable sense of bravado, a man who came to be known henceforth as “Democracies Prisoner.” On September 12, 1918 in Cleveland Ohio for...
On April 6 1917, the United States entered World War I (WWI) and declared war on Germany. In the beginning of WWI the United States could only muster up around 100,000 troops who were ready to fight. In order to strengthen our armed forces, President Wilson adopted the conscription act which boosted our armed forces to over 2 million soldiers. With the help of the United States the allied forces...
Ms. Lucy Dickinson, writing for the Birmingham News in October 1918, sent out an urgent plea to the city for a foster mother. An infant had been brought to the Children's Hospital by neighbors who had been caring for him. The baby's parents were victims of the epidemic “Spanish” influenza and were being treated at the local infirmary. Dickinson explained that the two "big-hearted fellows”...
On October 21,1918, Birmingham News staff writer Henry Vance told his readers “[i]t is much better to be interned than interred.” The Spanish influenza had reached Birmingham, and officials had advised citizens to stay inside to avoid infection. Each day Vance featured a new game idea suitable for families to play while they remained indoors. In number six of a series called “Indoor...
When soldiers were sent to war, they left behind loved ones who anticipate the worst; not knowing the status of their soldier was the biggest scare of all. The only way a soldier could update his or her family was by keeping in touch with them by letters. The strength a letter carried was remarkable; a few words written on a piece of paper would easily keep the mind from wondering or worrying. ...
On November 9, 1918, the social reformer, Dr. Eleanor Bertine spoke at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York about “sex morals.” An article about her speech, titled “Social Morality and the War,” was published in the campus newspaper, The Vassar Miscellany News, on November 14, 1918. In her speech, Dr. Bertine argued that laws on sex were unjust toward women and that...
On July 12, 1918, the Bronxville Review published an article entitled, “Why Westchester County Must Be Guarded.” It claimed that Westchester County had a problem with the presence of “enemy aliens” during the First World War. An “enemy alien” was a person living in America who was a citizen of a foreign country at war with the United States. The article described efforts to ensure the...
In 1918 the American Bayer aspirin manufacturer ran an advertisement in the October 18, 1918 edition of the Birmingham News, assuring readers that “the manufacture of Bayer-Tablets and Capsules of Aspirin is completely under American control.” They wanted to assure readers that they were “being operated as a 100% American concern” and that the overseers of that operation were all...
The "Great Migration" of African Americans to the north in the early 1900's was the result of years of enslavement. The migration introduced new eager American citizens to the north during a time when new faces were foreign faces. For African Americans, the lure of freedom from Jim Crow laws, a higher and fairer wage for labor, and a fresh start to life was reasons enough to move to "the promised...