Discovering the Epidemic

Established as a Gold Rush town in the late 1800s, Nome, Alaska was home to roughly 1,800 people in 1925.¹ Only one of them was a physician. Dr. Curtis Welch first encountered a suspected childhood diphtheria case in October of 1924, however since no one else in the child’s family was exhibiting symptoms of the highly contagious respiratory disease he dismissed it as a cold. The child died two days later, a tragedy Welch ascribed to malnutrition. On January 20th, however, he officially diagnosed a seven year old Indigenous child with diphtheria after noticing the distinctive smell of the disease. The only antitoxin serum Welch had on hand had expired five years earlier. Realizing that the child was unlikely to recover, he risked administering the expired serum. Welch did not observe any negative reaction to the antitoxin. However, his attempt at treatment was too late, and the child passed away. By this point, Welch was able to conclude that the expired serum, while not harmful, would not be effective enough to fight off an epidemic. He immediately notified the mayor of Nome and they formed an emergency Board of Health to enforce a town-wide quarantine.²

The Call for Help

Welch sent a telegram asking for help from the Public Health Service in Washington, D. C. The group was able to quickly locate 300,000 units of antitoxin in Anchorage, but they immediately ran into the issue of transportation. There were two small planes in Anchorage, however they had been disassembled for the winter. Even if they were functional, they would have likely been useless in the below freezing temperatures and 60 to 70 mile per hour winds of the Alaskan winter.³ Instead, the Board of Health and territorial Governor Scott Bone chose to transport the serum via dog sled along the Alaskan Mail Route, also called the Iditarod Trail.⁴ This route normally took 20 days for one team to complete, but this would have been far too long for Nome to wait. Instead, they decided on a relay team of mushers and their dog teams. With the help of the United States Signal Corps, which operated the Alaskan telegraph system, the Board of Health contacted 20 men who agreed to transport the antitoxin to Nome.⁵ On January 27th, the serum was delivered by train from Anchorage to Nenana. There, 674 miles away from Nome, the race began.⁶

The Great Race for Mercy

From the station at Nenana, William “Wild Bill” Shannon and his team took off towards Tolovana. The 52 miles he covered marked the first leg of the serum run. The race involved 20 men and over 150 dogs in total.⁷ These teams travelled in blizzard conditions, and one musher, Charlie Evans, later claimed that he ran through -64 degree weather during his leg of the trip.⁸ There was a great amount of diversity amongst the mushers, with many European immigrants, native born white Americans, members of Indigenous Athabascan tribes, and men of blended ancestry running on the trail. Details about individual mushers and their experiences during the serum run can be found in the map below.

The Eyes of the Nation

The diphtheria epidemic and the serum run itself became sources of national interest. Newspapers across the country, from Hawai’i to Maine, covered the efforts to save Nome. People eagerly followed the plight in Alaska, and newspaper companies attempted to reach Welch for comment. He later told the Surgeon General that he destroyed all the wires sent to him by the press, saying “I am a physician, not a press agent.”⁹ Still, the newspapers continued to allow people from every state to follow what was happening in the farthest reaches of the American territory. All of this took place in a decade that saw an uptick in interest in national news.

Leonhard Seppala and Togo

In an effort to quicken the relay, Nome’s Board of Health decided to add more mushers to the trip after it had already begun. Leonhard Seppala, a Norwegian immigrant and famed dog sled racer, had already been sent from Nome to Nulato to pick up the serum. He had no way of knowing that more teams had been added or that the serum had actually passed through Nulato already. His trip to Nulato wound up being very fortunate, however, as Henry Ivanoff’s dogs picked up the scent of reindeer only half a mile outside of Shaktoolik. The dogs refused to return to the trail, so upon seeing Seppala Ivanoff waved him down and transferred the serum to him. Seppala, whose team was led by the famous Siberian Husky Togo, headed towards Golovin in Ivanoff’s place.¹⁰.

On his way to Golovin, Seppala had to choose between travelling along the coastline of Norton Bay, adding hours to the run, or cutting 20 miles across the frozen Bay itself. The ice could crack at any time, potentially stranding him and his team on an ice drift. Worse, they could be plunged into the icy sea. Seppala, whose daughter Seigrid had contracted and recovered from diphtheria a few years earlier, decided to cut across the Bay.¹¹

Togo led Seppala’s team in a straight line across Norton Bay. All the while, the man himself listened carefully for the sound of cracking ice, though he could not be sure it was not covered by the howling wind. At one point, the strong gusts blew the sled sideways, taking the dogs with it. Seppala righted them and moved on. Finally, late in the evening, he and his dogs arrived at the shore of Norton Bay. They had successfully crossed the frozen sea. Seppala and his team stopped to rest in the shelter of his friend’s igloo overnight. A few short hours after the team came ashore, the ice of the bay they had just run across began to break. ¹²

Seppala and his team left the next morning. When they finally arrived in Golovin, they had travelled over 91 miles on the serum run.¹³ This was the longest distance covered by any individual team. While this remains the official length credited to Seppala’s team, it does not include the trip they took from Nome to Shaktoolik. In total, the dogs had actually run 268 miles within two days.¹⁴

Gunnar Kaasen and Balto

Seppala transferred the serum to Charlie Olson in Golovin, who then travelled 25 miles to Bluff. There, he handed it off to Norwegian-born musher Gunnar Kaasen and his team, led by the Siberian Husky Balto. The vsibility was so poor that Kaasen nearly directed his team to run straight through a river. He was stopped only by Balto’s refusal to move forward. Not long after they rerouted around the river, Seppala and his team came to Topkop Hill. With a 600-foot summit and no path around it, all mushers dreaded the landmark. Seppala had to get out of his sled and push it from behind while his team pulled it up the hill. During this process Kaasen completely lost sensation in his face.¹⁵

After climbing up and subsequently sledding down Topkop Hill, Kaasen and his team continued on towards Point Safety. However, while passing through Bonanza flats, the intense winds flipped over Kaasen’s sled and pulled several of his dogs with it. After righting the sled, he realized that the serum had been knocked off in the crash. In the low visibility Kaasen had to remove his mittens and search through the snow with his bare hands. Eventually, he was able to find the package and secure it to the sled once more.¹⁶

Kaasen had initially been instructed to stop at Point Safety and transfer the antitoxin to Ed Rohn, who was chosen to run it the rest of the way to Nome. When he arrived, he noticed that the lights were out in the cabin. He realized that Rohn, who was not expecting Kaasen until the next morning, had gone to sleep. Kaasen debated waking Rohn to give him the serum. After considering how long it would take Rohn to prepare his team, and recognizing the dire conditions in Nome, Kaasen decided to bring the serum the final stretch himself.¹⁷

Arrival and Aftermath

Kaasen arrived in Nome at 5:30 in the morning on February 2nd, 1925. He knocked on Welch’s front door, waking him up while his dogs finally took a break. In five and a half days, 20 men and their dogs had covered 674 miles in blizzard conditions and delivered life-saving diphtheria antitoxin to a town on the verge of an epidemic.¹⁸

When Welch opened the package he was horrified to find that the 300,000 units of antitoxin were frozen solid. After radiogramming the Public Health Service, however, he was assured that it could be thawed and used effectively. He began treating victims immediately and on February 21st the epidemic was declared over and the quarantine lifted. It had been just over a month since Welch diagnosed the first case of diphtheria.¹⁹ The serum run had been successful, and Welch and his staff were able to effectively treat the disease.

The crisis faced in Nome spurred the government into action. The Public Health Service shipped a second batch of 1,100,000 antitoxin to Seward, Alaska on the S. S. Alameda. They were taken to Nenana by train, and from there they were transported to Nome by yet another dogsled relay. Many of the mushers that participated in the first serum run likely took part in the second, however because the country’s fascination with Nome died out after Kaasen’s arrival, their names were not recorded. In addition to the new shipment of serum, the epidemic pushed the Post Office to begin planning for an effective airmail service in Alaska. ²⁰ The diphtheria epidemic and the subsequent relay race to Nome sparked fundamental changes in how Alaska was connected to the contiguous United States.

The mushers themselves were rewarded for their efforts, with each one receiving $18.66 from a public donation fund. Additionally, the Territory of Alaska paid them $25 for each day that they were on the trail. Finally, the H. K. Mulford Company, the producer of the antitoxin, sent each of the mushers a medal and sent Gunnar Kaasen an additional $1,000.²¹ However, this reward, along with Kaasen’s overall involvement in the race, proved to be controversial.

The Battle for Credit

Kaasen’s decision to bypass Ed Rohn and deliver the serum himself is still debated. He claimed that he made this choice in order to get the serum to Nome as fast as possible, however Rohn, Leonhard Seppala, and some Nome residents felt that he wanted to earn the good publicity that came with his delivery. The $1,000 he received for his efforts did not help his case.²² What may have been more damaging, however, was the movie deal he signed by the end of the month.

At a time when movies were just beginning to become popular in America, Kaasen and Balto travelled to the contiguous United States on a press tour for their film. At the end of the tour they saw the dedication of the famed Balto statue erected in Central Park. Many claim that this is evidence of Kaasen’s desire for glory, however due to his introverted nature both at home and along the press tour, some argue that the Mayor of Nome may have pressured him into accepting the deal.²³ Regardless, Kaasen’s decision to take the serum to Nome himself and the lasting debate surrounding it demonstrate the questions surrounding glory in the race.

One man who always questioned Kaasen’s decision was Leonhard Seppala. For years, he remained angry that Balto was given the credit he felt belonged to his dog, Togo. After all, Togo and his team had covered more distance than any other team that participated in the run, including their treacherous trip across Norton Bay. Seppala was particularly upset when some newspapers falsely attributed Togo’s impressive run to Balto. In his memoir, Seppala wrote that:

“I hope I shall never be the man to take away credit from any dog or driver who participated in that run. We all did our best. But when the country was roused to enthusiasm over the serum run driver, I resented the statue to Balto, for if any dog deserved a special mention it was Togo.”

Salisbury, The Cruelest Miles, 248-249.

Significance

The Failures of Technology

The Nome serum run took place during a time of great technological improvements. Lynn Dumenil’s book The Modern Temper demonstrates this, including the 64% increase in industrialization over the decade as a whole. Both the chemical and automobile industries played a role in the technological boom of the 1920s.²⁴ The former had an important impact on the serum run, particularly because the H. K. Mulford Company manufactured the diphtheria antitoxin.²⁵ However, the transportation advancements that were dispersing throughout the mainland United States at this time, for example paved roads and cars, were not yet available in the more rural areas of the country. The serum run to Nome shows that in spite of recent improvements in transportation technology, these developments were not yet able to help those outside of the increasingly urban contiguous United States.

The Success of Syndicated News

While transportation improvements proved unable to affect the Nome serum run, improvements in newspaper technology drew people from all parts of the nation into following the race to Nome. Dumenil writes that “because of developments in technology and distribution, [newspapers] increasingly consisted of syndicated news information and photographs.”²⁶ This system consisted of a single news story being written and distributed to papers across the country. Dr. Welch’s account of the diphtheria epidemic, written a week after the serum arrived, is one example of this. He wrote an article for United Press that was sent to and published by newspapers all the way from Nebraska to New Jersey. This followed weeks of news coverage detailing Nome’s struggles, as newspapers from all 48 of the recognized states at that time, plus the territories of Alaska and Hawai’i, published stories about the dog sled relay. In addition to the increase in syndicated news, this shows the uptick in national news coverage that people were consuming during the 1920s.²⁷ People in every part of the country followed the serum run, regardless of how far they were from Alaska. Overall, in spite of transportation technology’s inability to assist in the race itself, advancements in newspaper technology during the 1920s allowed Americans to track what was happening in Nome.

Citations

Bibliography

• Alger, Anna. “100 Years After the Great Serum Run, Balto’s Legacy Endures.” Cleveland Museum of Natural History. January 23, 2025. Accessed March 18, 2026. https://www.cmnh.org/learn/science-blog/2025/01/23/100-years-after-the-great-serum-run-baltos-legacy-endures.
• Associated Press. “Diphtheria Rages at Nome, Alaska.” Olean Evening Herald (Olean, NY), January 28, 1925.
• Dumenil, Lynn. The Modern Temper: American Culture and Society in the 1920s. New York: Hill and Wang. 1995.
• Salisbury, Gay and Laney Salisbury. The Cruelest Miles: The Heroic Story of Dogs and Men in a Race Against an Epidemic. New York: W. W. Norton & Company. 2003.
• Stokes, E. D. “The Race for Life.” Public Health Reports 111, no. 3. (1996): 272-275. Accessed March 18, 2026. https://www.jstor.org/stable/4598014.
• Ungermann, Kenneth A. The Race to Nome: The Story of the Heroic Alaskan Dog Teams That Rushed Diphtheria Serum to Stricken Nome in 1925. New York: Harper & Row. 1963.
• Wilson, William H. “The Serum Dash to Nome, 1925.” Alaska Journal 16 (1986): 250-259.
• Welch, Curtis. “Nome’s Solitary Physician Tells Gripping Story of Diphtheria Epidemic.” The Times (Trenton, NJ) February 8, 1925.

Suggested Resources

• Rozell, Ned. “Sled Dogs Were Lifesavers in the Serum.” Geophysical Institute, University of Alaska Fairbanks. Accessed March 19, 2026. https://www.gi.alaska.edu/alaska-science-forum/sled-dogs-were-lifesavers-serum-run.
• “Serum Run of 1925.” Alaska State Archives. Accessed March 19, 2026. https://archives.alaska.gov/education/serum.html. 
• “Serum Run Resources.” University of Alaska Fairbanks. Accessed March 29, 2026. https://library.uaf.edu/aprca/research-guides/serum-run.

Grace Martinez

Grace Martinez is a Ramapo college history major with a minor in museum & exhibition studies.

www.linkedin.com/in/%20grace-martinezz

Harry B. Burt (1875-1926) was a confectioner who originally produced candy, but later added ice cream, soda, and even a bakery to further expand his business. However, he is most known for creating the “Good Humor” ice cream bar in 1921 and having the innovation of refrigerated ice cream trucks, revolutionizing the ice cream industry entirely. 

Between the years 1893 and 1922, Harry B. Burt lived and worked in Youngstown, Ohio. He came to Youngstown in 1893 when he was eighteen years old. He started out by opening a penny store on South Hazel Street. It was a very small wood frame building that was only a few blocks away from the main streets of the city, Market Street and Federal Street. The Youngstown Vindicator, a local newspaper, stated in a eulogy for Burt that that building was old, with faded wallpaper and a very few amount of furniture. However, it “was so clean—an exception for a confectionery in those days—and everything he sold was so delicious.”

In 1895, he moved closer to the center or the town and business, where he received his best customers, the kids who attended the elementary school one block away from his shop. Between 1898 and 1902, he moved locations another two times, while also having it be the first place in Youngstown to have added a soda fountain to the store, and being remodeled in 1906. 

The Ice Cream Bar is Created

In 1921, his most notorious and recognized achievement was complete. Burt experimented with and soon developed a chocolate coating that would be compatible with ice cream. When his children tested the chocolate-covered ice cream, his daughter Ruth stated that the ice cream bar was still too “messy.” Taking a suggestion from his son, Harry, he added a wooden stick to the ice cream bar, similar to a lollipop. The process they developed to do this was to soften the bricks of ice cream to insert the wooden stick, refreeze the ice cream, and then dip the cut bricks into the new chocolate coating. It worked and the process of making, selling, and the entire industry of ice cream changed for years to come, especially for his own business. 

Around the time that Burt invented the “Good Humor” ice cream bar, he wanted to expand his business and move locations once more. This was largely due to the demand for his goods, therefore he needed a bigger site for manufacturing his products including ice cream, candy, and baked goods. In October 1921, he acquired a building in the city’s commercial area on Federal Street. He had contracted with a construction company to renovate the entire building. 

On January 30, 1922, Harry Burt applied for a patent for the machinery and process of making the “Good Humor” bar. On October 9, 1923, he received a patent for the process, but not for the product itself. It was not until he traveled to Washinton D.C. with samples of the bar that the patent was granted.

Through his patents, he not only claimed ownership over his own ice cream bar creation, but any frozen treat on a stick. He soon filed lawsuits against two of his competitors: the Citrus Products Company and the Popsicle Corporation. In an issue of The Ice Cream Review in June 1925, Burt stated “[It] is just as much an act of infringement to use a patented process as to make a patented product. The Burt patent is many months ahead of any other patent relating to frozen suckers. Our royalties are small, indeed far less than litigation would cost to be an infringer.” Many negotiations were had over time, but in the end, the lawsuits were dropped. 

The Introduction of the Ice Cream Truck

Between 1922 and 1926, the popularity of the Good Humor ice cream bar grew substantially with the two floavors of vanilla and chocolate. The availability of of his products also helped the growth of the business due to the new factory space and the fleet of ice cream trucks. He became the first ice cream vendor to use motorized trucks instead of pushcarts to roam and sell ice cream products. The signature truck not only gave the business more growth and freedom due to availability to people in neighborhoods, but also was more sanitary to previous methods of selling ice cream on the street. Many of the other methods at the time were often the source of food poisioning and had cheap ingredients and quality. The freezer trucks had a refrigeration unit making it much safer and reliable when it came to health concerns. Also, to show customers that there was no cause for concern regarding health and quality, every driver wore a white uniform, similar to those worn in hospitals to show cleanliness. 

Conclusion

Harry Burt died in 1926, and his wife Cora took over the company and made it public. She eventually sold the business and the patents to Good Humor Corporation of America in 1928. The new owner she had sold it to, planned to advertise and  market the “Good Humor Sucker” on a national scale. The Good Humor Bar and the “Good Humor Man” who drives the ice cream truck would become an iconic staple in marketing, being featured in books, comics, toys, and cartoons. Harry Burt not only had a legacy with his marketing and his innovations of the refrigerated trucks, but on the ice cream industry entirely. 

In the Context of the 1920s

In 1919, the Volstead Act was passed, limiting the sale and distribution of alcohol throughout the 1920s. The movement had its origins with Evangelical Christians who felt that the move towards a more sober America was a move towards a more Christian America. The temperance and evangelical movements attempted, among other goals, to strengthen the family (The Modern Temper 226). While this time of prohibition greatly hurt the alcohol industry, it gave way to a rise in popularity in the ice cream industry. According to the U.S. Treasury Department, between 1919 and 1929, the federal tax revenues from alcohol decreased from about $365 million to less than $13 million. The cost of drinking had dramatically increased with the start of prohibition, which in turn went a long way in curbing its use. For example, since 1916 the cost of beer was up 600 percent, gin 520 percent, and whiskey 310 percent”, which is not a price many people were willing to pay when going out (The Modern Temper 233).

While the Volstead Act did work in lowering alcohol consumption by about 30 percent, many people did not have another option for going out drinking, but still had a need for a treat in place of alcohol. There was about a 40 percent growth in ice cream consumption between 1920 and 1929. Prior to prohibition, drinking establishments were social gathering places where people could meet. “As men sought alternatives to having a drink at the local saloon, many ate ice cream more often” (Chocolate, Strawberry, and Vanilla: A History of American Ice Cream, Anne Cooper Funderburg).

Many bars and saloons were converted to soda shops and ice cream parlors. Refrigerators were typically already present in the establishments and converting a tap beer system to a soda stream was not difficult or expensive. Locations began selling ice cream and more of these stores began to show up all over the country. Many of these locations became the new gathering spots for people to socialize and enjoy a sweet treat. 

Along with needing alternatives, many groups and organizations that encouraged prohibition supported the industry for dairy products such as ice cream. The Anti-Saloon League, which was formed in 1893 in Ohio, was one of the most well known and influential groups to fight against alcohol and support prohibition. They were a powerful orangazation when it came to lobbying for prohibition. They used flyers, propaganda, and even yearbooks to demonstrate their purpose in limiting alcohol use and have an impact on the change of laws on local, state, and eventually national levels. Due to their influence in the passing of the Volstead Act, they actively supported the dairy industry and therefore the growth of the ice cream industry. In one of the organization’s yearbooks from 1921 it even states that “it is believed that this large increase in ice cream consumption was due in a large degree to the fact that men with a craving for stimulants turned readily to this refreshing and palatable food. The more ice cream that is used, the better it is for the consumers and the producers of milk.”

So while the intentions of this group, along with others were rooted in a change in ideas about the way people lived and acted, with some motivations that were religious or political, it stemmed further into other aspects of people’s lives that supported their goals. 

Improvements in technology regarding refrigeration and innovations in ice cream production increased production and brought ice cream treats to a national market. Throughout the 1920s, people were creating their own ways to help make frozen ice cream treats that were less messy and more portable, and overall more accessible to the public with the decrease in alcohol consumption and the increase in ice cream consumption. Countertop freezers allowed to store large amounts of ice cream. However, the process of making it was often labor intensive, creating an incentive to come up with new methods of development. Clarence Vogt, an inventor from Louisville, Kentucky, made it possible to mass produce ice cream on an industrial scale when he created the first continuous process freezer to be used commercially. This opened up the opportunities not only for easier methods of creating ice cream, but also for the mass production of it. 

This topic was chosen as not only is it interesting and fun to know the history of such a popular treat such as ice cream, but it is also very relevant in the context of the 1920s. While Prohibtion is a very well known event that is commonly studied, some of the effects of it are less discussed, such as the popularity it gave the ice cream business. The event of Harry Burt inventing the Good Humor bar and revoluntionizing the industry with his fleet of ice cream trucks had an impact not only in the 1920s, but for years to come through the 1960s. Advertisements for Ford trucks even referred to the Good Humor company in the 1950s as they were the trucks that Good Humor reliably used at the time. 

Knocking the trend and growth of certain societal aspects and the role it had on other events is extremely important. While most people associate prohibition with activities such as bootlegging and a rise in organized crime, it also led into more positive effects such as this one. Since there is no doubt that the Good Humor bar and Burt’s business as a confectioner would have gained the popularity it did at the time without prohibition, people looking for an alternative to alcohol may change what many people know and that not every effect of the Volstead Act was negative and lead to violence or crime.

Bibliography

• Anne Cooper Funderburg. Chocolate, Strawberry, and Vanilla : A History of American Ice Cream. Bowling Green, Oh, Bowling Green State University Popular Press, 1995.
• ‌“Image 1 of the Book of Ice-Cream,.” The Library of Congress, 2015, www.loc.gov/resource/gdcmassbookdig.bookoficecream00fisk/?st=pdf&pdfPage=292&r=-0.322%2C-0.082%2C1.644%2C1.644%2C0. Accessed 7 May 2025.
• ‌Kelly, Kerry. “The Volstead Act.” National Archives, The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, 24 Feb. 2017, www.archives.gov/education/lessons/volstead-act.
• ‌“The Frozen Sucker War: Good Humor v. Popsicle.” National Archives, 15 Aug. 2016, www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2005/spring/popsicle.
• ‌“The Good Humor Story.” Mahoning Valley Historical Society, 3 Aug. 2012, mahoninghistory.org/tyler-history-center/the-good-humor-story/.
• ‌Archives.gov, 2025, catalog.archives.gov/id/5916723. Accessed 7 May 2025.
• ‌Society, Mahoning Valley Historical. “Time Capsule |Harry Burt’s Innovations – Mahoning Valley Historical Society.” Mahoninghistory.org, 29 June 2022, mahoninghistory.org/2022/06/29/time-capsule-july-1-2022harry-burts-innovations/.

jbaham

Jordyn Baham is a senior at Ramapo College studying Photography with a minor in Museum and Exhibition Studies. She takes the Discovering Digital History class in Spring 2025.

Ross’ Early Years

Nellie Tayloe Ross was born on November 29, 1876, in St. Joseph, Missouri, on a plantation owned by her maternal grandfather in Andrew County. Her parents were James Wynns Tayloe and Elizabeth Blair Green. Nellie’s family had been devastated by the Civil War’s aftermath; in response, she had always feared poverty. Ross’ education was facilitated by her brothers who aided in helping her learn how to read when she was 5 years old. She attended the Maxwell School with her brothers. To achieve a more successful future, her family moved to Miltonvale, Kansas. She attended the United Presbyterian Church and her mother was involved in women’s suffrage. Here, she witnessed her mother in a position of leadership, a position which her father had respected. Her southern upbringing and her mother had influenced her political beliefs. She remained a Democrat for most of her life and gained the belief from her mother that women’s traditional roles were compatible with public responsibilities.² After her mothers death, her family moved back towards the Missouri river into Omaha, Nebraska. There, she became a kindergarten teacher. In 1900, she went to visit relatives in Tennessee where she met and married her husband, William Ross. They moved to Cheyenne, Wyoming in 1902 and had four boys together. William started his own law practice and got involved in politics. He ran for governor and won with the state’s failing economy as his main concern.

The Election of Nellie Tayloe Ross

On September 25, 1924, her husband underwent an appendectomy. He died on October 2, just one month before the general election. The Democratic Party asked Nellie Tayloe Ross to be their candidate and after much convincing, she agreed. Both the Republican and Democratic parties held their conventions in Cheyenne on October 14 to choose their candidates. The Republican Party nominated Casper attorney and politician Eugene J. Sullivan. After receiving the Democratic nomination, Ross remained at home and let her friends lead the campaign. Political advertisements encouraged voters to support Ross because she promised to carry out her husband’s policies. This included policies that helped the economy and workers. They also portrayed her opponent, Sullivan, as a supporter of the founder of Sinclair Oil, Harry Sinclair, who was involved in the Teapot Dome Scandal. One advertisement in The Buffalo Voice encouraged voters to “Beat Texas to It,” encouraging Wyoming to become the first state to elect a female governor, as Miriam “Ma” Ferguson was also running for governor in Texas.⁶ While both Ross and Ferguson were the first women elected as governors in the U.S, Ross was sworn in first, earning her the title of “First Female Governor of the United States”. She defeated Sullivan by more than 8,000 votes. In addition, she even outperformed Republican Francis E. Warren, Wyoming’s senior U.S. Senator.⁷ On January 5, 1925, she was sworn in as governor of Wyoming during an inauguration ceremony in the Senate chambers in Cheyenne. She served as governor from 1925 to 1927.

Ross’ Governorship: Politics, Law, Economics, Prohibition, & Agriculture

The 1920s has the reputation of being a time of prosperity, economic growth, and the boom of the stock market. However, it differed from state to state. Before the Stock Market Crash of 1929 and the Great Depression, Wyoming was facing an economic depression. Ross would be among the governors who confronted this depression. Wyoming’s economy depended on livestock, business, farming, coal production, and the Union Pacific Railroad. In post-WW1 Wyoming, the loss of government contracts, declining demand for certain commodities, deflation, and the 1919 drought contributed to this economic depression. To tackle these problems, Ross proposed a plan to address the state’s budget deficit and outlined strategies for managing it. She found that railroad property values were lower than those in neighboring states and that many mining corporations owned large amounts of property while avoiding taxes. She believed that more equitable taxation could help resolve the issue. In the 1920s, businesses and businessmen were becoming more idealized, striving to present a more polished and positive image. At the same time, the issue of business taxes became a significant concern in response to previous revisions to tax laws. People, such as Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon, sought to reduce business tax, while Ross was concerned with equitable tax within her state.⁸ Following this, she discovered that falling oil prices were causing shortfalls and that light oil production was decreasing. In response, she supported producing more black oil and using it to build state’s highways. To her disappointment, her proposals to explore commercial possibilities for black oil were declined. Banks were also failing. Between 1920-1924, 68 state and national banks had failed in Wyoming. Half had closed by 1924.⁹ To address banking closures, Ross proposed laws to protect banks and depositors. This included laws that made sure that people wouldn’t lose their money if a bank failed. Lastly, Ross answered to further tax concerns by supporting a bill that would give one-third of mineral royalties to public schools. This would help with reducing local taxes. However, it was not approved by the legislature.

When we think of the 1920s, we also often think of Prohibition, a time when alcohol was banned across the U.S. During the late 19th century and into the 1920s, women had entered the political arena. One popular reform amongst them was Prohibition. This led to the 18th Amendment and the Volstead Act that made the production, sale, and transportation of alcohol illegal. Women supported Prohibition because they believed male drinking led to reckless behavior, such as sexual excess, which harmed women and children in the home.¹¹ Ross, like these women, supported this law. She believed that the purchaser of alcohol was just as guilty as the bootlegger. She proposed a bill to enforce this, however, it was later declined by the legislature. During her term, she had to deal with two sheriffs who were involved in alcohol related acts. She received and agreed to a request from District Court Judge Metz to allow an investigation into Park County Sheriff William Loomis.¹² Loomis was accused of accepting pay from alleged bootlegger, Fay Willford, in protection money. Loomis faced charges for serving confiscated alcohol to prisoners, accepting bribes and protection money from Willford and James P. Morgan in relation to whiskey on Morgan’s property, and for appearing intoxicated in public. Ross ordered a removal of Loomis who she deemed unfit for his position. On June 17, 1925, The Park County Herald reported that “The Governor (Ross) having heard all the evidence, does find generally against the defendant, William H. Loomis”.¹³ Another Sheriff named Scott Hazen was charged with appearing intoxicated in public, taking confiscated alcohol for his own use, getting involved in a plan to transport and sell alcohol, and failing to serve warrants to known bootleggers while allowing speakeasies to operate. In response to his future hearings on this matter, he resigned from office.

In addition, Ross also dealt with several other issues, including farm and agricultural concerns, and protecting Wyoming’s claims to Colorado River water. Farm foreclosures and low prices were an issue in Wyoming. This prevented the settlement and expansion of farms on federal projects in Wyoming. Under her husband’s governorship, he had created a farm loan program which she continued by making it permanent. Later, Ross convinced Elwood Mead, the man behind water laws, and the Secretary of Interior, Herbert Work to review these projects. Mead explained that he could only point out the problems, and it was up to farmers and state officials to determine the additional funds and introduce legislation to address those issues. Ross worked with a man named George Kreutzer from the Bureau of Reclamation to address these issues. She used local newspapers to collect farmer’s concerns and seek help from the Bureau of Reclamation. She also created a reclamation committee made up of farmers to explain their challenges and issues to the Bureau of Reclamation.¹⁴

Women’s Rights, Feminism, Reform and Ross’ Views on Women

Beginning in the late 19th century and continuing into the 1920s, the “new woman” became more active in politics, with Ross serving as an example. They became political actors and lobbied for progressive reform. Suffrage was one of these reforms. Through this, women had gained the right to vote in 1920 with the ratification of the 19th Amendment. Wyoming, the state where Ross governed, however, already became the nation’s first suffrage state in 1869. This prompted many people and newspapers to declare Wyoming as the “Equality State”, further encouraging the election of Ross. Other reforms that “the new woman” supported included labor laws, which Ross had also aligned with. A suffragist named Grace Hebard had written to Ross in regards to a child labor bill. Ross responded by confirming her position on this issue claiming that the bill would be an important step in protecting the children of America. However, her child labor bill was later declined by the senate because of fear it would interfere with the rights of parents to give their children working roles.¹⁶ She also advocated for protective legislation to support female employees, but this proposal was also rejected. Ross continued to be dedicated to maintaining the welfare of workers. She supported and proposed mine safety legislation. These legislations were successfully approved.

While women became increasingly involved in politics, their views on women’s rights varied. Women, like Alice Paul and The Woman’s Party, advocated for the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) that guaranteed equal rights for men and women. They believed that while suffrage was a major breakthrough in women’s political equality, the ERA would answer to the remaining limitations that women faced. This included the inability to execute contracts, unequal wages, and marriage property rights. In 1923, the legislation was introduced to Congress. Women like Julia Lathrop and Frances Perkins emphasized women’s distinctiveness, arguing that special labor protections tailored to their sex were necessary. This led them to reject the ERA in fear that it would undermine sex-based labor legislation that specifically protected women.¹⁷ Like these women, Ross held her own views on women’s roles, rights, and nature, which often left some feminists disappointed. Initially, many women’s rights advocates, suffragettes, and feminists viewed Ross’ election as a great victory. However, some women were left disappointed in Ross’ refusal to prioritize her influence on the women’s rights movement. Instead, she stated that her duty was to the people of Wyoming as their governor. In 1925, Hebard, the same woman who had written to Ross about a child labor bill, also suggested that Ross appoint women to positions in the Child and Animal Protection Board and the University Board of Trustees. This was left unanswered. Hebard continued to suggest that she attend a meeting of the “National League of Women Voters”, which Ross had declined.

Ross did believe in women’s capabilities within the political sphere and encouraged them to seek public office. However, she would often express her belief that a woman’s most important social role was being a wife and a mother. On March 28, 1926, The Brownsville Herald reported that “Although she (Ross) has faith in the future of America’s young womanhood and believes that ‘freedom of the younger generation of women will prove beneficial. Governor Nellie Tayloe Ross holds that the highest position of woman in life is matrimony and motherhood’”.¹⁹ Despite this, it did not stop her from believing in the importance of women in politics and positions of power. She was more concerned with the perception that engaging in politics had “unsexed” her.²⁰ She was committed to proving that despite her role in political power, she was still a feminine woman. In other words, femininity, politics, and public service were all compatible. While she praised motherhood, marriage, and domestic responsibilities, she also made it clear that women should not limit themselves to traditional roles alone.

Ross did not reject the traditional notion of women being wives and mothers. However, another reason for her distance from feminist ideology was the political climate of the 1920s. Politicians and political parties often supported women who did not engage in the feminist movement. If she had explicitly engaged in feminist activism, it is likely that she would not have been chosen as her party’s political candidate. She found herself having to prove that she could be as tough as any male politician while still maintaining her femininity. She advised women to not portray themselves as too “aggressive” when they entered office.²¹ Ross wanted people to support her because she was a capable candidate, not just because she was a woman. She hoped they would focus on her abilities and not discriminate against her because of her sex. In 1926, Ross responded to concerns that the entrance of women in politics would cause them to create havoc by exercising their newfound power. On January 24th, The Washington Post reported that she responded by stating, “It opens to woman the door for unbounded service and challenges her to prove whether she does possess high ideals.”.²² After losing her second-term election, she admitted regretting not doing more to appeal to women and challenge the sexist notions she faced.

Overall, despite Ross’ goal to distance herself from explicit feminist activism, she is still viewed as an important figure to women’s rights. Her title as the first woman governor in the U.S was and is still revered. She inspired other “new women” to get involved in the field of politics.

Wyoming’s Re-Election & Ross’ Post-Term

In 1926, The Democratic Party remained with her as their candidate for the next election. The Republican Party chose Frank Emerson, the state engineer. While Ross had won the 1924 election by a significant amount of votes, she did not succeed in re-election for a number of reasons. The most basic reason was that Wyoming was still an overwhelmingly Republican state, and the party had strengthened once again. Wyoming’s senior U.S. senator, Francis E. Warren, was believed to have been on the brink of passing away of old age. At the same time, Wyoming also had a Democratic junior senator, John B. Kendrick. If Ross had won re-election, she would have had the right to choose the next senior senator.²⁵ Republicans would not have preferred two Democrats. Another reason was that during the 1920s, the Klu Klux Klan had a resurgence, and many had controlled votes. Anti-immigrant sentiments and nativism surged during the decade, with Catholics and Catholic immigrants facing discrimination. Some Republicans portrayed Ross as a Catholic, which the KKK held hatred against. Lastly, Ross was a woman. Many still believed women were incapable of handling politics. Some female voters even believed that Ross didn’t automatically deserve their votes just because she was a woman. The Cody Enterprise reported on a woman who had voiced this. A woman named Mrs. Jenkins stated “What has Mrs. Ross done particularly to deserve the votes of women? Has she ever since taken any interest in Woman’s Suffrage? Has she ever been a delegate to a Woman’s Suffrage convention, to a Woman’s Christian Temperance meeting, to a Woman’s Relief Corps convention, to a meeting of the Federation of Woman’s clubs for Wyoming?.”.²⁶ However, while she had lost, she remained in politics and Democratic women’s groups. In the 1930s, she became a campaign orator and was even later on appointed as Director of the U.S Mint by Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Significance

I chose Nellie Tayloe Ross’s achievement of becoming the first female governor in the U.S. because of my interest in women’s history. I was surprised to learn that a woman had already become a state governor as early as the 1920s. Ross’s victory was widely reported, with many 1920s newspapers covering her historic achievement and status as the first woman governor. It was perceived as a significant accomplishment.

The story of Nellie Tayloe Ross both reinforces and complicates our understanding of the decade. Common themes of the 1920s are flappers, economic prosperity, and prohibition. Flappers are known to have been young “new women” who strayed away from restrictive and traditional female roles. However, Ross represents a different kind of “new woman” who did the same. She was a woman involved in politics. Another aspect that her story demonstrates is that while women were increasingly becoming involved in politics, some had to distance themselves from feminism in order to gain support from male peers. Ross’ distance from feminism and her commitment to continuing what her husband left behind may explain why newspaper coverage of her victory was more positive than many people today would expect.

The theme of Prohibition is something many associate with the 1920s and Ross’ time as governor demonstrates that it is an accurate depiction. Prohibition had Americans question the amount of power the federal government possessed. Many people and certain senators argued that it violated the constitution by limiting states’ rights.²⁷ However, Ross’ stance on strict prohibition enforcement demonstrated that some state leaders supported it. She proved this by confronting two sheriffs who were accused of crimes associated with it.

Finally, Ross’s story complicates the common image of the 1920s as being filled with prosperity and fun. Wyoming was a state that was going through an economic depression and Ross’s election loss exposed a darker side of the decade. ​The KKK had reemerged and gained some influence in the political sphere.

Bibliography

Mackey, Mike. “Nellie Tayloe Ross and Wyoming Politics.” Journal of the West 42, no. 3 (2003): 25–34.https://research-ebsco-com.library2.ramapo.edu:2443/linkprocessor/plink?id=f5cae36e-3b49-3ace-ba5b-0cabe6b1f206

Scharff, Virginia. “Feminism, Femininity, and Power: Nellie Tayloe Ross and the Woman Politician’s Dilemma.” Frontiers: A Journal of Women Studies 15, no. 3 (March 1, 1995): 87–106. doi:10.2307/3346786.

Scheer, Teva J. 2005. Governor Lady: The Life and Times of Nellie Tayloe Ross. Columbia: University of Missouri Press.http://site.ebrary.com/id/10129006.

Dumenil, Lynn. The Modern Temper: American Culture and Society in the 1920s. New York: Hill and Wang, 1995.

“Beat Texas to It, and Elect Woman Governor,” The Buffalo Voice (Buffalo, Johnson County, WY), October 17, 1924. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers, Library of Congress. https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn92067096/1924-10-17/ed-1/seq-1/.

“Wyoming Inaugurates Nellie Tayloe Ross—First Lady Governor in United States.” Park County Herald (Cody, Wyo.), January 7, 1925. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Library of Congress. https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn92066928/1925-01-07/ed-1/seq-1/.

“Her Excellency, The Governess.” The Challis Messenger (Challis, Idaho), January 14, 1925. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Library of Congress. https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn88056159/1925-01-14/ed-1/seq-3/.

“Evening Star.” Evening Star (Washington, D.C.), January 18, 1925. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Library of Congress. https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1925-01-18/ed-1/seq-96/.

“Wyoming Senate Rejects Child Labor Amendm’t.” The Cody Enterprise (Cody, Wyo.), January 21, 1925. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Library of Congress. https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn92066929/1925-01-21/ed-1/seq-1/.

“Armed Prohibition Force Guards Gov. Nellie Ross.” The Washington Post (1923-1954), April 11, 1925. ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The Washington Post, pg. 1.

“Gov. Ross Removes Loomis from Office.” Park County Herald (Cody, Wyo.), June 17, 1925. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Library of Congress. https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn92066928/1925-06-17/ed-1/seq-4/.

“Matrimony Is Proper Thing.” Brownsville Herald (Brownsville, Tex.), March 28, 1926. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Library of Congress. https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn86063730/1926-03-28/ed-1/seq-5/.

“Woman Governor Sees No Havoc in Vote for Her Sex: Merely Opens Door…,” The Washington Post (1923-1954), January 24, 1926. ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The Washington Post, pg. A7.

“Clean Politics Urged On Women.” Evening Star (Washington, D.C.), December 2, 1926. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Library of Congress. https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1926-12-02/ed-1/seq-27/.

“Prominent Wyoming Lady Says Mrs. Ross Not Entitled to Woman Vote—Sympath Not Issue.” The Cody Enterprise and the Park County Herald (Cody, Wyo.), October 13, 1926. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Library of Congress. https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn92066930/1926-10-13/ed-1/seq-4/.

Rockpile Museum. Nellie Tayloe Ross for Governor. Postcard, 1926. Catalog No. 2004.025.0005. Accessed March 21, 2025. https://rockpilemuseum.pastperfectonline.com/archive/E78C4C54-6A62-4033-A6E8-793416583805.

Bettmann Archive. Nellie Ross and Eleanor Roosevelt. Photograph. July 1928.

Bettmann Archive. Governor Nellie Tayloe Ross Opens Gimbels. Philadelphia, 1926.

Bain News Service. Gov. Nellie T. Ross. [ca. 1915–1920]. George Grantham Bain Collection, Library of Congress. https://www.loc.gov/item/2014709682/.

Featured image: Bettmann Archive. Nellie Tayloe Ross Making a Speech with Clarence Morley, 1924.

Additional Resources

Nellie Tayloe Ross. YouTube video, 7:00. Posted by Wyoming PBS, 7 years ago.

National Governors Association. “Nellie Tayloe Ross.” National Governors Association. Accessed March 17, 2025. https://www.nga.org/governor/nellie-tayloe-ross/.

Rea, Tom. “The Ambition of Nellie Tayloe Ross.” WyoHistory.org, November 8, 2014. Accessed March 17, 2025. https://www.wyohistory.org/encyclopedia/ambition-nellie-tayloe-ross.

Wyoming History Day. “Nellie Tayloe Ross, First Woman Governor in the United States.” Wyoming History Day. Accessed March 17, 2025. https://www.wyominghistoryday.org/theme-topics/nellie-tayloe-ross-first-woman-governor-united-states

“Nellie Tayloe Ross: Wyoming, United States’ First Female Governor.” Wyoming Public Media, January 10, 2025. https://www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/open-spaces/2025-01-10/nellie-tayloe-ross-wyoming-united-states-first-female-governor.

“Nellie Tayloe Ross Papers, 1900-1977.” Archives West, accessed March 24, 2025. https://archiveswest.orbiscascade.org/ark:80444/xv317842.

“Nellie Tayloe Ross.” Digital Public Library of America, accessed March 24, 2025. https://dp.la/search?q=Nellie+Tayloe+Ross.

Lucht, Tracy, and Chelsea Davis. “Gender, Race, and Place in Newspaper Coverage of Women ‘Firsts’ after the Nineteenth Amendment.” Journalism History 47, no. 4 (October 2, 2021): 333–52. doi:10.1080/00947679.2021.1982564.

Citations

1. Bettmann Archive/Getty Images, Governor Nellie Tayloe Ross Opens Gimbels, Philadelphia, featuring Ellis Gimbel, Governor Ross, and Mayor Kendrick of Philadelphia; Bain News Service, Gov. Nellie T. Ross, [ca. 1915–1920], George Grantham Bain Collection, Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2014709682/. ︎
2. Teva J. Scheer, Governor Lady: The Life and Times of Nellie Tayloe Ross (Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 2005), 27. ︎
3. Wyoming Inaugurates Nellie Tayloe Ross—First Lady Governor in United States,” Park County Herald (Cody, Wyo.), January 7, 1925, Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers, Library of Congress, https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn92066928/1925-01-07/ed-1/seq-1/. ︎
4. “Her Excellency, The Governess.” The Challis Messenger (Challis, Idaho), January 14, 1925. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Library of Congress. https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn88056159/1925-01-14/ed-1/seq-3/. ︎
5. Evening Star (Washington, D.C.), January 18, 1925. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Library of Congress. https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1925-01-18/ed-1/seq-96/. ︎
6. “Beat Texas to It, and Elect Woman Governor,” The Buffalo Voice (Buffalo, Johnson County, WY), October 17, 1924. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers, Library of Congress. https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn92067096/1924-10-17/ed-1/seq-1/. ︎
7. Mike Mackey, “Nellie Tayloe Ross and Wyoming Politics,” Journal of the West 42, no. 3 (2003): 26. ︎
8. Lynn Dumenil, The Modern Temper: American Culture and Society in the 1920s (New York: Hill and Wang, 1995), 32-35. ︎
9. Scheer, Governor Lady, 74. ︎
10. “Armed Prohibition Force Guards Gov. Nellie Ross,” The Washington Post (1923-1954), April 11, 1925. ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The Washington Post, pg. 1. ︎
11. Dumenil, Modern Temper, 229. ︎
12. Mackey, “Nellie Tayloe Ross and Wyoming Politics,” 28. ︎
13. “Gov. Ross Removes Loomis from Office.” Park County Herald (Cody, Wyo.), June 17, 1925. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Library of Congress. https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn92066928/1925-06-17/ed-1/seq-4/ ︎
14. Mackey, “Nellie Tayloe Ross and Wyoming Politics,” 30. ︎
15. “Wyoming Senate Rejects Child Labor Amendm’t.” The Cody Enterprise (Cody, Wyo.), January 21, 1925. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Library of Congress. https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn92066929/1925-01-21/ed-1/seq-1/. ︎
16. Scheer, Governor Lady, 83. ︎
17. Dumenil, Modern Temper, 105.
    ︎
18. “Clean Politics Urged On Women.” Evening Star (Washington, D.C.), December 2, 1926. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Library of Congress. https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1926-12-02/ed-1/seq-27/. ︎
19. “Matrimony Is Proper Thing,” Brownsville Herald (Brownsville, Tex.), March 28, 1926, Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers, Library of Congress, https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn86063730/1926-03-28/ed-1/seq-5/. ︎
20. Virginia Scharff, “Feminism, Femininity, and Power: Nellie Tayloe Ross and the Woman Politician’s Dilemma,” Frontiers: A Journal of Women Studies 15, no. 3 (1995): 88. ︎
21. Scharff, “Feminism, Femininity, and Power,” 88. ︎
22. “Woman Governor Sees No Havoc in Vote for Her Sex: Merely Opens Door…,” The Washington Post (1923-1954), January 24, 1926. ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The Washington Post, pg. A7. ︎
23. Nellie Tayloe Ross for Governor, postcard, 1926, Catalog No. 2004.025.0005, Rockpile Museum, accessed March 21, 2025, https://rockpilemuseum.pastperfectonline.com/archive/E78C4C54-6A62-4033-A6E8-793416583805. ︎
24. Bettmann Archive, Nellie Ross and Eleanor Roosevelt, photograph, July 1928. ︎
25. Mackey, “Nellie Tayloe Ross and Wyoming Politics,” 31. ︎
26. “Prominent Wyoming Lady Says Mrs. Ross Not Entitled to Woman Vote—Sympath Not Issue,” The Cody Enterprise and the Park County Herald (Cody, Wyo.), October 13, 1926. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers, Library of Congress. https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn92066930/1926-10-13/ed-1/seq-4/. ︎
27. Dumenil, Modern Temper, 29. ︎

grlynn

Grlynn is a Ramapo College senior majoring in history

Many historians and political organizations would say the Nazi Party was one of the most powerful and influential organizations of the 20th century. But did you know it took the Nazi party less than 15 years to have control of Germany? In addition, its mere existence lasted for only 25 years. However, in those 25 years, the Nazi Party was able to take a country that was devastated by World War I and took most of the blame for the destruction of Europe. Was able to turn around another world war, almost taking over the entire world. This paper will analyze and understand how the Nazi party was able to gain so much power in such a short time and explain the events that put the party on the map, as well as the people that supported/influenced the rise of the far-right extremist movement. Adolf Hitler might have been the one to bring the party to its highest potential; however, it was the party that started the ideology of a far-right, extremist anti-Semitic movement.

The Aftermath of World War I and the Treaty of Versailles:

On November 11, 1918, the German army and the country finally surrendered, which would mark the end of the First World War. After four years of bloodshed and destruction, as well as the first time the world has ever seen a world war. The world was at ease when Germany took full blame for the destruction and economic hardship of the other ally countries. Despite other countries starting to rebuild after a devastating world war, Germany was the country most affected by the war and had some of the biggest problems within its nation. Poverty, economic, township, and destruction throughout Germany made the country look like a third-world country with no vision of it getting better or easier for the German citizens. In addition, European countries forced Germany to sign an agreement that would inevitably be the reason some would say that caused World War II. This document would be called the Treaty of Versailles. 

The Treaty of Versailles was presented by other European countries to prevent Germany from causing another world war. This treaty made Germany give up land, population, military freedom, and the German economy to rebuild Europe. “Germany lost 13% of its land and 12% of its population to the Allies. This land made up 48% of Germany’s iron production and a large proportion of its coal production, limiting its economic power.² The German Army was limited to 100,000 soldiers, and the Navy was limited to 15,000 sailors”. This treaty devastated the German economy and brought record inflation and massive unemployment, and Germans struggled to understand their country’s uncertain future.³ 

The German government and politicians tried reassuring their citizens, saying it would take a couple of years for the economy to bounce back and look like pre-war times. However, politicians and government officials had no clear vision or opportunities to fix the German economy and solve the unemployment crisis. “Early in 1922, a dollar was worth 1,000 marks—by November, a dollar bought 6,000 marks. On January 4, 1923, a dollar fetched 8,000 marks; less than a week later, it was worth 10,000 marks, and by January 15, it took 56,000 marks to purchase one US currency unit. From then on, the mark skyrocketed with little relation to anything approaching economic reality, reaching 60,000,000 marks to the dollar by the first week of September. 7 Inflation was such that a typical Hamburg dock worker was paid 17 billion marks a day by fall 1923”.⁵ With record spending by the German government, corrupt politicians, a treaty devastating the German economy, and no clear sign of what Germany’s future will look like—this cost far right and far left groups to start gaining momentum and popularity with citizens. Germany’s status in 1919 ultimately created the German Workers Party (DAP), founded by a far-right politician named Anton Drexler. 

The Start of the Party:

In January 1919, Anton Drexler, a far-right extremist, saw the economic status and corrupt politicians within the German country and wanted to make a change and bring Germany back to prosperity. He was the primary founder of the German Worker Party (GAP), which, at the start, had about 30 members. Drexler oversaw the appointment of the chairman of the DAP, Karl Harrer. Harrer was appointed chairman on January 5, 1919, which would mark the start of the DAP party. “The party met weekly in a beer hall in Munich. After the pressures of the war, Munich was politically unstable. People were inclined to support new ideas that advocated extreme change. The party advocated a range of ideas, including hostility toward the Treaty of Versailles, nationalism, concern about the nation’s moral standards and changing culture, and extreme antisemitism”.⁶ In the first year of the parties, they lacked support from outsiders and local party organizations. However, on September 12, 1919, a man walked into a bar hall where the DAP were having their usual meeting. The man sparked interest in what the DAP was campaigning for in terms of the future of Germany. The man ultimately joined the discussion with the DAP members, and the man’s name was Adolf Hitler. “Hitler entered into a discussion with the main speaker at the event, and Drexler, impressed with Hitler’s points and oratory skills, invited him to join the party”.⁷ 

Anton Drexler:

Anton Drexler was born on June 13, 1884, in Munich. In Drexler’s early life, he was a railway toolmaker and a locksmith in Berlin. Sources suggest that Drexler struggled with financial sustainability and alcoholism. He was also summoned to serve in World War I but was ultimately discharged due to being physically unfit. During the war, he joined the German Fatherland Party, which was ultimately a far-right party. Drexler got involved with the Free Workers Committee, and while working on the committee, he met a journalist named Karl Harrer. Both men shared a lot of the same views on nationalism and antisemitism. Ultimately, Drexler founded a new party, which was called the German Worker Party, and appointed Harrer as Reich chairman. On February 24, 1920, the party saw a complete renaming, and Drexler became the chairman of the party. However, despite Drexler being the leader of the party, he was ultimately removed as chairman after falling out with Adolf Hitler. On July 29, 1921, Drexler was removed as chairman, and his replacement was Hitler. He ultimately left the party in 1923 but rejoined in 1933 after the party’s success in Parliament and Hitler’s becoming chancellor. Anton Drexler died on February 24, 1942, at the age of 57 due to his lengthy illness due to alcoholism. Despite being in the party for only a short amount of time, he is the primary reason why Hitler got into politics and the primary founder of the Nazi party. 

The Beginning of the Nazi (1920-1923)

The German Workers Party has finally been established and, at this point, has been around for over a year. The party’s membership of followers varied throughout the year, getting as high as 35 but as low as only 13. However, this would all change when Adolf Hitler joined the party. Drexler showed Hitler the parties, values, and far-right policies he hoped to spread and gain support from outsiders. Drexler did not realize at first how important Hitler would be to the parties, growth, and popularity within a couple of months. Hitler was a phenomenal speaker and passionate about the policy and future that Germany should take. The way that Hitler preached his policies and rhetoric made people listen and want to learn more about what they could do and how to join. Because of this, the party went through a rebranding on February 24, 1920. The party was renamed the National Socialist German Workers’ Party (NSDAP) or the German Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei. This would also be the time when the party came up with the ideology of Nazism, a far-right antisemitic movement. In the years following the rebrand, the party expanded little by little, gaining support from middle-class workers and people who had lost faith in the German government. The following shows how the Nazi party progressed through the years with party membership and how they spread their propaganda: 

“These early days of the NSDAP were unspectacular and gave no promise whatever that it would ever achieve prominence, even within Bavaria, for it was competing for support principally among the most radically minded sections of the middle class along with a score of similar groups such as the Germanen-Orden, the Thule Society, and the Deutschvöllische Schutz-und Trutz Bund. The party, whose membership was only 1,100 in June 1920, lay in the twilight world of local Munich politics and several times might easily have collapsed. Even the advent of Hitler as a party member in September 1919 did not immediately produce a significant improvement in prospects. However, the oratorical and propagandistic skills of Hitler eventually allowed the NSDAP to make something of a minor breakthrough in terms of public recognition, mainly on account of his anti-Semitism, which was vehement even by Munich standards. Membership gradually increased to 3,300 by August 1921, and the party managed to secure a more definite foothold in radical rightist circles. Its innately social darwinistic outlook supplied a basic impetus behind NSDAP activity, but of more specific importance were the changes in the organization, leadership, and direction of the party in July 1921”.⁸

Stachura, Peter D. “The Political Strategy of the Nazi Party, 1919-1933.” German Studies Review 3, no. 2 (1980): 261–88. https://doi.org/10.2307/1429723.

The Party’s Takeover of Germany: (1924-1933)

By the middle of 1921, the Nazi parties made a name for themselves and started getting crowds, listening to what they had to say and proposing policies for the future of Germany. Despite Hitler being one of the main reasons why the party was gaining popularity, he still did not have full control. Drexler still was the chairman of the party and still called the shots for what the party should do next. However, Hitler disagreed with most Drexler ideas. One of Drexler’s prominent ideas was to combine forces with another far-right party. In July 1921, Drexler held a secret meeting without Hitler’s knowledge to work with other parties to gain more popularity. Hitler was outraged at Drexler, so the next day he left the Nazi Party. But when other members of the party heard about Hitler’s exit from the party, they were outraged and realized that Hitler was their only hope for the future of the Nazi party. On July 29, 1921, Drexler was kicked out as chairman, and Hitler became the chairman and dictator of the Nazi party. The future of the party was now in Adolf Hitler’s hands.

The Nazi Party’s first attempt to take over the German government was the Beer Hall Putsch. On November 8, 1923, Hitler and his party set up a protest to overthrow the German government. However, Hitler’s plan did not go through as he planned; the next day he was stopped by the German army and arrested for the attempt to overthrow the national government. Yet this did not stop the Nazi party. The party realized that overthrowing the government would take a lot of men and weaponry to have somewhat of a chance. Hitler and the Nazi party realized the popularity his party was getting around Germany. So the party decided to do it the way that all other parties did it: by winning seats in Parliament. The first time the Nazi party gained seats in Parliament was in the election of 1828, where they gained 12 seats. After that election, the Nazis gained momentum and popularity around Germany, and by November 1933, the Nazis had taken over parliament. Despite the Nazi party only being around for about 13 years, the party would get complete control of Germany on January 30, 1933, when Adolf Hitler was appointed chancellor of Germany by President Hindenburg. By 1934, after the death of President Paul Von Hindenburg, the Nazi party had complete control of the German government and the whole country. After 15 years of the party’s founding, the Nazis completely controlled Germany.

Significance:

The reason why I picked this topic for the 1920s project was because I wanted to understand how the Nazi party got its name, its members, and how it became so powerful so quickly. I always thought that Hitler was the one who started the movement and his own far-right policies. But when researching the Nazi Party, I found that that was not the case where the party originated before Hitler even joined. Most of Hitler’s views on ideology came from joining what was then called the German Workers Party. Despite Hitler being the one who took the Nazis from 30 members to taking over the whole country. If it were not for the party and their rallies, Hitler might have never gotten into politics in the first place. It was the German Workers Party that started the evil, bloodshed, destruction, and immoral beliefs of the National Socialist German Workers’ Party, A.K.A. the Nazi Party.

Bibliography

1. “File: Nazi Party Rally Grounds (1938) 3.Jpg.” n.d. Wikimedia.org. Accessed May 3, 2024. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nazi_party_rally_grounds_(1938)_3.jpg. ︎
2. “The Aftermath of the First World War – The Holocaust Explained: Designed for Schools.” n.d. Theholocaustexplained.org. Accessed May 2, 2024. https://www.theholocaustexplained.org/the-nazi-rise-to-power/the-effects-of-the-first-world-war-on-germany/. ︎
3. “Aftermath of World War I and the Rise of Nazism, 1918–1933.” n.d. Ushmm.org. Accessed May 2, 2024. https://www.ushmm.org/learn/holocaust/aftermath-of-world-war-i-and-the-rise-of-nazism-1918-1933. ︎
4. Homeschool History. 2021. “The Early Years of the Nazi Party 1919-1923 | GCSE History.” Youtube. November 11, 2021. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fkPOpyNVJ8. ︎
5. Pelz, William A. “Economic Collapse and the Rise of Fascism, 1920–33.” In A People’s History of Modern Europe, 127–41. Pluto Press, 2016. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt1c2crfj.14. ︎
6. “The Early Years of the Nazi Party – The Holocaust Explained: Designed for Schools.” n.d. Theholocaustexplained.org. Accessed May 2, 2024. https://www.theholocaustexplained.org/the-nazi-rise-to-power/the-early-years-of-the-nazi-party/. ︎
7. “The Early Years of the Nazi Party – The Holocaust Explained: Designed for Schools.” Accessed May 2, 2024. https://www.theholocaustexplained.org/the-nazi-rise-to-power/the-early-years-of-the-nazi-party/. ︎
8. Stachura, Peter D. “The Political Strategy of the Nazi Party, 1919-1933.” German Studies Review 3, no. 2 (1980): 261–88. https://doi.org/10.2307/1429723. ︎
9. Niets. 2023. “Horst Wessel Lied – Co-National Anthem of Nazi Germany.” Youtube. November 7, 2023. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awKecML3GXs. ︎
10. Wikipedia contributors. “Nazi Party.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. May 3, 2024. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazi_Party#Election_results ︎

Both articles are very broad on the topics they talk about; they do not focus on one event in the 1920s but talk about multiple throughout their writings. However, despite talking about the same decade, both articles had different viewpoints on certain historical events, and the future of America after this decade. An example of this is in the article published in 1956 by May, in which he argues for the reason that America’s prosperity during the 1920s was the result of postwar errors, particularly World War I, that brought manufacturing jobs and America’s help in rebuilding Europe after the war. However, in the article published in 2007 by Goldberg, he argues the reason why America prospered during the 1920s was due to entrepreneurs like Henry Ford, a lack of government involvement, corporate greed, and a high labor market, mostly due to immigration. May is right that America did prosper after both world wars in the 20s and the 50s. In addition, he doesn’t point out what exactly made the economy so strong or the problems that led to the stock market crash of 1929. However, Goldberg does point out the causes of a booming economy but also realizes the devastation it could have if not properly managed. 

From the evidence that was just presented, we can safely say that these two articles disagree more than they agree on what the 1920s decade brought to America. Something else that needs to be noted when comparing these two articles is that the one by Goldberg mentions more than the broad topics the 1920s brought us. The article mentioned things like the KKK, unions developing, presidents’ flaws/achievements, racism, jazz errors, and women’s rights. Whereas we look at the May 1956 article. Most of those topics are either not mentioned or completely looked over in the article. However, May does mention key problems in the 1920s but fails to explain or elaborate on those issues. We can see by looking at both articles that both have different ideas on what is an important topic to talk about when looking into the 1920s decade. Both articles do mention key factors and events that happened during the 1920s but failed to bring up more defining issues (women’s suffrage, corporate greed, causes for certain events, and discrimination problems) that impacted not just the United States but the rest of the world.

How I see the change in historical events in the 1920s from then to now is that today we can take responsibility for our actions. Whereas I have seen back, then we either hide those tragic events or justify our bad behavior. Our society today is not afraid to point out the wrongdoings that previous generations did back then. In addition, we can see that papers that were published back then, only talked about one viewpoint of the 1920s, usually white middle-class men. Completely excluding anybody else’s viewpoint or problems during that time. Today, we are more open to seeing everybody’s side and understanding everybody’s problems, and nobody’s problems or issues are more important than others. Also, what helps me understand history is reading articles that were published in the 30s, 40s, 50s, and 60s, et cetera, because it shows you how people thought of events and portrayed them during that particular time. Overall, the lesson that I would take away from this assignment is to never look at or read one article about a particular time but to read several articles on the same issue and see which ones connect with or agree with one another. 

Bibliography

• Goldberg, David J. “Rethinking the 1920S: Historians and Changing Perspectives.” OAH Magazine of History 21, no. 3 (2007): 7–10. http://www.jstor.org/stable/25162122.
• May, Henry F. “Shifting Perspectives on the 1920’s.” The Mississippi Valley Historical Review 43, no. 3 (1956): 405–27. https://doi.org/10.2307/1893530.

 In The Modern Temper, the author does not have a whole chapter relating to the KKK but does have a section explaining their beliefs, wrongdoings, and influence in American culture. I believe that this is connected to conformity and community when looking at it within the book. In the book, it explains how the KKK only believed in protestant Christians and being of the white race, and that every other person who was not in the lines of their ideology was beneath them or outright a disgrace to society. These groups of people and beliefs should be stopped and not continue in their country or in their state. We can see this happening with the Nazi party and Hitler’s discrimination against the Jewish people, and how they are the reason that Germany has all of these problems. These communities or organizations believe different types of people are poisoning their bloodline or are the reason for their problems. 

This way, these organizations and groups are sort of a callback to ideas that have been happening for centuries. As the author explains, the KKK discriminated against African Americans and Catholic Americans due to their beliefs and place in society.! We can see this in America with slavery and religious rhetoric when Irish and Italian immigrants started immigrating to America. Most of them immigrating to America had a different religion than what “standard Americans” had at the time. This also connects with the Nazi Party’s very conservative/far-right ideology. Everyone who looked like a German (blue eyes, blonde hair) and had ancestors who were German was the pure blood of the country, and everyone else was the problem in Germany’s downfall. This is a prime example of a call back to two older ideas because conservatism, or very far-right ideology, has been around for decades. As well as discrimination towards people who are slightly different than you in terms of skin, color, religion, class, etc. 

When looking at the framing of the KKK and the Nazis in their decades, it gives me a better understanding that history commonly repeats itself. When comparing the Nazi Party and the KKK, many of their ideas and ideologies are not that different. If you think about it, imagine if the KKK had the kind of support the Nazi Party had. We could have seen a movement where the KKK could have gotten into power and started spreading their propaganda and discrimination throughout the United States. These two crops are more similar than different. The only thing different was that one of them got to power and the other one faded away over the years. However, we have seen throughout history that discrimination and hate still come around but do not ultimately stay.

Bibliography

• Chao, Jade. 2019. “The Everyday and the Extreme: The Far Right in the USA through the Magnum Archive.” Magnum Photos. November 27, 2019. https://www.magnumphotos.com/newsroom/society/everyday-extreme-far-right-usa-magnum-photos-archive-right-wing-extremism/.
• Lynn Dumenil, The Modern Temper (1995). 

The great Mississippi flood of 1927 remains one of the most devastating natural disasters in the history of the United States, but more specifically in the southern region. The Mississippi River overflowed and eventually reached unprecedented levels of water rising, causing widespread flooding that affected hundred and thousands of people and led to drastic economic and social consequences that would shake the very core of America. The Mississippi flood reached over 23,000 square miles of land that was submerged in water, displacing over 700,000 people and in the process, killing at least 1,000.

The Flood of 1927 was a result of heavy rainfall that occurred in the Mississippi in April of 1927, although signs of the flood started in January of that year. The Mississippi River is known as one of the largest and most popular river systems in North America, swelled to extreme record levels as a result of the excessive downpour during the spring season. The flooding began in late April and continued into May, affecting many states such as, Arkansa, Missouri, Kansas, Tennessee, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Illinois, and Texas. The river breached through the levees system and traveled through vast areas of land, which in turn would cause many people to evacuate and as a result would leave hundreds of thousands of people without a home.

The Flood of 1927 was a build up of poor land management that due to decades of bad practices to help prevent the flood that occurred, which at that time affected a rapid increase in population that lived in urban areas, and lack of infrastructure to control the river’s flow. The levee system was specifically designed to prevent flooding, it was not built to withstand the volume of water that was brought by the heavy rain, which was supposed to prevent disasters like this from occurring. Another element that was a cause of the flooding was the deforestation of the region, it led to increased soil erosion, further exacerbating the flooding. The federal government, was under the leadership of President Calvin Coolidge, who was slow to respond to the disaster that caused widespread flooding, while also causing destruction and hardships for many people during this time. The Flood of 1927 left a hopless impact on the southern United States, affecting millions of people. The people most affected by the flood were the farmers, because the flooding destroyed crops, homes, and infrastructure, and caused a huge economic impact not just on the region, but the entire United States. Many African American communities dealt with heavy racisim and were treated like outcasts, who were already marginalized and living in low-lying areas, that took the brunt of the disaster. The people who were displaced would seek shelter, make shift camps or flee to higher ground just to have some sort of safety from the flooding that ravaged through their towns.

The aftermath of the Mississippi flood of 1927 shined a light on the inequalities and racial disparities that African Americans were forced to face in the United States. Many African Americans were left to fend alone without access to food, water, or medical care, as most of the relief efforts focused on white communities. The federal government’s heavily failed the victims during the flood, but it did a horrific job when it left the African American community to survive without help. The inadequate response to the disaster highlighted these inequalities, as resources were lopsidedly allocated based on race, social, and economical status. In a way, the flood helped showcase just how far behind America was when it came to the treatment of its people (especially African American). The flood in a weird way was just like the racism America would bury on African Americans and pretend like they didn’t exist, just as the flood covered the land that was once visible with grass, streets, and homes.

People

One of the most important people during the Flood of 1927 was Herbert Hoover, who was serving as the Secretary of Commerce. Hoover was in charge of providing and coordinating the federal response to the disaster by President Coolidge to help bring relief to the people most affected by the flood. Despite the slow and initial delays in providing aid, Hoover eventually had enough resources and established the Mississippi River Commission. Hoover would travel through the Mississippi Valley to help raise money for the relief efforts to help start the rebuild of the states affected by the flood. He raised over 17 million dollars (equivalent to 239.50 million today). All of the hard work that Hoover put in to help would not go unrecognized because it was a crucial step, that eventually lead to him being elected as the 31st president of the United States in 1929. Although, many people still claim that Hoover didn’t really help aid the states damaged by the floods, instead gained as much power as possible.

The most important influential figure during the flood was James Eads, a highly regarded engineer who had experience working on many river projects in the Mississippi Valley. James specialized in hydraulic engineering and levee construction, which proved to be priceless and much needed during the crisis. The designs he created made for a much better levees with more strength and it would mitigate the impact of the flooding in certain parts of the river. The contributions that James Eads had on the flood control would help launch the groundwork for future natural disasters that can be prevented to help stop flooding. It also helped provide a much needed safety practices that were once failing to meet quality standards, to help ensure that a disaster like this can be avoided.

The third important figure who emerged during the aftermath of the Flood of 1927 was Robert Russa Moton, was an African American teacher and civil rights activist. Moton was appointed by President Coolidge to lead the Colored Advisory Commission, he was tasked with providing and overseeing relief efforts for African American flood victims. Moton was one of the few people who fought for equal treatment and access to aid for all people, communities, regardless of race. His efforts helped draw much needed attention to the racial inequalities that the flood exposed and paved the way for everyone to take action help start a change in America.

Just like James Eads, Arthur E. Morgan who specialized in flood managment, was an engineer and public administrator who played an important role in shaping water resource policies in the United States, to assist in preventing disaster like floods from taking place. Morgan was the chairman of the Tennessee Valley Authority and he would oversee all safety procedures and practices that were taking place in his assigned region. Eventually Morgan would become head of the Public Works Administration, where he implemented major design and ideas to many projects in order to prevent future flooding disasters. Morgan’s visionary approach was ahead of it’s time and would change the way flood control emphasized sustainable practices, as well as have communities being involved, which spearheaded the foundation for modern water management strategies that are still used to this very day.

Technology and Social Justice

The Flood of 1927 is famous for destroying homes, killing thousands, and displacing over a million people from their homes, but it also highlights social justice, as well as environmental concerns. Environmentalists during this time issued the flood as a warning sign of the consequences that unchecked development can cause on when it came to deforestation in vulnerable areas. The key to having a successful operation is by having sustainable land management practices and investments in flood control infrastructure that will help prevent or drastically aid in avoiding disasters in the future. People who fought for social justice have highlighted the racial disparities exposed by the flood, showcasing the need for equality by providing equal help to all people not just a certain race. Relief efforts during this period were unfair and cruel because the government was more concerned about the white community instead of all people who were affected.

The flood allows to focus on future developments related to flood management and being able to plan for disasters in a timely manner. That will be crucial and critical in preventing future events that can cause devastating effects. Through the many years of advances in technology, there are much better practices in place to help mitigate such disasters than ever before, but it doesn’t mean that it can’t happen again. Technology uses equipment such as remote sensing which can help detect early warning signs when something seems off or is in the territory of causing destruction, which in turn can lead to using predictive modeling in order to better prepare for a disaster that is going to occur. There needs to be substantial urban planning when it comes to flooding because urban areas are at the most risk when it comes to flood zones. Additionally, having community engagement and more government involvement or funding that would be an essential step in developing resilient communities that can withstand natural disasters, while also being able to adapt in any circumstance.

Timeline

• April 15, 1927 – Flooding starts to occur and leaves and its tributaries can’t withstand anymore of the downpour, leading to widespread devastation with water covering miles of land and destroying everything in its path.
• April 16, 1927 – President Calvin Coolidge appoints Herbert Hoover to oversea the disaster caused by the flooding, while also bringing federal aid to the communities.
• April – May 1927 – Engineers from the army corp were called upon to help reinforce levee systems, as well as the national guard who was called upon to provide emergency services and rescue operations for flood victims, while also providing them with aid.
• May 1927 – Floodwaters began to recede, which showed the effects of the devastation it left behind, and the focus switched to helping people get aid, shelter or medical assistance to the effected communities.
• June 1927 – Repair efforts were on the way to help rebuild communities which was supported by federal funding assistance and many charitable organizations.
• Summer – Fall 1927 – Reconstruction of the communities would continue and a new levee system was being built to prevent future flooding with the help of a few renowned engineers.

Significance

The 1920s also known as “the roaring twenties” was a time where culture was changing, the economy was booming, jazz music was at its peak, companies created new products such as washing machines and radios, and women were become independent. Even though the 1920s is known as one of the best decades America has ever seen, it still came with many flaws. Social justice was none existent during this time except for a few brave civil rights activists who fought for African American rights. When the flood occurred it showcased just how poorly the African community was being treated, and were the last one’s to receive aid from the government causing hardships and isolation for people of color. Since this time we have come along way as a nation with everyone being equal, sure there needs to be some more changes, but this is a significant sign we are headed in the right direction for people of all races. Even though the economy was booming the late 1920s, it would take a hit because of the flooding that took place. Many farmers during this time lost their livelihood’s because their land and crops had been destroyed. This is significant because even during the most recent disasters, the economy will most likely take a hit because of the relief effort and the massive funding needed to help rebuild many communities that are effected by such floods. This leads us to environment awareness because before the flood occurred, cities were not taking proper steps to ensure land management which in turn lead to thousand of lives being lost and millions losing their homes. The flood helped show how important it is to be prepared, have a plan, improve technology and build better infrastructures to help prevent flooding. We see the significant role environmental awareness plays in our society today, even world leaders spend millions upon millions to help fight the battle of global warming, but more importantly we see the policies and changes America has made for it’s people to be united, as well as make drastic changes to help be prepared to fight or prevent natural disasters that might occur in the future.

Resources

Anon. The Mississippi Flood of 1927 -. https://www.mshistorynow.mdah.ms.gov/issue/the-mississippi-flood-of-1927.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. 2009. Mississippi River flood of 1927 | Description & Facts. Encyclopedia Britannica. 11. February. https://www.britannica.com/event/Mississippi-River-flood-of-1927.

National Guard. The Great Flood of 1927.

 Anon. A retreat fit for a president – Lesson 1.

NOLA.com. 2016. 1927 Mississippi River flood in rare vintage film. Video. YouTube. 15. March. 

Thornton, Mark. 2020. Katrina and the Great Flood of 1927. Mises Institute. 21. December. 

Anon. Arthur Morgan. Dayton Innovation Legacy. 

During World War I, Rathenau served as an advisor to the German government on economic matters rather than militaristic ones. He was a strong advocate for the war effort, and he believed that Germany could win the war through economic and technological superiority. However, he also recognized that the war was taking a heavy toll on German society and economy, and he called for a negotiated peace settlement. After the war, Rathenau emerged as a leading figure in the Weimar Republic, the democratic government that was established in Germany in the aftermath of the war. He served as the minister of reconstruction from 1921 to 1922, and he played a key role in rebuilding Germany’s economy and infrastructure. He also worked to improve Germany’s relations with other countries, including the Soviet Union and the United States. In 1922, Rathenau played a key role in negotiating the Treaty of Rapallo between Germany and the Soviet Union. The treaty established diplomatic relations between the two countries and provided for economic cooperation and military collaboration. This was a significant achievement as Germany had been isolated from the international community after World War I and the treaty helped to improve its standing in the world.

Rathenau’s tenure as Minister of Reconstruction was marked by controversy and conflict. He faced opposition from both sides of the political spectrum, as he tried to implement reforms aimed at modernizing Germany’s economy. Some on the left accused him of being too conservative and beholden to the interests of big business, while some on the right accused him of being too liberal and sympathetic to socialist and communist ideas. Rathenau’s most controversial initiative was his plan to reorganize the German economy through the creation of a system of corporate boards. He believed that the boards would help to streamline the economy and promote cooperation between businesses, but his critics argued that the cartels would lead to the concentration of economic power in the hands of a few large corporations. Despite the hardships faced, Rathenau oversaw the development of Germany’s infrastructure, including the construction of roads, bridges, and public buildings. He also helped to expand Germany’s telecommunications network and oversaw the development of new industries, such as aviation and electronics.

Unfortunately, Rathenau’s life was cut short by an act of political violence. On June 24, 1922, he was assassinated by members of a right-wing extremist group called the Organisation Consul. The group was composed of former soldiers, aristocrats, and nationalists who were opposed to the Weimar Republic and the perceived influence of Jewish and socialist elements in German society. The assassination was carried out by two members of the Organisation Consul, Erwin Kern and Hermann Fischer, who shot Rathenau while he was traveling in an open car in Berlin.

Work Cited

Himmer, R. (1976). Rathenau, Russia, and Rapallo. Central European History, 9(2), 146–183. http://www.jstor.org/stable/4545767

Brecht, A. (1948). Walther Rathenau and the German People. The Journal of Politics, 10(1), 20–48. https://doi.org/10.2307/2125816 

Kollman, E. C. (1952). Walther Rathenau and German Foreign Policy: Thoughts and Actions. The Journal of Modern History, 24(2), 127–142. http://www.jstor.org/stable/1872561 

jbennis

Joe is a Sophomore at Ramapo and a Global Communications major enrolled in Discovering Digital History.

Charles Dean O’Banion was born on July 8, 1892, and was the youngest of three children in the O’Banion house. He was born in Maroa, Illinois, and lived there until he was about nine years old when Mrs. O’Banion passed away suddenly. O’Banion moved to a neighborhood in Northside Chicago named Kilgubbin, better known as “Little Hell”. It was a predominantly Irish neighborhood and was well known for its high crime levels. As he grew up O’Banion sang in the church choir at the families local church, but that is not where the youngster wanted to be. The street life had already caught O’Banion’s eye and he was hooked. He and some of his friends from the neighborhood became “sluggers” who were enforcers for newspaper companies and would beat news stand owners who did not sell the newspaper of the company they worked for. When O’Banion got a little older he started working at a resturant where he would sing for the crowds of people while his friends would pick pocket customers and spike thier drinks so that could rob them again when they were about to leave the resturant.

Prohibition and the Chicago Bootlegging Operation

As America became engulfed in the new law of prohibiton of 1920 which limited the production and sale of liquor people started to try and find a way to get around the system and make some money in the process. “Dion” O’Banion, as he became known in the news is credited with having commited the first liquor hijaking in Chicago where he knocked out the driver, stole the whiskey and other liquor in the truck, and resold it to the saloon owners. He then went on to construct the first bootlegging ring in Chicago using supliers and drivers from Canada as a way to import the liquor. O’Banion’s reputation grew along with the succsess of the bootlegging ring and he rose up to become the leader of the North Side Gang which controlled the north side of Chicago and the Gold Coast, a rich area on Lake Michigan.

O’Banion was in control of the entire Chicago bootlegging operation and was rolling success, and was operating without any competion. That was until the south side Italian mob of Chicago wanted in on the action and profits. O’Banion met with the leader of the Chicago Outfit, “Papa” Johnny Torrio, and his liutenent Al Capone. The two sides agreed to peace in the city and coperation, O’Banion would maintain control of the north side of Chicago and the Gold Coast and on top was given a percentage of a casino in the south side of Chicago named The Ship, and would essentially allow the south side to be in the bootlegging ring but not sell on each others turf. The two parties lived peacefully for several years until south siders were reportedly selling in northern territory. O’Banion went to Torrio to complain but he did nothing and tensions began to rise in Chicago. The final straw between O’Banion and Torrio was the Seiben Brewery Raid in May of 1924. O’Banion had learned that the police were going to raid the Seiben Brewery, where he and Torrio had massive stakes in. Upon hearing this news, O’Banion went to Torrio to sell his share and hav eno attachments to the brewery. Torrio agreed, and when the police raided the place and arrested everyone O’Banion got off easy, unlike Torrio who had to pay bail for himself and many other associates and face court. He also asked O’Banion for the money back that he lent him but he refused, producing further tension.

Death and Rememberance

The tensions in Chicago never cooled off and on November 10, 1924 O’Banion was shot by three assins that were sent by south side affiliate Anglo Genna. Genna set up the attack after a very heated phone call between the two men occured on November 3rd. O’Banion’s death led to a five year violent all out gang war in Chicago that’s high point was the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre that occured in 1929. The precident and ground work that O’Banion set up the future of all gangster activity and bootlegging in Chicago. He was also the spark that lit the Chicago gangster scene of the 1920s.

Something that O’Banion is also credited for is the intorduction of the Tommy Gun into Chicago. During the summer of 1924, O’Banion and his wife were taking a trip to Colorado where they stayed on a dude ranch for an extended period of time. Upon thier trip back to Chicago, O’Banion purchsed a large amount of fire arms in Denver to bring back. Among the weapons purchsed was the Thompson Submachine Gun, known for being very small in size the guns were originally used by farmers to deal with preditors and rodents in their crop fields. O’Banion was killed before he ever got the chance to try of the guns out, but one of the northside gang members is credited with being the first to use the submachine gun in Chicago during an assination attempt in September 1925.

Bibliography

“Dean O’Banion.” Wikipedia. Wikipedia foundation, April, 21,2023. https://https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dean_O%27Banion

“Dean O’Banion.” The Mob Museum, November 10, 2018. https://themobmuseum.org/notable_names/dean-obanion/

Jeffrey Horn

Jeffrey Horn is a senior history major at Ramapo College and will graduate in May 2023. He is also a captain of the Ramapo College Swim team and aspires to become a High School history teacher after gradutation.

Al Capone, also known as “Scarface”, has become a symbol of the 1920s. He was an active participant in Chicago’s mob scene as he ran speakeasies during Prohibition and committed tax fraud. Before gaining notoriety in Chicago, Capone lived in Brooklyn, New York. He was born there on January 17, 1899. His parents were Gabriele, a barber, and Teresa, a seamstress. They immigrated to the United States from the Naples area in Italy. In total the couple had eight children, some were born in Italy but others, like Al, were born in the United States. Two of Al’s brothers, Raffaele James and Salvatore followed him into the crime business. Ralph managed bottling companies, which earned him the nickname “Bottles.” He worked with Al until his arrest for tax evasion in 1932. Salvatore worked with Al until he died on April 1, 1924. Al’s other brother, James Vincenzo, did not join crime business. He took the opposite path becoming a prohibition agent in Nebraska. He changed his name to Richard Hart severing all connections to his criminal family.

While growing up in Brooklyn, Al Capone did exactly what one would expect a future mobster to do. When he was fourteen years old he hit his teacher in the face, for unknown reasons. This earned him expulsion from school. Following his expulsion Capone worked odd jobs at a candy store and then a bowling alley. Through working he gained business skills that he carried into his criminal career. While he often got involved in trouble, it was not all he did. Al Capone played semi-professional baseball with his brother Ralph from 1916-1918. At some point during this time, Al met Johnny Torrio of the James Street Gang. It was after this friendship formed that Al Capone’s career as a criminal began.

Mae Capone

Al Capone’s wife, Mae, was a stabilizing force in his life. Mae was born Mary Josephine Coughlin on April 11, 1897. Her parents were Irish Immigrants and she was from Brooklyn, NY as well. It’s unknown when Al and Mae met, but they got married in 1918. At the time of their marriage Al was under the age of 21, so his parents needed to sign their consent. Al and Mae’s only son, Albert Francis “Sonny” Capone, was born three weeks before their wedding.

Throughout their marriage, Mae was loyal to Al in all the ways a wife could be. She would often defend him from the press. Multitudes of accounts claimed the couple’s marriage a happy one. This is hard to believe as Al cheated on his wife frequently. Early in his criminal career he contracted syphilis, which he then passed on to Mae. This diagnosis possibly contributed to the miscarriages and stillbirths Mae suffered. At one point Mae became so fed up with Al’s infidelity that she had her hair done in the same style as his current mistress. She did this to embarrass him publicly, as he enjoyed picking out the hairdos of his lovers. This moment was one of the only times Mae appeared in the press, as she kept her life private.

Criminal Career

After he met Johnny Torrio Al jumped between small New York gangs. These were the “Junior Forty Thieves,” the “Bowery Boys,” and the “Brooklyn Rippers.” In time Al joined the “Five Points Gang”. The “Five Points Gang” was a larger, powerful gang that operated in lower Manhattan. The gang operated clubs before Prohibition laws passed into law. One night Al mocked a sex worker at one of these clubs. The sex worker’s brother repaid Al with a laceration across the left side of his face that left a scar. The aforementioned wound became the origin for his nickname, “Scarface.”

Torrio left New York for new opportunity in Chicago. After establishing the “Chicago Outfit” also known as the “South Side Gang” in Chicago he invited Al to join him there in 1919. Al Capone started his Chicago criminal career as a bouncer at a brothel. Prohibition laws passed in 1920 eliminated the Chicago gang’s main sources of income. The gang earned back the lost income, and gained some, through breaking those laws. They operated underground breweries and distilleries. The had the contraband alcohol smuggled throughout the country. Torrio was the boss of the Chicago gang until he suffered a grievous wound in 1925. Torrio promoted Al Capone to act as boss in his stead. This promotion placed twenty-six year old Capone at the head of all business ventures. He implemented violent tactics to improve revenue. These measures were not new to gang operations, but Al implemented them as the new standard. Over time Capone became vulnerable to arrest due to his new role and the actions he took in it. In 1927 he bought a home in Miami, this home served as a safe compound out of Chicago PD jurisdiction. After Capone purchased the home he would retreat there with his family or friends. Oftentimes he escaped there when he was in need of an alibi. In one instance Capone retreated to his Miami safe haven to void him as a suspect in the St. Valentine Day murders . Capone could not have commited the crime with his own hands; albeit the Chicago press and police department speculated that he called for the murders.

“Hell, it’s a business… All I do is supply a public demand. I do it in the best and least harmful way I can. I can’t change the conditions. I just meet them without backing up.”

Gomes, Mario. “The Real Al Capone Quotes.” The Real Al Capone quotes. Accessed April 29, 2023. https://www.myalcaponemuseum.com/id211.htm.

Trial and Arrest

Capone retreated to Miami for the first three months of 1929. In March a subpoena demanded he appear before a federal court in Chicago. Capone wished to avoid Chicago. He requested Dr. Kenneth Phillips submit an affidavit to Chicago’s courts. Dr. Phillips testified to the courts that Al was bedridden as a result of pneumonia. The affidavit disclosed that travel while Capone recovered could deteriorate his health further. The Chicago courts postponed Al Capone’s appearance to March 20, 1929. The FBI was reluctant to believe there was any truth to the sworn affidavit. They had already been compiling a file on Capone, due to his criminal activity in Chicago. So, they looked into the veracity of Dr. Phillip’s affidavit. Their suspicions proved valid. The FBI discovered Al went to the horse races and on vacation during the time he was on bed rest.

Capone was present for court on March 20th and proceedings lasted until the 27th. On the last day of the proceedings the court charged Al with contempt of court and arrested him. A $5,000 bond for his release. This was only the beginning of Capone’s serious legal troubles though. Police arrested him and his bodyguard the following May in Philadelphia, PA . The pair were in possession of deadly weapons. Philadelphia courts sentenced Capone to one year in prison. In March 1930 the prison liberated Capone two months early for good behavior. In February 1931 Chicago courts charged Capone with contempt of court. They sentenced Capone to six months in Cook County jail. For one reason or another did not serve the sentence immediately.

Post his February conviction, Al Capone was finally tried for tax evasion in October 1931. He entered a plea deal for a lighter sentence at the start of trial. Capone ended up forgoing the deal because the judge was under no obligation to uphold it. In the end, Chicago courts sentenced him to eleven years in prison in October 1931. The six months he owed for his earlier charge of contempt in court joined the eleven year sentence. Furthermore the courts required Capone pay a $50,000 fine, $7.692 in court costs, and $215,000 that he owed in back taxes.

Release from Prison and Death

Al Capone served seven years, six months and fifteen days in prison. Alcatraz prison released him on November 16, 1939 after paying all fines and back taxes. Capone spent his time after release in a Baltimore hospital for brain treatment. His health was declining due to his syphilis infection. Upon his release from the hospital, Mae took him to the Miami home he often escaped to. Al Capone never returned to Chicago. Mae cared for him there until he died in 1947 at 48 years old. She sold their Miami home soon after his passing, but remained in Florida until her death in 1986 at 89 years old.

Later Media Portrayal

Al Capone rose to celebrity status during his life despite his criminal career. He earned this societal status by dressing to the nines, and flaunting his accumulated wealth at any opportunity. A pinstripe suit remains the unofficial uniform of a 1920s gangster. The luxury the public perceived he lived in led to others glamourising life in his shoes. Some had no desire to live their lives that way, but found themselves awestruck in fear of him. The point is that no matter what people thought of Capone, the public thought of him.

In 1930, the novel Scarface by Armitage Trail released to the public. Trail drew inspiration from the real life Scarface, Al Capone. It followed a young “hoodlum” named Tony Guarino. Guarino got himself into so much trouble his boss ordered him to stay away from Chicago. As a result he volunteered his service in WWI. It was during his time serving in the war he received a wound to his face that was so bad his family didn’t recognize him. He was also pronounced dead due to a clerical mistake. He changed his name and became the boss of his own gang. In 1932 a movie adaptation of this novel released in theatres. The original “Scarface”, Al Capone, faced trial after trial during these releases. The criminal lifestyle had become a source for public entertainment. This was the beginning of the long history of Mafia media portrayal.

A few decades later in 1983, the Scarface film was redone, and it was a box office hit. Al Pacino starred as Scarface which launched at the height of a mafia movie renaissance. During the 1970s, mafia movies dominated popular culture. The first two Godfather films released in 1972 and 1974. These movies were not specifically based on Al Capone. Italian immigration and the activity of the mafia that developed in the United States during the early nineteenth century inspired the plot of the Godfather films. The remake of Scarface followed these films. Al Pacino starred in Godfather I before Scarface and he became the poster child for mafia media portrayal. The two characters Pacino played provided the public with insight into the different types of men that existed within the glamorized mafia world. Mafia movies also launched Robert De Niro’s career with Godfather II. In the 1990s Goodfellas directed by Martin Scorsese became another mafia classic. This all culminated with the launch of on HBO. All of this popular media would not be possible without the original Scarface, Al Capone, and the social status he rose to despite being a violent criminal. He was an iconic, mysterious figure during his time in the 1920s. The intrigue he commanded then has resulted in a whole entertainment genre that will continue to be enjoyed.

Bibliography

“Al (Alphone) Capone FBI Reels.” Federal Bureau of Investigation – Freedom of Information Privacy Act. Accessed April 30, 2023. https://webharvest.gov/peth04/20041015012040/http:/foia.fbi.gov/index.html.

“Al Capone.” FBI. FBI, May 18, 2016. https://www.fbi.gov/history/famous-cases/al-capone.

Balsamini, Dean. “Al Capone Played Semi-pro Baseball in Brooklyn before Turning to Crime.” New York Post. New York Post, May 17, 2020. https://nypost.com/2020/05/17/al-capone-played-semi-pro-baseball-before-turning-to-crime/.

Bowman, Lisa Marie. “Novel Review: Scarface by Armitage Trail.” Through the Shattered Lens, August 15, 2022. https://unobtainium13.com/2022/01/18/novel-review-scarface-by-armitage-trail/.

Denninger, Lindsay. “Why Mae Capone Is Still Such a Mystery.” Whatever Happened To Mae Capone After Al’s Death? Accessed April 30, 2023. https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2020/05/9774160/what-happened-to-mae-capone-al-wife.

“James Street Gang.” Infamous New York. Accessed April 30, 2023. https://infamousnewyork.com/tag/james-street-gang/.

Kobler, John. Capone: The Life and World of Al Capone. Capo, 1992.

“Mae Capone 1936.” AP. Accessed April 29, 2023. https://newsroom.ap.org/editorial-photos-videos/detail?itemid=4b44fc07ae0440f7a16d96c1f316c503&mediatype=photo.

“My Al Capone Museum.” My al capone museum. Accessed April 30, 2023. https://www.myalcaponemuseum.com/id117.htm.

National Archives. Accessed April 29, 2023. https://www.webharvest.gov/.

Michelle Steidle

Michelle Steidle is a History Major at Ramapo College, graduating with the Class of 2023. She enjoys historical research, long walks on the beach, and a good joke.