Wednesday, May 10, 1899. Song and Dance.

 Fred Astaire was born in Omaha, Nebraska as Frederick Austerlitz

Texas State University was founded.

Last prior edition:

Sunday, May 7, 1899. Aguinaldo moves

1890s, 1899, Philippine Insurrection, Philippines

Saturday, May 3, 1924. Foundings.

The Grand Order of the Aleph Zadik Aleph (AZA or אצא), an international fraternity for Jewish teenagers, was founded in Omaha, Nebraska.

It would go on to found the B'nai B'rith Youth Organization a year later.

The SS Catalina, which would be in service for 51 years ferrying passengers between Los Angeles and Santa Catalina Island, was launched.

German police raided the Soviet Trade Delegation

Zinaida Kokorina, against the odds and through the intervention of the Soviet head of state, became the first female military pilot on this day in 1924.

She wanted to become a fighter pilot, but was persuaded to remain a flight instructor, which she did through World War Two.  She later became headmistress of a village school at Cholpon-Ata in Kyrgyzstan before retiring to Moscow.

Last prior edition:

Friday, May 2, 1924. Craters of the Moon.

1920s, 1924, Calvin Coolidge, Craters of the Moon National Monument, Cuba, Government, Idaho, Radio

Thursday, March 15, 1923. Life on the prairie, snow in Omaha, German offer.

Life on Montana's prairie detailed.

Omaha, Nebraska endured a significant snowstorm, receiving 13" of snow.  That doesn't seem like a lot, but its still recorded as one of Omaha's biggest snowstorms.

Germany offered France and Belgium 20 billion gold marks to go home.

November 13, 1920. Those teenage years.

A photographer was at work in Craig Colorado, where he took a photograph of the students of the school there, which must have been a unified (all grades) school.  He also photographed the athletic teams of Craig and Meeker.

On the same day, a band of teenagers in Omaha pulled off what was, up until that time, the largest train robbery in the United States, taking over $3,500,000 in fresh United States currency being shipped from a mint.  It involved breaking into into a train car and then departing it at its first stop, where there was a waiting car. So it was a planned thing.

In current dollars, that would amount to $46,000,000.

They burned most of it shortly thereafter, although some of what was taken was in the form of coins.  The amount of money must have spooked them, and therefore they didn't profit by their crime and, in the end, the US really didn't lose much.

Not to condone theft, but burning the cash was really stupid.

The Big Picture: Stockyards.

South Omaha, Nebraska.  1908.

Same stockyard, September 1916.

Omaha stockyards, 1914.

Kansas City, 1909

Kansas City, 1907.

Union stockyards, Chicago.  September 1907.

Union stockyards, Chicago.  1899.

Union stockyards, Atlanta Georgia.  January 2, 1909.

Related threads:

Friday Farming: Denver Stockyards, 1939.

Mid Week At Work. Cudahy Packing Company, Omaha Nebraska. 1910.

September 29, 1919. The Red Summer becomes a red fall in Alabama and Nebraska, the franchise for women comes to Utah.

On this day in 1919, racial murders came to Montgomery Alabama when two black veterans, one still in uniform, were pulled from a police car and gunned down in nearby woods. They'd been accused of assaulting a white woman, but obviously had not been convicted. A third black man then in hospital would be lynched the following day in a completely unrelated event.

This followed race riots that occurred in Omaha Nebraska the prior day which saw violence on a large scale.  It was based on a similar accusation but required military intervention to be put down and saw the horrific lynching of Willie Brown, whose body was subsequently burned, resulting in a widely distributed photograph.

The news from Omaha made front page news in Wyoming, but interestingly would be remarkably different from the front page that was found in Omaha. There, the victim of the lynching was simply proclaimed to be guilty and the mob enacting vigilante justice.  In Wyoming, the heroic actions of the mayor in attempting to stop the mob were the focus.

While a 1919 act of racial violence in Montgomery Alabama isn't surprising to read about today, many would be surprised to learn of one in Omaha.  But Omaha was and is a Midwestern city and had a large black minority that had been drawn to the location due to the manual labor opportunities it afforded. Racial tension in the city was high in the town and would remain so for many years.

Indeed, while we don't association him with the city, it's worth noting that Malcolm X, born Malcolm Little, was born and grew up in Omaha.  His father was an outspoken black Baptist minister and there's always been some suspicion that the streetcar accident he died in was actually a murder.

In other events, on this day a special session of Utah's legislature the state's Senate voted in favor of the 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution granting women the franchise. The House would do the same the following day.

July 29, 1919. 1919 Motor Transport Convoy. Council Bluffs Iowa to Omaha Nebraska, 5 miles in 2 hours

Omaha in 1914.

On this day in 1919, the transcontinental Motor Transport Convoy drove across the Missouri at Council Bluffs and into Omaha, which is just across the river from Council Bluffs.

The crossing was a parade and only five miles were achieved that day, which no doubt was a planned slow advance.  The convoy camped at Ft. Omaha, which was just north of the city. Today it is principally the site of Metropolitan Community College.  During World War One the fort was the site of a balloon school for part of the war, and this entry notes the presence of balloons at Ft. Omaha, but the location was determined not to be suitable for that use during the war and the school itself was transferred to Camp John Wise, Texas.

The stand down on this day was apparently used for maintenance, which graphite lubricants removed.  I don't know what the thought was but those sort of lubricants, while they work, traditionally also caused concern as they cause wear.  What may have been occurring is that dust laden grease was simply being changed out.

The Dixon graphite lubricant was a popular lubricant for automobiles at the time, and was made by the Dixon Crucible Company, a company that had been in existence since the late 18th Century and which made pencils.  It still does, its most notable product being the legendary Ticonderoga pencil.  The graphite lubricant was likely a byproduct of what they were already doing in making pencils.

1912 Dixon's pencil advertisement. The company that manufactures these pencils, while now merged with another company, is one of the oldest companies in the United States.

This entry also gives the reader a nice example of RHIP, i.e. Rank Has Its Privilege.  Officers dined at the new Omaha Athletic Club.  Enlisted men. . . probably just a mess hall at Ft. Omaha.

Boys Town Founded, December 12, 1917

Monsignor Edward J. Flanagan

On this date in 1917, Monsignor Edward J. Flanagan founded an orphanage outside of Omaha Nebraska which was called the City of Little Men.  Later changing its name to Boys' Town, the orphanage for boys pioneered the social preparation model for orphanages.  It still exists.

Monsignor Flanagan was Irish by birth and the son of a herdsman.  He immigrated to the United States at age 18 in 1904 and received a bachelors degree just two years later, going on to receive a MA two years after that.  He then entered the seminary in New York and completed his studies in Italy and Austria, being ordained there in 1912.  He was then assigned to Nebraska as a Priest. He became a US citizen in 1919.. His views on the care and development of orphaned children were far ahead of their time.

Lex Anteinternet: The Big Picture: Rail and Stock Yards, Omaha Nebraska in 1916

Lex Anteinternet: The Big Picture: Rail and Stock Yards, Omaha Nebraska in 1916

We've run this one before, in 2013, but we're repeating it on the centennial of its publication.

Note the boxcar with a beer brand on it's side.  I can't make out the brand.

Thursday, May 14, 1914. The Life of General Villa

New Horse Market, Omaha, Nebraska, May 14, 1914.

The Life of General Villa was released as a film by D. W. Griffith. Villa was played by Villa.

Last prior edition:

Tuesday, May 12, 1914. A Marian Apparition.

1910s, 1914, 1980s, 1987, Art, Marian Apparition, Russia, Ukraine, United Kingdom

The Big Picture: Rail and Stock Yards, Omaha Nebraska in 1916.

Omaha Stockyards, published September 5, 1916.

Friday, February 19, 1909. Mental Health and Crime.

The first National Committee for Mental Hygiene convened.  Today called Mental Health America, improvement of mental health care and prevention of mental illness remains its mission.

Policeman Edward Lowry was shot and killed by Greek immigrant John Masouriden, a prisoner he was escorting, South Omaha, Nebraska.  This would result in an attack on Omaha's Greek neighborhood two days later, fueled by an inflammatory headline.