“Captain of Steamer Denies He Saved Swimmer,” a headline in the Washington Post read on Aug. 18, 1907. The swimmer was Brooklyn musician Edward Hugo Colell and how he ended up on the steamer is a mystery. Colell left his home after midnight to go for a swim. Next time he was seen was aboard […]
Mother Jones to Speak at Copper Mine Strike: This Week in History
Workers at a copper mine in Calumet, Mich., were striking this week 107 years ago, and 80-year-old union activist Mother Jones was expected to speak, several newspapers reported. On Aug. 2, union representatives claimed “the mining companies had organized a body of guards to take the place of state troops and stated that a reign […]
Alaskans Celebrate July Fourth: This Week in History
Alaska was still a territory in 1913, but that didn’t stop it from having a fun-fill July Fourth, judging from the coverage in the Alaska Daily Empire in Juneau on July 5 and July 7. In the capital city, between 3,000 and 4,000 people gathered to watch a baseball game, and the area’s three ferries […]
Alexander Krieschwzi Goes to Trial for Murder: This Week in History
Seventeen-year-old Alexander Krieschwzi was on trial for the murder of his father, Lewis, the Evening Journal in Wilmington, Delaware, reported on June 9. 1908. The teen was “a respectable-looking lad who did not appear to realize the seriousness of his position.” The elder Krieschwzi was murdered March 15, 1908, following an argument. According to the […]
YMCA Campaign Raises $28,000: This Week in History
Among stories of crime and politics on the front page of the Colorado Springs Weekly Gazette on May 10, 1906, was a story of local interest. A YMCA campaign had raised $28,000. Denver’s Simon Guggenheim made a generous $500 contribution to the organization’s Fifty Thousand Dollar Campaign, pushing it past the $28,000 mark. Other large […]
Canada’s Wartime Elections Act of 1917
Canada passed the Wartime Elections Act in September 1917. The act was part of the Conservative government’s efforts to maintain power later that year during the federal election. The act, however, was not without controversy. The act followed the nation’s conscription crisis that split the nation between those of English decent, who favored conscription, and […]
Relatives Wait For the Dead From Titanic’s Sinking: This Week in History
“Halifax is waiting in funeral garb for the arrival of the cable ship Mackay-Bennett with its cargo of dead from the scene of the Titanic disaster,” the Montreal Gazette reported April 27, 1912. “Hotels are crowded with the bereaved, and every train brings additional relatives of victims.” It was unknown when the “floating morgue” would […]
Will Jim Crow Survive?: This Week in History
“‘Shall Jim Crow Prevail?’ The Burning Question,” an AP story in the Dallas Express asked March 29, 1919. The question followed the bombing of two buildings in Southside Chicago. In 1896, the Supreme Court decision Plessy vs. Ferguson made separate-but-equal legal. The question on the minds of many that March was whether the institution would […]
Henri Bourassa: Early 20th Century Political Influencer
Any discussion of Canada during the early 20th century would not be complete without including Henri Bourassa. Bourassa was outspoken and not afraid to fight for his beliefs. Bourassa was born in Quebec in 1868, a little more than a year after the formation of Canada. He entered politics in his early 20s and was […]
Sir Robert Borden: Canada’s Wartime Prime Minister
Robert Borden is the prime minister who led Canada through the contentious years of World War I. An attorney by trade, he entered politics in 1896 and quickly rose to leader of the Conservative Party. Borden became prime minister following the nasty 1911 federal election that split the nation between those who were for and […]
Sir Wilfred Laurier: Canada’s First Modern Prime Minister
Hettie Bartlette, the main character in my novel Angel of Mercy, was born in Ontario in 1892. Despite being 27 at the end of the third novel in the series, Adjustment Year (estimated publication date 2021), she has memories of only two prime ministers. The longer serving of which was Sir Wilfrid Laurier. Laurier was […]
Socialite Vivien Gould Marries an English Lord: This Week in History
Socialite Vivien Gould, daughter of financier George J. Gould and his wife, was prepared to marry her fiancé, Lord Decies with the “pride of wealth,” the Miami Herald reported Feb. 5, 1911. Gould and Decies were scheduled to marry two days later in New York City. “The affair now promises to be more gorgeous and […]