Category Archives: Postbellum Society

buried?

150 years ago a Southern newspaper found something to like in a Northern observance of Decoration Day. From The Daily Phoenix (Columbia, South Carolina) June 12, 1873: KIND WORDS FOR OUR SOUTHERN DEAD. Dr. Lillienthal, the well known Jewish pastor … Continue reading

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pleasant surprise

Sir Isaac Newton isn’t usually the first thing that comes to my mind when I think about Christmas. From The Daily Phoenix, Columbia, South Carolina, December 25, 1872: Christmas. The learned have long been divided in opinion as to the … Continue reading

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more or less traditionary

It was becoming a tradition. 150 years ago, for the tenth year in a row, the United States president proclaimed a national day of Thanksgiving for a Thursday at the end of November. THANKSGIVING DAY 1872 BY THE PRESIDENT OF … Continue reading

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game day

Lately I’ve been in the habit of visiting the Pilgrim Hall Museum as November makes its annual return. This year I checked out Thanksgiving Touchdown, an article that describes the connection between American football and Thanksgiving and even touches on … Continue reading

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irrepressible

On October 10, 1872 former U.S. Secretary of State William H. Seward died at his home in Auburn, New York. People in the Midwest could read all about it the next day. From the October 11, 1872 issue of The … Continue reading

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hot time

150 years ago this summer New York City suffered some very hot weather. From the July 27, 1872 issue of Harper’s Weekly: THE HEATED TERM. THE heated term which ended on the 6th inst, was not only the most protracted, … Continue reading

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forget the feud

From the June 8, 1872 issue of Harper’s Weekly: DECORATION-DAY. In the beautiful and touching illustration on our first page this week our artist expresses the universal feeling of the country. While the people have no wish to keep alive … Continue reading

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preacher woman

From the March 2, 1872 issue of Harper’s Weekly: A WOMAN IN THE PULPIT. THE good Presbytery of Brooklyn have been greatly scandalized of late by the appearance of Miss SARAH F. SMILEY, a Quakeress preacher, in the pulpit of … Continue reading

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with counsel like that

From the January 27, 1872 issue of Harper’s Weekly: THE KU-KLUX. WE give on this page an illustration, engraved from a photograph from life, showing three members of a band of Mississippi Ku-Klux, who are now under indictment in that … Continue reading

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resolutions galore

150 years ago today a Chicago editorial looked at the year just past and saw the terrible destruction of the Great Chicago Fire in October 1871 as a source of hope for the coming year – citizens had a great … Continue reading

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