Tag Archives: New Year’s

peaceful transfer

Posted on January 1, 2023 by SUMPTER

The South had its Fire-Eaters, the North had John A. Dix. While briefly serving as U.S. Secretary of the Treasury for a time before Abraham Lincoln’s inauguration, John Dix sent a telegram to Treasury agents in New Orleans ordering them … Continue reading →

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resolutions galore

Posted on January 1, 2022 by SUMPTER

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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nothing to see year

Posted on January 1, 2021 by SUMPTER

At least not over here. The Chicago Tribune used its January 1, 1871 issue to review the old year. According to the paper, the recent-history-perusing side of Janus would have been kind of bored looking at events in the United … Continue reading →

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live from dry square

Posted on January 24, 2020 by SUMPTER

Not exactly lively, not exactly dry The 18th amendment to the United States Constitution, prohibiting the “manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors within, the importation thereof into, or the exportation thereof from the United States and all the territory … Continue reading →

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happy new wheels

Posted on December 31, 2018 by SUMPTER

Based on its January 9, 1869 cover, it seems that Harper’s Weekly had pretty great expectations for the new year in general and president-elect Ulysses S. Grant in particular. It’s true that General Grant did successfully carry out the political … Continue reading →

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happy bleak year

Posted on January 1, 2018 by SUMPTER

Duties evaded in the past press with increasing urgency in the future. On Christmas Day 1867 an editorial in The New-York Times lamented the terrible condition of the American South: “the Christmas Day of 1867 will be a black day … Continue reading →

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hilltop experience

Posted on January 1, 2017 by SUMPTER

In its New Year’s piece 150 year ago today The New-York Times changed up the Janus imagery a little bit: … New Year’s Day is like a hill upon which a traveler pauses to rest, to look back over the … Continue reading →

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new year mystery

Posted on January 1, 2016 by SUMPTER

This cartoon recalls President- elect Lincoln’s address at Philadelphia’s Independence Hall on February 22, 1861, but you could look at it in a Janus-like way. Mr. Lincoln was assassinated in 1865 because of his principles. Looking ahead he is certainly … Continue reading →

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Janus Looking Back

Posted on December 31, 2011 by SUMPTER

I love this photo from about 1913. It could be an exercise in a creative writing class – tell a story based on the image. An old Confederate thinking about the battle from fifty years ago. Parched and scared he … Continue reading →

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