Before insulin existed, diabetes was one of the deadliest diseases in the world. Many children diagnosed with type 1 diabetes died only months or years after learning they had the disease. Doctors understood that diabetes affected blood sugar levels, but they had no reliable way to treat it. Instead, patients were placed on extremely strict diets that often left them weak and starving.

The article History of Insulin explains, “Before the availability of insulin, the life expectancy of children with diabetes mellitus was short and the prognosis for the adult onset diabetes was very poor.” Because doctors had no effective treatment, “physicians Allen and Joslin endorsed fasting and calorie restricted diets for diabetes.” These starvation diets sometimes delayed death, but they could not cure the disease. Patients often became dangerously thin because they were forced to eat very little food in order to survive longer.

Scientists knew that the pancreas played an important role in diabetes, but they struggled to isolate the substance responsible for controlling blood sugar. According to the Diabetes UK article, “Attempts had been made to extract insulin from ground up pancreas cells, but they’d all proved unsuccessful.” The problem was that other tissues inside the pancreas destroyed the insulin before it could be used.

During the early 1920s, however, a small group of researchers in Canada changed medical history forever. Frederick Banting, Charles Best, John Macleod, and James Collip worked together to isolate insulin and develop it into a treatment that could save human lives. Their discovery quickly became one of the most important medical breakthroughs of the twentieth century.

Diabetes Before Insulin

Before insulin was discovered, diabetes was extremely difficult to treat. Patients with severe diabetes often experienced constant thirst, rapid weight loss, weakness, and exhaustion. Children diagnosed with type 1 diabetes almost always died because their bodies could no longer produce insulin naturally.

Doctors understood some parts of the disease, but they did not know how to stop it. Most treatments focused only on reducing symptoms instead of curing the condition. Starvation diets became one of the main methods used by doctors because reducing food intake sometimes lowered blood sugar levels temporarily.

The History of Insulin article explains that these treatments “resulted in some improvement of glucosuria and acidosis, decreased coma, and delayed death among children with diabetes.” Even so, patients still suffered greatly, and most eventually died from the disease.

Scientists continued studying the pancreas because they believed it released a substance that controlled blood sugar. The article explains, “Long before the discovery of insulin, it was hypothesized that the pancreas secreted a substance that controlled carbohydrate metabolism.” Researchers spent years attempting to isolate this substance, but impurities and toxic materials inside pancreatic extracts caused experiments to fail repeatedly.

Frederick Banting and the Beginning of Research

The breakthrough finally began in 1920 when Frederick Banting developed a new theory about how insulin could be isolated safely. Banting was a Canadian surgeon rather than an experienced scientist, but he became interested in diabetes research after reading medical articles about the pancreas.

The Diabetes UK article explains that Banting read research suggesting “insulin producing cells in the pancreas are slower to deteriorate than other pancreas tissue.” Banting realized that this discovery might allow scientists to destroy harmful pancreatic tissue while preserving the cells that produced insulin.

The article explains, “Banting realised that this might allow for the removal of insulin by breaking down the pancreas in a way that would leave just the cells that produce insulin intact.” 

Although Banting believed strongly in his idea, he knew he needed scientific support to test it. On November 7, 1920, he met with John Macleod, a professor at the University of Toronto who specialized in diabetes research. Macleod agreed to provide laboratory space, experimental dogs, and a student assistant named Charles Best.

The History of Insulin article explains that Macleod “granted him laboratory space, ten dogs for his experiments, a student research assistant (Charles Best), and provided supervision and guidance.” 

This partnership became the beginning of one of the most important scientific discoveries in modern medicine.

Early Experiments and Insulin

The insulin experiments officially began in May 1921. According to the Diabetes UK article, “On 17 May 1921 Banting, Best and Macleod first got together to begin their research.” 

The researchers worked mainly with dogs. They tied off pancreatic ducts to destroy parts of the pancreas while keeping the insulin producing cells alive. Afterward, they created pancreatic extracts and tested them on diabetic dogs whose pancreases had been removed.

The History of Insulin article explains that “the experiments began on May 17, 1921.” By September, the experiments began showing successful results. The article explains that “intravenous injection with their pancreatic extract, which they named isletin, lowered the blood glucose.” 

These results were extremely important because they proved that pancreatic extracts could lower blood sugar levels in diabetic animals. For the first time, researchers had strong evidence that insulin could become a treatment for diabetes.

The experiments were difficult and time consuming. Many failed completely, but Banting and Best continued working every day in the laboratory. According to the Diabetes UK article, “Progress was initially slow.” Still, the researchers noticed regular improvements in blood sugar levels during successful experiments.

The article explains that “By November, they’d successfully treated a dog with diabetes with their insulin extract for 70 days.” This achievement demonstrated that insulin could keep diabetic animals alive much longer than before.

James Collip and Purifying Insulin

Although the experiments on dogs were successful, another major problem still existed. The insulin extract was not pure enough for use in humans. Impurities inside the extract caused dangerous side effects and made the treatment unreliable.

To solve this problem, biochemist James Collip joined the research team in December 1921. The Diabetes UK article explains, “James Collip, a biochemist, joined the group to work on purifying insulin so it would be safe enough to be tested in humans.” 

Collip worked constantly to improve the insulin extract. His goal was to remove impurities while keeping the insulin effective. According to the article, “With his help, a more concentrated and pure form of insulin was developed.” 

This purification process became one of the most important parts of the entire discovery because insulin could not be safely tested on humans without it.

Leonard Thompson and the First Human Injection

In January 1922, the researchers attempted one of the most important medical experiments in history. A fourteen year old boy named Leonard Thompson became the first human patient to receive insulin treatment.

The Diabetes UK article explains, “In January 1922, Leonard Thompson, a 14 year old boy dying from type 1 diabetes, became the first person to receive an injection of insulin.” 

Leonard was extremely sick and close to death because of diabetes. Doctors hoped the insulin extract might save his life.

The first injection showed both promise and problems. According to the History of Insulin article, “The first injection of the pancreatic extract to a 14 year old boy by Banting and Best on January 11, 1922, caused a sterile abscess.” The injection lowered blood sugar somewhat, but the extract still contained impurities that caused complications.

Collip immediately continued purifying the insulin. He worked day and night to improve the extract before another injection was attempted.

Later in January, Leonard received a second injection. This time the results were historic. The Diabetes UK article explains, “This time it was a complete success and Leonard’s blood sugar levels become near normal, with no obvious side effects.” 

The article then states, “For the first time in history, type 1 diabetes was not a death sentence.” 

The successful treatment of Leonard Thompson changed medicine forever. Doctors now had a treatment capable of saving patients who otherwise would have died.

The International Announcement of Insulin

After the successful human treatments, news about insulin spread quickly throughout the medical world. Researchers and doctors recognized immediately that the discovery could transform diabetes treatment permanently.

The Diabetes UK article explains, “On 3 May 1922, Macleod announced the discovery of insulin to the international medical community.” Macleod presented the research at a meeting of the Association of American Physicians in Washington.

The article also explains that this was “the first time the team used the word ‘insulin’.” 

Doctors and scientists responded with excitement because the treatment offered hope to diabetic patients around the world.

Insulin Belongs to the World

As insulin became more successful, questions arose about patents and ownership. Banting and the other researchers believed insulin should remain available to everyone who needed it instead of becoming a private source of profit.

The Diabetes UK article explains, “On 23 January 1923, Banting, Collip and Best were awarded U.S. patents on insulin and the method used to make it.” However, instead of keeping the patents for themselves, the researchers sold them to the University of Toronto for only one dollar each.

The article explains, “Banting famously said, ‘Insulin does not belong to me, it belongs to the world.’” 

This decision helped insulin become widely available much more quickly.

Mass Production and Worldwide Expansion

As reports of insulin’s success spread, demand increased rapidly. Pharmaceutical companies began working with the researchers to produce insulin on a much larger scale.

According to the Diabetes UK article, “Eli Lilly become the first manufacturer to mass produce insulin.” In October 1923, the company began shipping commercial insulin supplies.

The History of Insulin article explains that early insulin production still faced challenges. “Eli Lilly began producing insulin from animal pancreas but fell short of the demand, and the potency varied up to 25% per lot.” 

Scientists continued improving insulin production methods to make the medicine more reliable and more widely available. The article explains, “The development of an isoelectric precipitation method led to a purer and more potent animal insulin.” 

Insulin also spread internationally during 1923. The History of Insulin article explains, “In 1923, August Krogh, from the University of Copenhagen, met with Banting and Macleod to learn more about insulin because his wife had diabetes mellitus.” 

Krogh later helped establish insulin production in Scandinavia, allowing the treatment to reach even more patients.

The Nobel Prize

The discovery of insulin quickly became recognized as one of the greatest medical achievements in history. In 1923, Frederick Banting and John Macleod received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

The Diabetes UK article explains, “In recognition of their life saving discovery, Banting and Macleod were jointly awarded the 1923 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.” 

The Nobel Prize helped make the insulin researchers internationally famous. Banting shared part of his prize money with Charles Best, while Macleod shared his portion with James Collip. This reflected the teamwork involved in the discovery.

The Significance of Insulin

The discovery and development of insulin during the 1920s completely transformed medicine. Before insulin, severe diabetes almost always led to death. After insulin became available, millions of people gained the chance to survive and live much longer lives.

The History of Insulin article explains, “The discovery of insulin in 1922 marked a major breakthrough in medicine and therapy in patients with diabetes.” 

The development of insulin also demonstrated the importance of scientific cooperation. Banting, Best, Macleod, and Collip all contributed different skills to the project. Without their combined efforts, insulin might not have been discovered when it was.

The success of insulin encouraged future medical research as well. Scientists realized that diseases once considered hopeless could potentially be treated through careful experimentation and teamwork.

Today, historians continue studying the discovery of insulin because it remains one of the most important medical breakthroughs in modern history. Millions of people around the world still rely on insulin every day, and the events of the 1920s permanently changed diabetes treatment forever.

Timeline of Events

1918 – Doctors mainly use starvation diets to treat diabetes.

7 November 1920 – Frederick Banting meets John Macleod to discuss insulin research.

17 May 1921 – Banting, Best, and Macleod officially begin insulin experiments.

September 1921 – Researchers discover insulin extracts lower blood sugar in dogs.

10 November 1921 – Scientists successfully treat a diabetic dog for 70 days.

12 December 1921 – James Collip joins the research team to purify insulin.

11 January 1922 – Leonard Thompson receives the first insulin injection.

23 January 1922 – Purified insulin successfully treats Leonard Thompson.

3 May 1922 – Insulin is officially announced to the medical community.

23 January 1923 – Banting, Best, and Collip sell insulin patents to the University of Toronto for $1 each.

15 October 1923 – Eli Lilly begins mass production of insulin.

25 October 1923 – Banting and Macleod receive the Nobel Prize.

Works Cited

DIABETES UK. 2024. “100 Years of Insulin.” Diabetes UK. 2024. https://www.diabetes.org.uk/our-research/about-our-research/our-impact/discovery-of-insulin.

Quianzon, Celeste C, and Issam Cheikh. “History of insulin.” Journal of community hospital internal medicine perspectives vol. 2,2 10.3402/jchimp.v2i2.18701. 16 Jul. 2012, doi:10.3402/jchimp.v2i2.18701

There is little to nothing known about Mae Capone save for her parents, birthday, and the ways in which she suffered from the actions and decisions made by her husband, Al “Scarface” Capone. The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Capone had an unusual start for their time. The couple’s first and only child, Albert Francis “Sonny” Capone, was born out of wedlock three week before the couple’s wedding in December 1918. Over the course of their union, Mr. Capone transferred syphilis onto Mrs. Capone, resulting in her later infertility. He continually cheated on her throughout their marriage until he went away to prison

Despite her husband’s status as a high profile public figure, Mae was able to remain out the public eye if she so desired; but at times she would come to her husband’s defense in the press. Her relationship with the public was very in and out, black and white. At this point in 1934, Mae’s husband Al Capone, has been in prison for close to three years of his eleven year sentence.

This declassified document from her husband’s FBI file reels reveals that while Mae Capone remained out the public eye, private eyes were watching her.

Transcription

Dear Sir:

Under date of May 28, 1934, you wrote to me the effect that you you had received confidential information that Mrs. Alphonse Capone, Sr. [Mae Capone (1897-1986)], wife of Al Capone, had established a residence in Reno, Nevada, with a view of divorcing her husband. You asked that when an agent was nest at Reno, that such inquiries as can be discreetly and diplomatically made, should be made to determine whether there was any foundation to the story.

On July 17, 1934, Special Agent J.F. O’Connell of this office, while at Reno, Nevada, interviewed Postmaster W.E. Kinnikin, who stated that he heard nothing of the matter, and had not heard that Mrs. Alphonse Capone Sr., was receiving mail at Reno. If Mrs. Capone is, or has been at Reno for the purpose referred to, it is quite probable that she would be living under an assumed name, with her identity known only to her attorney, while if she had instituted a suit for divorce she would, of necessity, file complaint under her right name, and as soon as filed, the newspapers at Reno would learn it and publish it, as is their practise. It is a daily routine matter for representatives of newspapers at Reno to learn the identities of the persons filing suits for divorce.

If the Division wishes this matter pursued further at Reno, I suggest that the Division, through its Jacksonville or Chicago Division offices, in which territory Mrs. Alphonse Capone Sr. is said to have resided in the past, endeavor to determine her last known address, and then make such inquiry as is possible for the purpose of determining if she has been absent from that place, and if so where. 

Either one or both of these offices might also learn the name and address of the Attorney who has represented her interests in the past, and through some contact with the office of the attorney, determine the accuracy or inaccuracy of the information related to any contemplated divorce on her part. 

Very Truly Yours,

John A. Dowd, Special Agent in Charge

Significance

Information was given to the FBI claiming Mrs. Capone had moved to Reno, Nevada for the purpose of seeking a divorce from Mr. Capone. If she was, the scandal surrounding it would be equivalent to a circus. A divorce would end their marriage with the same shame that started with it. What’s puzzling is why would Mrs. Capone seeking a divorce peak the interest of the FBI? Mr. Capone was already imprisoned, so the fact that she could possibly testify against him seems insignificant at this point. It’s possible the FBI’s interest in Mae Capone resulted from her hot and cold relationship with the press.

When Mr. Al “Scarface” Capone was released from prison, he had the advocacy of his wife, Mae, to thank. She did not divorce him, she did the opposite. She cared for him in his deteriorated state until he passed away in 1947. However, this document ignites further pause for thought about the mysterious Mrs. Al “Scarface” Capone.

Bibliography

“Al (Alphonse) Capone.” Federal Bureau of Investigation – Freedom of Information Privacy Act, Part 9c. Accessed May 4, 2023. https://webharvest.gov/peth04/20041015123315/http://foia.fbi.gov/foiaindex/capone.htm.

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.

The letter was written by the NHAAPA to the senator of Washington state citing events of spies and undercover agents being used to crack down on the sale and use of liquor. The document goes further and points out that these government agents have been getting drunk themselves, therefore leading to hypocrisy and distrust in the government.

Transcription

Hon. Wesley L. Jones,

Washington D.C.

Dir Sir:

We observed that the Secretary of the Treasury has sent to Congress a bill proposing an appropriation of $500,000 to employ informers and spies to enforce prohibition. The Internal Revenue Commissioner and the Assistant Treasurer in charge of prohibition enforcement both state, in a letter to the Senate, that prohibition cannot be enforced except with the aid of undercover men — spies and informers.

Kindly permit us to direct your attention to the manner in which funds for the employment of undercover men have been spent.

Last year the Prohibition Enforcement Department set up an elaborate undercover scheme at Norfolk, VA to operate in Norfolk and vicinity and in parts of North Carolina.

The records of this investigation are printed in Senate Document 198 entitled “Prohibition Enforcement”.

These records show:

That the investigation was instigated by J.W. Hough, described in the documents as a representative of the Anti-Saloon League.

The agents of the Federal Government, under assumed names, were sent to Norfolk to report to and recieve instructions from J.W. Hough, representative of the Anti-Saloon League.

That J.W. Hough, representative of the Anti-Saloon League, furnished money to the agents of the Federal Government to buy liquor, and that the liquor was stored in Hough’s vault.

That agents of the Federal Government had thier mail from Wasington addressed to them in Norfolk in care of J.W. Hough agent of the Anti-Saloon League.

That the federal agents, sent to Norfolk, at the request of the representative of the Anti-Saloon League, engaged in the following activities:

They established a negro poolroom and saloon in Norfolk, employed a negro bartender and negro informers to spy upon the police force of the city of Norfolk and entrap these policemen.

They entered into partnerships with bootleggers and other individuals described in the records as notorious and untrustworthy and engaged in the buying and selling of liquor, and aided by thier negro informers, invited policemen come in and drink with them and then filed charges against the policemen, having a number of them removed from office.

They employed a swarm of negro spies to entrap state and county officials in Virginia and North Carolina, and set up and operated moonshine stills.

Both the Comissioner of Internal Revenue and the United States District Attorney at Norfolk, in reporting upon the activities of these agents and their negro informers, stated that they were frequently in a high state of intoxication and in his condition they directed the activiteis of their army of negro spies to entrap the duly elected and chosen county, state and municiple officials.

Months of time, and thousands of dollars were employed in this investigation with the net result that a number of policemen were dismissed from office upon the evidence of the undercover men of the Federal Prohibition Enforcement Department and their negro spies, but not a singular prosecution (and very porley so) was instituted by the Unites States DIstrict Attorney upon the evidence they gathered.

While it is not the policy of this organization even to make suggestions to members of Congress in the matter of appropriations for the enforcement of the prohibiton law, we feel justified in protesting against this proposed legislation which would provide for the employment of spies, snoopers and informers. We feel that the employment of such measures by the Prohibition Enforcement Department can lead to nothing but contempt for our government.

It is the announced policy of the Government to depend, more and more, upon the states for the suppression of violations of the prohibition law, and it is only with the existance of good feeling between the state and federal authorities that this can be acomplished. Good feeling, most certantly, cannot exist when the Federal Enforcement Department, at the instgation of the Anti-Saloon League, employs negro spies and enters into partnerships with notorious characters for the purpose of spying upon and entrapping local officials. Such practices on the part of our Government are obnoxious not only to the communities involved, but to those of us who feel that these things are contrary to the letter as well as the spirit of the Constitution.

Legislation that provided for the employment of spies, snoopers, and informers in the enforcement of prohibition is bad in itself, but when the power of such legislation is placed in the hands of a department which has reeked with bribery, misconduct, and conspiracy, in spite of the efforts of the Treasury official charged with enforcement, it is many times worse.

We feel that this view will have the general support of drys as well as wets, and, therefore, are giving it the widest possible publicity.

Very truley yours,

National Chairman

Citation

National Headquarters Association Against Prohibition Amendment. National Headquarters Association Against Prohibition Amendment A Letter to Senator Wesley Jones regarding corruption in enforcement of prohibition March 3, 1927. Documents, 1927. https://jstor.org/stable/community.29380025.

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.

Throughout the 1920s, there were many achievements for women’s rights, beginning with the nineteenth amendment in 1920. This was the beginning of the evolution of women’s roles. While many are familiar with the gender roles that were historically known to be strict, other countries, such as India, had much worse gender stereotypes and gender violence. Women were heavily oppressed and were discouraged from fighting for their rights. This document, “Women and New India,” is an article that was written by Agnes Smedley, an American journalist, quoting from her interview with Lila Singh, a women suffragist in India on women’s roles in the 1900s. This document is important in the greater context of understanding the 1920s, as the concept of women’s rights in this time period tend to be discussed only in the light of the United States, however, the oppression of women occurred in many other countries, and at times, were treated much more poorly.

Record of “Women and New India”

Transcription

Women and New India 
(An Interview with Mrs. Lila Singh, a Suffragist of India) 

"The women of India are part and parcel of Hindustan; [term used to reference the modern day India] they retain the traditions and customs of India, and they are the greatest potential forces in the struggle for freedom through which India must and is passing."

These are the words of Mrs. Lila Singh, [women suffragist in India] of Behar, India, who toured the United States in company with her husband, Mr. Deep Narayan Singh. [Mr. Singh was an Indian politician and served as the Chief Minister of Bihar] While in this country Mrs. Singh carefully studied the activities of American women. She met women of every walk of life and by her own charming personality, her perfect command of English and her strong and determined character, made a good many friends. 

Mrs. Lila Singh was the first woman student in a college exclusively meant for men. She obtained the degree of Master of Arts in Philosophy and Literature with honors from the Calcutta University.  Her father, Mr. T. N. Palit, before his death bequeathed his entire fortune for the promotion of education. He founded Bengal Technical Institute affiliated with the National Council of Education, and College of Science affiliated with the Calcutta University. Her husband, Mr. Deep Narayan Singh, is a publicist and promoter of education. He is the founder of T. N. College at Bhagalpur, Behar, India. 

Speaking at greater length upon the women of India, Mrs. Singh declared that although education is available to but a few, yet everywhere and with almost all Indian women, there is a vague, or a more clearly-defined unrest because of their lack of opportunity, and because of their suffering. 

"Those who are more conscious of India's position in the world," she continued, "realist that at the bottom of these evils is the denial of education to the people in general, and to women more particularly. The reasons for that denial are deeper and more fundamental still; they are political and economic in origin. 

"I admit our social evils. I am not one of those persons who would build a plea upon falsehoods. But the very fact that the social evils exist is the strongest possible argument for a complete political and economic change, because these conditions are but effects of a system. The same situation existed in Europe and America up to a short time ago, comparatively speaking. And the women of Europe and America would be in the same position as the women of India if the same political system prevailed in those countries. 

"I will give but one example, without comment, to show what I mean. I will quote cold figures, [essentially meaning statistics or exact numbers] which are not of my own composition. These figures are of military expenditure in India, and of money spent on education by the present government: 

"In 1915-16, $132,000,000 was spent on the military.

"In 1916-17, $148,000,000 was spent on the military.

"In 1917-18, $180,000,000 was spent on the military. 

"In 1919-20, $346,000,000 was spent on the military. 

"In 1920, the same year when $346,000 was spent on militarism from the revenues of the Indian people, we tried to secure an appropriation for $76,000,000 for primary education - education just for the first few grades. No money could be found! India was poor - the budget did not provide for it! Yet, in that same year, an extra $80,000,000 was needed for additional military expenditure to carry on a war with Afghanistan and in the Near East. And immediately the $80,000,000 was forthcoming!

"Of the entire Indian budget, 63% is spent on military expenditures, and but 6% on education. 

[page 2] "We would be beyond human if, under such circumstances, our women were not ignorant and superstitious, not to mention poverty-stricken.

"Our isolation from the world has been the other great reason for our position. The ideals availble to you have not been available to us. 

"I find that among the women of India, while their political consciousness is not fully developed, yet there is widespread dissatisfaction with things which they are powerless to control. They desire education for their daughters - yet how can they get it? 

"But wherever women have broken away from custom, or wherever they have braved the strom of public life, the men have put no obstacles in their way, and they do not suffer the calumny which pioneer women of Europe and American have suffered. 

"Our women have gone into professions hitherto closed to them, yet they meet with the greatest courtesy and respect from the Indian men. There have been exceptions to this rule, but not many. It is for this reason that I have great hope for the future activities of women in India. This tolerance in the Indian mind, imbred for centuries, will find expression in the future in socail life, just as it has ruled in the religious field in the past. With such tolerance as a foundation, the rapid rise of women in all lines of endeavor is assured. 

"Some of the most prominent national examples of this are, of course, Mrs. Sarojini Naidu, [first Indian woman to become an Indian State Governor and President of the Indian National Congress] the poetess, publicist and lecturer, and Mrs. Sarala Devi Chandhurani, [a founding member of the Indian National Congress] who has been active in the nationalist movement all her life. It was Sarala Devi who revived the national festival and physical training among the boys in Bengal, and who helped revive the industries in the Punjab. Her efforts also contributed to the revival of home industries among the women; these industries not only aided India nationally, but they made the women self-supporting. 

"Mrs. Hazrat Mohani, the wife of an editor who was deported because of his political activities, is known for her educational work. Mrs. Hirabai A. Tata, Miss Mithibai A. Tata, and Mrs. Mrinalini Sen are nationally known for their leading part in suffrage movement. Mrs. Svarnamayee Ghosal is well known as a journalist and novelist. She was the first editor of the powerful Bengali monthly, The Bharati.

"Besides there could be mentioned the names of many women throughout India, such as Mrs. Justice Ranade and Mrs. Parvatibai Arthavale, noted for their educational works among the widows. Mrs. Arthavale is now in America, studying settlement work. 

"The part women have played in famine relief, in education, in social reform, in the revival of industries, in literature and art, not to mention in politics in the past, has been great. 

"Today those of us who are principally interested in the advancement of women demand that men and women be given equal and free educational opportunities.

"The rate at which India is advancing politically and economically is automatically affecting women. But that rate would be accelerated a hundred fold if women could take an active part in it. I advocate actual action in public life, side by side with the men. Because when the women of India undertake a thing they finish it. Furthermore, India is closer to them and they to India than many of the men. 

"We demand the right to walk side by side with the men of our country, and shape the destiny of our beloved Motherland unhampered by any alien interference. We wish no other status. And this status must be real, not theoretical." 

- AGNES SMEDLEY

Analysis

While it was not until the late 1970s that women in India were gaining the confidence to speak out against the mistreatment, violence, and oppression of women, the 1920s were still an important time in India. It was the beginning of a movement that within the next fifty years would snowball into something greater. As written in the article by Ms. Agnes Smedley, it was during these recent times that women were celebrating many firsts. The first section of the document, where Smedly writes, “…they [women] retain the traditions and customs of India, they [women] are the greatest potential forces in the struggle for freedom through which India must and is passing,” is extremely powerful. As mentioned earlier, this marked the early stages of the women’s rights movement as they were trying to find their footing in society and how to gain independence.

To learn more about the achievements of women during the 1920s and to get an understanding of women’s suffrage from the perspective of the United States, you may read another post I wrote titled, “Ida B. Wells’ Role in Women’s Suffrage.”

References

Banka, Neha. “Sarala Devi: From Tagore’s Family, a Leading Light of the Swadeshi Movement.” The Indian Express, March 8, 2020. https://indianexpress.com/article/lifestyle/sarala-devi-tagore-family-swadeshi-movement-bengali-revolutionary-6302759/.

“Sarojini Naidu.” Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica, inc. Accessed May 12, 2021. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Sarojini-Naidu.

The Swaddle. “A Brief History of Indian Women Protesting Gender Inequality.” The Swaddle, October 19, 2020. https://theswaddle.com/a-brief-history-of-indian-women-protesting-gender-inequality/.

“Women and New India, September 1920.” Jane Addams Digital Edition. Accessed May 12, 2021. https://digital.janeaddams.ramapo.edu/items/show/28691.

afarallo

Angelina Farallo is a Law and Society Major at Ramapo College of New Jersey. Ever since she was in elementary school, history has always been her favorite subject. During her studies at Ramapo College, she has studied how the modernization of technology has affected various industries such as the law, and in this case history which is what drew her to take this Digital Humanities course.

Experts Think It May Give a Version of the Flood and of the Oppression of the Jews.

MAY TELL OF ATEN HERESY

It is Also Counted On to Reveal, if Untouched by Robbers, Splendor of Pharaonic Mummies.

No mortuary chamber of a Pharaoh tomb has hitherto been found untampered with and no sarcophagus, the outer stone coffin, has hitherto been found unplundered by robbers, according to Dr. Ambrose Lansing¹, Egyptologist of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The antechamber, and its annex, of the tomb of Tut-ankh-Amen² were entered by the dynastic robbers, probably in the reign of Tut-ankh-Amen’s successor, Hor-em-eb³, but they evidently had to make a hasty retreat after stripping some of the gold from the funerary objects and looting some of the boxes of jewels and other small portable treasures, but the treasure left behind far exceeds in value and interest anything ever before found. The treasures in the inner chambers may be still greater and more important, according to Dr. Lansing, who hopes that these chambers escaped the looters entirely. If so, it is the only tomb of a Pharaoh known to have escaped.

If the inner tomb of Tut-ankh-Amen did escape, and it now seems that it did, it would be almost the only tomb of any great ruler or great personage of antiquity to have had such luck. Prehistoric tombs and early historic tombs in Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas, almost without exception, have been plundered. Grave-robbing is one of the oldest and most universal crimes. It has the most ancient pedigree of all crimes, except murder, the primal malefuction, according to the Bible.

According to Dr. Lansing, it will be months and perhaps a year before public curiosity can be fully satisfied about the contents of the inner chambers. The jewels on the mummy may be the most complete and interesting specimens of the work of the Egyptian jewelers, who were great masters. Literary treasures also are likely to be found. Because of the high artistic achievement indicated in the other finds in the tomb, it is believed that the paintings in “The Book of Dead,”⁴ that con which is expected to be found, may be the finest of their kind. Papyri relating to the “Aten” heresy⁵ which Tut-ankh-Amen rejected may be discovered.

Hopes for Information on the Flood

Dr. Elliot Smith⁶, the noted British archaeologist, has expressed the hope that legends in the inner chamber may throw a new light on the origin of the narrative of the flood. The destruction of the world because of the wickedness of man, as told in Genesis, is also read in Babylonian records and is suggested in certain tomb inscriptions in angient Egypt, according to Dr. Smith, who believes the account originiated in Egypt.

Arthur Weigall⁷, former Inspector General of Antiquities to the Egyptian Government, and other have put forward the theory that Tut-ankh-Amen was the Pharaoh of the oppression, whose army was overwhelmed in attempting to pursue the Jews in their miraculous passage through the waters of the Red Sea.

Historians and archaeologists will have the keenest possible interest in the papyri that may be found in the tomb, hoping that something will be discovered to give the Egyptian version of their relations with the Jews. So far no reference has been found, in all the early records of Egypt, to the sojourn of the Jews in that country, to the seven years of famine and the seven years of plenty, to the seven plagues, or to the destruction of the army which Pharaoh sent to recall the Jews after permitting them to depart from Egypt.

One of the leading objects of searches for papryi in recent years has been to find corroboration from Egyptian sources for the stay in Egypt and the exodus⁸, but these events, which make so large a figure in Jewish history, are a blank in the Egyptian records which have been recovered so far. Egyptian history, tradition and literature were never consolidated and preserved, and have been pieced together only in modern times and from fragment. The Jews are believed to have been a comparatively small tribe at the time and Egypt a highly populous country, so that the Jewish contact with Egypt has been represented by some historians as a thing of slight consequence to the Egyptians, who would regard it as the deportation or withdrawal of a handful of aliens. The series of terrible plagues, described in the Old Testament are not touched upon in any Egyptian material so far recovered.

Connects Moses with Aten Heresy.

Mr. Wiegall’s theory is that Moses, who had risen in the Egyptian Government service, had succeeded in inaugurating the worship of Jehovah, so that the “Aten heresy” would in reality be the Jewish religion.

The belief that Tut-ankh-Amen was the Pharaoh of the persecution is based on the chronological grounds and on the belief that, since the “Aten” heresy was repudiated during his reign, Moses and his people, who were responsible for it, may well have had their troubles with the Egyptians at this time. Tut-ankh-Amen’s tomb is a short distance from the burial-place of Meneptah, who is generally believed to have been the persecutor of the Jews and the “Pharaoh of the Exodus.”

But it will be months, according to Dr. Lansing, before the curtain can be raised on these and other possibilities.

“I received a letter from one of the workers,” he said, “indicating that the tomb will probably be looked over and then cemented up until next season. Things will be examined in place, inventoried and photographed, but they cannot very well be taken out of the tomb this season. The heat becomes very severe in March, and it is impracticable to continue at work. The things must be studied where they are. Much mischief would be caused by any hasty attempt to transport them. It will be very difficult to remove the heavy sarcophagus. Everything is much safer in the place where it has been preserved for more than thirty-two centuries.

“No other Pharaoh, I believe, has ever been found untouched in the original sarcophagus. The robbers in all other cases smashed the stone lid and took the jewels and valuable things which were buried with the body. As this has invariably happened to the other Pharaohs, we do not know exactly what their funerary equipment was, but it probably consisted of a number of fine pieces of jewelry among other things.

“Many unsmashed sarcophagi have been found, but on being opened, it was discovered that the mummies had been transferred there after having been plundered in earlier sarcophagi. In such cases, the necropolitan authorities had rewrapped the mummies, and re-equipped the bodies, but with less splendor.

“If the mummy is found as originally buried, we might expect to find many valuable articles, such as collars of gold, probably ornamented with stones, gold bracelets and anklets and perhaps some kind of a crown. I don’t believe there would be anything like a breastplate, but there would probably be a pectoral, which is something like the modern lavalliere.

“Judging from the reports, these pieces might be set with stones, especially lapis lazuli, carnelian and turquoise, which are about the old precious stones. This was long before the use of pearls or diamonds as jewelry. There might be found some imitations of lapis lazuli and other stones in glass. Glass was highly esteemed at that early stage in the art of making it, but it was used only for imitations of the precious stones, and on the whole it is probably unlikely that jewels ornamented with glass will be found.

Mummy May Wear Mask.

“Whatever the jewels are, they will probably be found, not next to the body, but wrapped in among the folds of the cloth in which the mummy is wound. There will probably be no robes or articles of clothing, outside of the plain cloth wrapping. There might be a covering of tapestry or something of the kind in the sarcophagus, but that is doubtful. It is expected that there will be a mask on the face. This will probably be made of stucco placed on linen, formed like a human face and then glided.”

The theory of Professor Flinders Petrie⁹ is that the richness of the treasures in Tut-ankh-Amen’s tomb is due to the fact that he was the last of his line and had, therefore, no heir to whom his treasures could be passed, and as a result that most of his personal estate, in the way of jewelry and art, was buried with him. Professor Petrie believes that objects of this kind which he had inherited from generations of ancestors were probably buried with him. On this hypothesis the inner chamber might be exceptionally rich in heirlooms which would make a splendid addition to the treasury of art and archaeology already found in the outer chamber.

“But this is a moot question,” said Dr. Lansing. “The other Pharaohs were so badly plundered that we do not really know how much or little may have been originally buried with them. Several couched, chariot and other furniture have been found in other tomb.”

It is not expected that any more trussed fowl and such objects will be found in the inner chambers, which are supposed to be devoted mainly to magical things which were expected to speed the soul of the dead on its way to its eternal home. It is in [connection] with this that valuable literary remains are expected.

One of the trappings of a splendid funeral in ancient Egypt was the illuminated papyrus roll known as “The Book of the Dead.” This was a religious document in the form of a scroll which might approach 100 feet long, with religious writings, elaborate pictures of the hereafter, as some Dante of ancient Egypt had portrayed it. This was supposed to have a magical function, being a sort of religious Baedeker, outlining the pilgrimage which lay before the Pharaoh. The most interesting point expected in “The Book of the Dead” which is thought almost certain to be found with Tut-ankh-Amen is some reference to the Aten heresy.

This papyrus may indicate alterations in “The Book of the Dead” as a result of the change of religion made by Khu-n-aten. The prayers and magical formulae of “The Book of the Dead” are almost certain to have been changed during the Aten period, and it is possible that some change may be retained in the document buried with Tut-ankh-Amen. Whether changed or not, it is likely to be a fine and splendidly illuminated document.

Drawings Have Magic Purpose.

Some of the drawings of “The Book of the Dead” and their purpose are described as follows by E. Wallis Budge¹⁰ in his Egyptian history:

“The Theban and Saite Recensions of ‘The Book of the Dead’ are full of spells, accompanied by magical drawings. Thus the Chapter of the Ladder and the drawing of it would secure for the deceased the use of the famous ladder whereby Osiris had climbed up from earth into heaven. The Chapter of the Ferryboat and a picture of it would provide a boat for the deceased when he wished to sail across the Nile of the Other World. Each part of the spell possessed a magical name, which is given in the text of the spell, and when all the names of the parts were properly pronounced by the deceased the boat would sail to any place to which he wanted it to go. The Judgment scene, which represented to the initiated the deepest and most fundamental truths in the religion of Osiris, was, to the ordinary Egyptian, a magical picture drawn on funerary papyri with the view of making the gods declare those for whom it was drawn to be truth seekers. If drawings of Osiris, Ra, Isis and Nephthys, the four gods of the wind, were painted on a coffin, they would enable its occupant to enter each of the four quarters of heaven.”

An Egyptian version of the story of the “flood,” according to Dr. Elliot Smith, was in one case at least told of the wall of a tomb, to assist the soul of the inmate of the tomb.

Suggesting that the walls or contents of the tomb of Tut-ankh-Amen might throw further light on the origin of the Biblical narrative, Professor Smith declared:

“Inscribed on the walls of the tomb of Seti I, in the Theban necropolis-less than seventy years after the burial of Tut-ankh-Amen – is the remarkable story of the Destruction of Mankind. In spite of the fact that it was inscribed in this tomb as recently – in comparison with the Sumerian story – as 1800 B.C., the strange confusion of archaic reference which has made it so unintelligible to most modern scholars reveals the fact that its origin must be referred back to the fourth millennium. Although the destruction is not brought about by the flood, it is clear that the Egyptian and Mesopotamian stories have a common origin and a common motive. For the essential incident in the latter is not the flood, but the destruction of mankind which it brought to pass.

“If it be asked why this venerable story should be inscribed in the tomb of an Egyptian Pharaoh, the answer is that its aim was to secure for the dead king those boons the attainment of which was the central motive of the tale.”

What was done in the Babylonian legend by the flood was accomplished in the Egyptian variation, according to Dr. Smith, by the slaughter of all Egyptians by an ancient king. The legend indicated that the kings of old were executed when they began to show signs of age, because the belief prevailed that the prosperity of early Egypt waxed or waned with the physical condition of the king. The monarch of the legend began to show symptoms of age. His subjects began to murmur that it was time for the king to die. But the king hit on the plan of killing his subjects and renewing his youth by drinking their blood. He finally killed them all.

“But when the king had slaughtered them,” Dr. Smith [continued], “and had attained a renewal of his youth, he was overcome by the boredom of too prolonged an existence upon earth. So he mounted upon the back of a celestial cow and so reached heaven and attained immortality.”

Citations

The original source for the transcription came from The New York Times on February 17, 1924 through the TimesMachine.

“Arthur Wiegall.” Artefacts of Excavation. 2015. https://egyptartefacts.griffith.ox.ac.uk/people/arthur-weigall.

Benderitter, Thierry. “Akhenaten and the Religion of Aten.” Tombs of Ancient Egypt. https://www.osirisnet.net/docu/akhenaton/e_akhenaton_01.htm.

“Book of the Dead.” University College London. 2002. https://www.ucl.ac.uk/museums-static/digitalegypt/literature/religious/bdfront.html.

Knohl, Israel. “Pinpointing the Exodus from Egypt.” Harvard Divinity Bulletin. 2018. https://bulletin.hds.harvard.edu/pinpointing-the-exodus-from-egypt/.

Mellor, Lise. “Smith, Sir Grafton Elliot.” Faculty of Medicine Online Museum and Archive RSS. 2008. https://www.sydney.edu.au/medicine/museum/mwmuseum/index.php/Smith,_Sir_Grafton_Elliot.

“Sir Ernest A T Wallis Budge.” Collections Online | British Museum. https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/term/BIOG62010.

“The Archaeological Record: Flinders Petrie in Egypt.” 2002. https://www.ucl.ac.uk/museums-static/digitalegypt/archaeology/petriedigsindex.html.

Sarah Grider

Sarah Grider is a student of the 2021 Spring Discovering Digital History class at the Ramapo College of New Jersey. She is currently studying History and Museum & Exhibition Studies. She is an editorial assistant for the Jane Addams Papers Project.

Letter to the Congress I

I would urge strongly that at this Congress a number of changes be made in our political structure.

I want to tell you of the considerations to which I attach most importance.

At the head of the list I set an increase in the number of Central Committee¹ members to a few dozen or even a hundred. It is my opinion that without this reform our Central Committee would be in great danger if the course of events were not quite favourable for us (and that is something we cannot count on).

Then, I intend to propose that the Congress should on certain conditions invest the decisions of the State Planning Commission² with legislative force, meeting, in this respect, the wishes of Comrade Trotsky³– to a certain extent and on certain conditions.

As for the first point, i.e., increasing the number of C.C.⁴ members, I think it must be done in order to raise the prestige of the Central Committee, to do a thorough job of improving our administrative machinery and to prevent conflicts between small sections of the C.C. from acquiring excessive importance for the future of the Party.

It seems to me that our Party has every right to demand from the working class 50 to 100 C.C. members, and that it could get them from it without unduly taxing the resources of that class.

Such a reform would considerably increase the stability of our Party and ease its struggle in the encirclement of hostile states, which, in my opinion, is likely to, and must, become much more acute in the next few years. I think that the stability of our Party would gain a thousand-fold by such measure.

Lenin

December 23, 1922

Letter to the Congress II

Continuation of the notes.
December 24, 1922

By stability of the Central Committee, of which I spoke above, I mean measure against a split, as far as such measures can at all be taken. For, of course, the whiteguard⁵ in Russkaya Mysl⁶ (it seems to have been S.S. Oldenburg⁷) was right when, first, in the whiteguards’ game against Soviet Russia he banked on a split in our Party, and when, secondly, he banked on grave differences in our Party to cause that split.

Our Party relies on two classes and therefore its instability would be possible and its downfall inevitable if there were no agreement between those two classes. In that event this or that measure, and generally all talk about the stability of our C.C., would be futile. No measure of any kind could prevent a split in such a case. But I hope that this is too remote a future and too improbable an event to talk about.

I have in mind stability as a guarantee against a split in the immediate future, and I intend to deal here with a few ideas concerning personal qualities.

I think that from this standpoint the prime factors in the question of stability are such members of the C.C. as Stalin and Trotsky. I think relations between them make up the greater part of the danger of a split, which could be avoided, and this purpose, in my opinion, would be served, among other things, by increasing the number of C.C. members to 50 or 100.

Comrade Stalin, having become Secretary-General⁸, has unlimited authority concentrated in his hands, and I am not sure whether he will always be capable of using that authority with sufficient caution. Comrade Trotsky, on the other hand, as his struggle against the C.C. on the question of the People’s Commissariat of Communications has already proved, is distinguished not only by outstanding ability. He is personally perhaps the most capable man in the present C.C., but he has displayed excessive self-assurance and shown excessive preoccupation with the purely administrative side of the work.

These two qualities of the two outstanding leaders of the present C.C. can inadvertently lead to a split, and if our Party does not take steps to avert this, the split may come unexpectedly.

I shall not give any further appraisals of the personal qualities of other members of the C.C. I shall just recall that the October episode with Zinoviev and Kamenev⁹ [See Vol. 26, pp. 216-19] was, of course, no accident, but neither can the blame for it be laid upon them personally, any more than non-Bolshevism can upon Trotsky.

Speaking of the young C.C. members, I wish to say a few words about Bukharin¹⁰ and Pyatakov¹¹. They are, in my opinion, the most outstanding figures (among the youngest ones), and the following must be borne in mind about them: Bukharin is not only a most valuable and major theorist of the Party; he is also rightly considered the favourite of the whole Party, but his theoretical views can be classified as fully Marxist only with great reserve, for there is something scholastic about him (he has never made a study of the dialectics, and, I think, never fully understood it).

December 25. As for Pyatakov, he is unquestionably a man of outstanding will and outstanding ability, but shows too much zeal for administrating and the administrative side of the work to be relied upon in a serious political matter.

Both of these remarks, of course, are made only for the present, on the assumption that both these outstanding and devoted Party workers fail to find an occasion to enhance their knowledge and amend their one-sidedness.

Lenin

December 25, 1922

Bibliography

“Письмо В.И. Ленина к съезду о сохранении единства партии, создании устойчивого ЦК, способного предотвратить раскол партии, с характеристикой некоторых членов ЦК (И.В. Сталина, Л.Д. Троцкого, Н.И. Бухарина, Г.Л. Пятакова, Г.Е. Зиновьева, Л.Б. Каменева), пр: Ленин.” Главная. Accessed May 03, 2021. http://lenin.rusarchives.ru/dokumenty/pismo-vi-lenina-k-sezdu-o-sohranenii-edinstva-partii-sozdanii-ustoychivogo-ck-sposobnogo.

Michael Kilduff

Michael Kilduff is a history major at Ramapo College of New Jersey. He is looking to become a high school history teacher after going to graduate school for history education.

Otherwise known as Annex VIII, part of the Treaty of Lausanne which ended the Greco-Turkish War, the Declaration of Amnesty addresses the atrocities committed by both sides during the war. The Armenian genocide was still ongoing during the war, and the Greeks enacted a scorched-earth policy on Turkish settlements at the end of the war. The more conservative estimates of the number of dead are in the hundreds of thousands, but it is more commonly believed that millions were killed. However, it would be more accurate to say that the annex lacks any addressment of the atrocities such as the Armenian genocide. Instead, the annex states that no one will be criminally charged for any acts that occurred during this time, on both the Greek and Turkish sides. This is a rather eye-opening document and shows off a trend that will continue of countries covering up their more despicable acts. This document is still relevant today, as Turkey still denies the Armenian genocide to this day and President Biden just recently formally recognized the Armenian genocide.

Document Text

The Powers signatory of the Treaty of Peace signed this day being equally desirous to cause the events which have troubled the peace in the East to be forgotten¹,

The Under-signed, acting in virtue of their full powers, have agreed to make the following Declaration:

I

No person who inhabits or who has inhabited Turkey, and reciprocally no person who inhabits or who has inhabited Greece², shall be disturbed or molested and reciprocally in Greece, under any pretext whatsoever, on account of any military or political action taken by him, or any assistance of any kind given by him to a foreign Power signatory of the Treaty of Peace³ signed this day or to the nationals of such Power, between the 1st August, 1914, and the 20th November, 1922.

II

Similarly no inhabitant of the territories detached from Turkey under the said Treaty of Peace shall be disturbed or molested either on account of his political or military attitude against or in favour of Turkey during the period from the 1st August, 1914⁴to the 20th November, 1922, or of the determination of his nationality under the said Treaty.

III

Full and complete amnesty shall be respectively granted by the Turkish Government and by the Greek Government for all crimes or offences committed during the same period which were evidently connected with the political events which have taken place during that period.

IV

Turkish nationals, and reciprocally nationals of the other Powers signatory of the Treaty of Peace signed this day who may have been arrested, prosecuted or sentenced by the authorities of the said Powers or by the Turkish authorities respectively, for reasons of a political or military nature previous to the 20th November, 1922, on territory which remains Turkish in accordance with the said Treaty of Peace, shall benefit from the amnesty, and, if they are detained, shall be handed over to the authorities of the States of which they are the nationals. This stipulation is similarly applicable to Turkish nationals arrested, prosecuted or sentenced by the authorities of the Powers who have occupied a portion of the above mentioned territory even for a transgression of the ordinary law committed before that date⁵, and even if they have been removed from Turkey, excepting those who have committed, against a person belonging to the armies of occupation, an assault which has entailed death or a grievous wound⁶.

V

All sentences pronounced for the above reasons shall be annulled, and any proceedings already instituted shall be stayed.

VI

The Turkish Government, sharing the desire for general pacification with which all the Powers are animated, declare their intent in not to contest the measures carried out under the auspices of the Allied Powers during the period between the 20th October, 1918, and the 20th November, 1922⁷, with the object of re-establishing families scattered owing to the war and or replacing legitimate proprietors in possession of their goods.

However, this intention does not exclude the possibility of any revision of the above-mentioned measures in the event of a request to that effect being made by the interested parties. Claims respecting persons and goods shall be examined by a Commission composed of a delegate of the Red Crescent and a delegate of the Red Cross. In the event of a dispute, these delegates will choose an umpire, if they are unable to agree as to such choice the umpire will be appointed by the Council of the League of Nations.

VII

The British, French, and Italian Governments, acknowledging the importance of the measure of pacification which forms the subject of Article 5 of the Agreement concluded on the 30th January, 1923⁸between the Greek Government and the Turkish Government relating to the return of interned civilians and to the exchange of prisoners of war, declare that they are prepared to adopt, subject to reciprocity on the part of the Turkish Government, the same measures for the benefit of such Turkish prisoners of war and interned civilians as may still be in their hands, with the exception of those who may have committed crimes and offences against the ordinary law since the 20th November, 1922⁹.

Done at Lausanne, the 24th July, 1923.

Horace Rumbold

Pellé

Garroni

G.C.Montagna

K.Otchiai

E.K.Veniselos

D.Caclamanos

Const.Diamandy

Const.Contzesco

………………..

M.Ismet

Dr.Ryza Nour

Hassan

Protocol

It is understood that, in spite of the terms of paragraph 1 of the Amnesty Declaration, the Turkish Government reserves to itself the right to prohibit sojourn in and access to Turkey to 150 persons included in the category of persons referred to in the said paragraph. Consequently, the Turkish Government will be entitled to expel from its territory such of the persons in question as may be there at the present time and to prohibit such as are abroad from returning. The names of these persons shall be annexed to the Amnesty Proclamation which, on the coming into force of the Treaty of Peace signed this day, shall be promulgated by the said Government in order to give effect, in so far as that Government is concerned, to the above-mentioned declaration. It is further understood that, in the event of the Turkish Government deciding, as it has expressed the intention, that the said persons must liquidate their property and other goods in Turkey, they shall be granted a period of nine months as from the date of the above-mentioned proclamation to effect this liquidation of their own accord, and in the event of liquidation by the Turkish Government after the expiry of this period the whole of the proceeds shall be paid to the said persons.

It is similarly understood that paragraph 1 of the Amnesty Declaration in no way affects the right of the Greek Government to prosecute non-Moslem Greek subjects belonging or having belonged to its army for acts which constituted failure in respect of their military duties during the hostilities between Greece and Turkey¹⁰.

Done at Lausanne, the 24th July, 1923.

Horaca Rumbold

Pellé

Garroni

………..

K.Otchaiai

E.K.Veniselos

D.Caclamanos

Const.Diamandy

Const.Contzesco

……………

M.Ismet

Dr.Ryza Nour

Hassan

Source

“VIII. Declaration of Amnesty”. Republic of Turkey Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 2011, https://www.mfa.gov.tr/viii_-declaration-of-amnesty.en.mfa.

More Resources

Full Treaty of Lausanne, World War I Document Archive.

Armenian Genocide, Armenian National Institute.

Nicholas Buonocore

Nicholas Buonocore is a student at Ramapo College who toke the Discovering Digital History course in the Spring 2021 semester. He was a junior at Ramapo studying history while taking this course.

In 1924 the United States passed the Johnson-Reed Immigration Act that drastically decreased the number of immigrants allowed into the U.S. through the implementation of a quota system. The Immigration Act established both the Visa process and was the beginning stricter border security protocols being introduced. The quota system disproportionately favored Western countries in Europe as countries such as the United Kingdom received higher quotas, whereas Southern and Eastern European countries received stricter quotas. The document “Letter Regarding the Immigration Act of 1924” was written by Portugeese-American Manuel S. Amaral in 1925 as a response to the quota set on immigrants from Portugal. The Immigration Act granted Portugal a total of 440 immigrants per fiscal year to be allowed to enter the United States. Authored on behalf of 200,000 Portugeese-American citizens living in California, Amaral requests the U.S. government amend the Immigration Act to allow more Portugeese to enter the country. The letter was sent to James J. Davis who served as the U.S. Secretary of Labor from 1921 to 1930. Under this role Davis was responsible for carrying out the actions established by the Immigration Act. 

I selected this document because of its significance to the Immigration Act of 1924 and showcases how American immigrants resisted the act throughout the 1920s. The letter offers insight into the Portugeese-American experience in California and presents arguments against the quota act through the lense of immigrant farmers out West.

Document

Document Text

Hon. James J. Davis,¹

Dept. of Labor,

Washington, D.C.

November 25, 1925.

Dear Sirs:

In the name of 200,000 Portugese people, citizens of California, we beg to enlist your endeavour to have amended the Immigration Act, which limits the admission into this country to 500 Portugese each year. Or if this means of solving the pressing problem be impracticable to find some other way to overcome the hardship which this limitation  places upon one or more of California’s leading industries.

We beg to remind you that approximately 90 per cent of the Portuguese population in California came from the Azores and Madeira Islands. They emigrated to California to make their homes, rear their families, live the lives of good citizens and to educate their children to follow in their footsteps. They are an industrious, frugal, home-loving people and comprise and one of the most useful and patriotic elements of our composite population. There is not a more law-abiding class of citizens in our State or one that is more uniformly contributive to substantial development of its basic industries and the spiritual, social and material advancement of the commonwealth.

In the great Valleys of the State, in the foothills and plains, the Portuguese people will be found successfully engaged in diversified agriculture, truck farming, dairying and horticulture. They have reclaimed the virgin land and developed it to that high state of productivity which contributes so largely to the wealth of the State and the Nation. They have clung to the soil, and constitute one of the greatest and most dependable factors in the conservation of the most important of all California industries- the farm.

Many of the largest dairies in the State are operated by the Portugese who are naturally adapted to that line of work, as experience proves. There are approximately 3,500 Portugese dairies in California and the labor involved is in large measure performed by the families  of the owners. In the face of existing labor conditions, it would be utterly impossible to replace these workers with other help. Americans of other racial extractions cannot be induced to labor in the various agricultural pursuits, especially in the arduous work of the dairy, despite the high wages prevailing. This is patent to anyone familiar with the situation in all lines of agricultural operation.

With the immigration quota as low as that now permitted to Portugal, our Portuguese farmers and dairymen find it impossible to overcome the losses and wastage of the necessary help to continue their business, from other available sources.

We appeal, therefore, to out California representatives in the Congress to use their best endeavors to relieve a condition that threatens thousands of out Portugese farmers- these industrious and constructive citizens from The Azores and Madeira Islands- and their families, with financial ruin and a loss annually to the State and Nation of millions of dollars. Whether this relief comes from the admittance of more willing and competent workers in this field from Portugal or through other means is immaterial so long as the essential objective is attained.

May we ask you, therefore, to give this vital problem to the best interests of the foremost industry of California the serious consideration that it deserves?

Respectfully yours,

Mr Manuel S. Amaral

Citations and Sources

Letter to James J. Davis, Department of Labor, from Portuguese Citizens of California Regarding the Immigration Act of 1924; 11/25/1925, Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, Record Group 85; National Archives Building, Washington, D.C. https://www.docsteach.org/documents/document/letter-immigration-act-1924

The Immigration Act of 1924(brief overview): https://history.state.gov/milestones/1921-1936/immigration-act

Lauren S

Senior History and American Studies student at Ramapo College of New Jersey enrolled in Discovering Digital History course taught by Dr. Hajo during Spring 2021.

Towards the very beginning of 1925, the Tennessee state legislature approved a bill that banned the teaching of any theory that went against the story of Divine Creation, as taught in the Bible. John Scopes, a high school science teacher living and working in Dayton, Tennessee, agreed to be put on trial for violating the law in order to bring attention to its unconstitutional basis. 

Throughout the trial, both Clarence Darrow, Scopes’ attorney, and William Jennings Bryan, the prosecutor representing the state of Tennessee, interviewed and cross-examined several witnesses. The document below features portions of Darrow’s cross-examinations of four witnesses, the superintendent of the high school, two of Scopes’ students, and an esteemed member of the community. The written transcript of the witnesses’ testimonies proves the absurdity of the Tennessee law and helps demonstrate why Scopes got off with the most inconsequential punishment for the crime. In regard to the larger narrative of the 1920s, this record demonstrates the transition in America from a country based on religious fundamentalism to one with secular beliefs and institutions.     

Record of Witness Testimony Document

Document Text

VIII

The Witnesses

Having presented the opening statement of the prosecution, the State called upon its first witness, Superintendent White of the Dayton public schools. He testified that he had talked with Mr. Scopes¹ the day before the latter’s arrest:

“I told him that he had violated the law, but he said he had to teach science², and the law was unconstitutional anyway.”

On cross-examination, the witness admitted that the textbook, Hunter’s “Civic Biology³,” from which the defendant taught, had been specified for school use by the State School Book Commission.

When Mr. Darrow⁴ read sections from this book concerning evolution, Mr. Stewart⁵ offered a King James version of the Bible in evidence.⁶ Mr. Hays⁷ objected, asking: “What is the Bible? Who is to say this King James version is the Bible? The prosecution must tell us.” When the Court overruled the objection, the Bible was admitted as an exhibit.⁸  

Howard Morgan, 14 years of age, a pupil of Mr. Scopes, testified that the defendant had told his class that “in the beginning the earth was too hot for any life, it had cooled off, then the sea and land were formed, plant life in the sea began with a one-celled animal, which finally evoluted until it got bigger and a land animal and then got to be a man”; and that the teacher had classified man as a mammal, along with horses, cats, dogs, and other animals.

Cross-examined by Mr. Darrow, the boy could not tell what his teacher had meant by “classified.”

Mr. Darrow-He didn’t say a cat became a man, did he?

Howard-He said that man had reasoning powers and the other animals didn’t.

Mr. Darrow-There’s no doubt about that [Laughter], but we’ll let it pass if he said it. Did he tell you mammals were cats, dogs, elephants, horses, and whales?

Howard-I don’t know about whales.

Mr. Darrow-Never saw a whale suckle its young?

Howard-No, sir.

Mr. Darrow-Did he ever tell you anything else wicked?

Howard-Mr. Scopes said the earth was once a molten mass of liquid.

Mr. Darrow-That it melted?

Howard- Yes, sir.

Mr. Darrow-That it slowly cooled, a crust formed, soul came, grass grew, the first life in the sea developed into the highest form, man? That’s about what he taught?

Howard-Yes, sir.

Mr. Darrow-Did it hurt you any?

Howard-No, sir.

Harry Shelton, 17, on direct examination testified about as Howard did as to the Scopes teaching, and on cross-examination said his teacher had told him all life came from a single cell.

Mr. Darrow-Any one ever tell you different?

Harry-No, sir.

Mr. Darrow-You, a church member, still belong, still believe in church although you were told all life comes from a single cell?

Harry-Yes, sir.⁹

F. E. Robinson¹⁰, owner of the Dayton drug store, testified that he had sold the biological textbook in question for several years.

Mr. Darrow-Notice any signs of moral deterioration in the community since you’ve been selling them?

Mr. Robinson-No. [Laughter]   

Here the state, although it had five other witnesses ready, rested its case.¹¹

Sources

• Allen, Leslie H. Bryan and Darrow at Dayton. The Record and Documents of the “Bible-Evolution Trial”. New York: Arthur Lee & Company, 1925.
• HathiTrust. “Bryan and Darrow at Dayton: the Record and Documents of the “Bible-Evolution Trial“. University of Michigan. Accessed April 2021.

Additional Sources

• American Civil Liberties Union. “State of Tennessee V. Scopes.” ACLU. Accessed April 2021.
• Millstein, Roberta L. “Evolution.” The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 2019.
• PublicBroadcasting Service. “John Scopes.” American Experience, PBS. Accessed February 2021.
• “Tom Stewart.” Wikipedia. Last modified December 19, 2020.
• “Why the King James Bible of 1611 Remains the Most Popular Translation in History.” The History Channel. Last modified April 16, 2019.

Rachel Olivo

Rachel is a junior at Ramapo College of New Jersey taking Discovering Digital History in the Spring of 2021. She is studying History and Education and is looking forward to becoming a teacher after graduating.

Jane Addams (1860-1935) was a well-known social reformer, suffragist and the founder of the Hull-House settlement. During World War I, Addams became one of the United States’ best-known pacifists. She founded the Woman’s Peace Party in 1914 and the International Committee of Women for a Permanent Peace at the International Congress of Women in 1915, which became the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom in 1919. Addams never wavered from her commitment to peace, even after the United States entered World War I. After the war, Addams and other pacifists sought to have women’s voices heard in the creation of a new international society. But neither the Paris Peace Conference or the ensuing League of Nations viewed the problems facing society the same way. In America, the Senate rejected the Paris Peace Treaty on November 19, 1919, and opposed American entry into the League of Nations. Many Americans opposed further foreign entanglements. Addams saw danger in the widespread poverty in Europe after the war and spoke widely on how a different view of internationalism could improve conditions in the world. This article was published by the New Republic on November 24, 1920 and also delivered as a speech before the Labor Forum in Detroit on November 28, 1920.

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Document Text

In Bertrand Russell’s¹ recent report of his experiences in Russia, he said: “Contact with those who had no doubts, had intensified a thousandfold my own doubts not only of communism, but of any creed so firmly held that for its sake men are willing to inflict wide-spread misery.”²

The statement recalls a similar one put into the mouth of Danton by Romain Rolland in his play of that name: “There is no danger in any state as great as that of men with principles. They don’t try to do good but to be in the right; no suffering troubles them. Their only morality, their only political ideal, is to impress their ideas upon others.”³

Have the advocates of the League of Nations fallen into the state of mind thus described? Does the common man distrust the League because it is slow to relieve the wide-spread misery in Europe;⁴ because it so cautiously refuses to become the tentative instrument of a longed for new era; because it threatens to become one more of those abortive efforts “to end war” which fails because they have nothing tangible and human upon which to focus scattered moral energies and no popular drive with which to make effective moral ideas upon a more extended scale than that to which the time has become accustomed?

As the revolutionists have learned from the war the ready use of arms in pressing their claims, is it not possible that the united governments from their war experience in the increased production and distribution of foods, may have learned what the great underlying demand of the oppressed actually is, and also to use the training of war to meet it reasonably and quickly?

If this demand could be recognized and acknowledged as in a great measure valid, what a much needed change in the world’s affairs might take place, not as it now threatens to occur under the leadership of men drive desperate by hunger, but with the help of men who are trained in the daily processes of world wide commerce; men working wholeheartedly to meet adequately and scientifically a world obligation but newly formulated on an international scale, although long recognized in piecemeal fashion. The great danger ahead of the League of Nations is implicit in the fact that its first work involves the guaranteeing of a purely political peace and a dependence upon the old political motives. ⁵ Whereas if from the very first it could perform an act of faith, if it evinced the daring to meet new demands which could be met in no other way, then and then only would it become the necessary instrumentality to carry on the enlarged life of the world and gradually be recognized as indispensable.

Since the cessation of war, there is all over the world a sense of loss in motive power, the consciousness that there is no driving force equal to that furnished by the heroism and self-sacrifice demanded in war-time. Yet the great purposes of the League of Nations could be made sufficiently appealing to absorb these to the full. What could afford a more primitive, genuine and abiding motive than feeding the people of the earth on an international scale? It would utilize all the courage and self-sacrifice  evolved by warfare and turn it into immediate efficiency all that international cooperation which performed such miracles of production in the prosecution of the war. Both are ready to its hand. The British Labor party⁶ has pointed out the beginning of international order as follows: “During the period of the war we had great international bodies for the control and distribution of shipping, credit, and raw material in accordance not with capacity to pay, but with vital need. Only so could the common enemy be met. There was in these arrangements the beginnings of an organized economic government of the world, a real international society, subjecting to a common control those things essential to the common life. Here was a world-government actually in being.”

If the League of Nations had maintained the system, remedied its defects, enlarged its functions, and democratized its administration, the de facto beginnings of an organized economic government of the world would have been constituted. The eighteenth century phrases in which diplomatic intercourse has been so long conducted would have dropped away as not fitted to discuss the need of an internationally guaranteed loan, the functions of an Economic Council for the control of food stuffs and raw material, the fuel shortage, credits granted to enemy and liberated countries alike for reconstruction purposes, the effect of malnutrition on powers of production, the irreparable results of “hunger oedema.”⁷ Some brave spirit might even point out that it is useless to hold an International Labor Congress in order to raise the standard of life and wages throughout the world, if famine continues steadily to depress that standard throughout the great manufacturing regions of Europe. Out of his wide experience in feeding devastated Europe, Mr. Hoover once, perhaps hastily, said: “There are certain foundations of industry in Europe that, no matter what the national or personal ownership or control may be, yet partake of the nature of public utilities in which other nations have a moral right.”⁸ Certainly such a situation presents material for a statesmanship which is genuine and straightforward, and contains a tremendous appeal to the common man.

If this policy of feeding the hungry were once adopted, the League might at last feel the zeal, the tingle and excitement of reality and through the sheet processes of life become genuinely significant.

We are told by those familiar with the work carried on at the temporary headquarters of the League of Nations in London that “the economic section has for many months been engaged in a world wide study of such questions as coal, production, markets, food and the movement of raw material. At the first meeting of the Assembly a full report will be ready.”⁹ But how many people may starve to death before those reports are acted upon. It suggests a committee studying the best method of extinguishing fires while precious granaries are burning down.

It is quite obvious that the League must proceed carefully but there are times when even well considered delay is fatal. While these reports are being prepared, the starving people themselves have ceased to look to the League for help, it has lost all that popular confidence and hope which was its greatest asset. How many times do friends of the League say in its defense: “that is due to the Treaty, the League has not yet begun to function” only to receive the bitter reply, “the same men who wrote the Treaty, made the League.”

Much has been said during the war about primitive emotion and instinctive action, but certainly their use need not be reserved to the purposes of destruction. After all, the first friendly communication between tribe and tribe came through the need for food when one or the other was starving and too weak to fight, primitive human pity made the folk way which afterward developed into political relationships.

Why not open the gates and let these primitive emotions flood our devastated world? By all means let the beneficent tide be directed and canalized by the League of Nations which is, after all, the outgrowth of century-old dreams. The great stumbling block always in the way of its earlier realization and the crux of its actual survival now, is the difficulty in interpreting it to the understanding of the common man, grounding it in his affections, appealing to his love for humankind. To such men, who, after all, compose the bulk of the citizens in every nation participating in the League, the abstract policies of it make little appeal although they would gladly contribute their utmost to feed the starving, as two and a half million French trade unionists regularly tax themselves for the children of Austria; as the British Labor party insists that the British foreign policy shall rest “upon a humane basis, really caring for all mankind, including colored men, women and children”; as the German workmen recommend that “all commodities of first necessity be pooled so that each people gets its share”; or as the American Federation of Labor declares its readiness to “give a mighty service in common effort for all humankind.”

So far as the working man in any country has expressed himself, it is all in this direction. In addition to the organized workers, millions of earth’s humblest toilers whose lives are consumed in securing the daily needs of existence for themselves and their families, go stumbling towards the light of better international relations largely because “Man is constantly seeking a new and finer adjustment between his inner emotional demands and the practical arrangements of the world in which he lives.” It is absurd for us, as advocates of the League, to complain that it is difficult to endear it to “the people” when it is precisely the people who are most ready for an act of faith, to whom it seems most natural to feed the hungry. It may take years to popularize the principles of the League, but citizens of civilized nations have already received much religious instruction. “To do the will” on an international scale might result in that world wide revival which the war in spite of many predictions, has as yet failed to evoke. I would certainly establish the sort of League of which thousands of people dreamed when they hailed the President of the United States as the savior of Europe.¹⁰ Why are we, its advocates, so slow to tap this reservoir of moral power which along could adequately motive the great undertaking? We fail to remember that to confound principles with people, indicates that we understand neither religion nor our fellow-man. JANE ADDAMS

Source

Jane Addams, “Feed the World and Save the League,” The New Republic (Nov. 24, 1920): 325-327.

More resources

Jane Addams Digital Edition provides letters and other writings of Jane Addams.

The Covenant of the League of Nations. Yale Law School Avalon Project.

Frank Jacobs, “Map Shows U.S. Effort to Feed Europe After WWI,” Big Think, Oct.r 23, 2018.

Cathy Moran Hajo

Cathy Moran Hajo teaches Discovering Digital History at Ramapo College of New Jersey. She is the editor and director of the Jane Addams Papers Project, and formerly worked on the Margaret Sanger Papers Project. She is currently the Vice President and Archives Director of the Mahwah Museum.

digital.janeaddams.ramapo.edu/