May 5, 1919. Passings, Oil Towns, Parties

L. Frank Baum, the author of The Wizard of Oz.

L. Frank Baum, the author of The Wizard of Oz, suffered a stroke on this day in 1919.  His last words were "Now I can cross the Shifting Sands."  He would pass away on May 6.

Texas oil towns, or at least oil fields, were getting a lot of attention on this Monday, May 5.

And the marine rail yard at the Charleston Navy Yard was photographed as well.

As was Margaret Wilson, the daughter of President Woodrow Wilson.  It looks like she borrowed the trench coat of some Colonel for this photographs.

Margaret shared her father's middle name, "Woodrow" (his first name was Thomas).  She'd was born in Gainesville Georgia even though her parents were living in the North at the time but her mother did not want her born amongst Yankees due to the strong Southern identification both parents had.  She served as the White House social hostess for a time after her mother's death, until her father remarried.

She never married herself and indeed was 39 and 40 years of age when she was White House social hostess, an old age for a woman to be unmarried at the time.  In 1938 she traveled to India and became a devotee of Sri Aurobindo Ashram, an Indian spiritual community, where she remained for the rest of her life.

The Italians decided to return to Paris and captured the headlines as a result on this day.

Also on the front page, a party for returned veterans was being planned in Casper.