Today Is Flag Day: Is Your Flag Up? Five Things You Might Not Know

From the June 13, 2024 Marquette Today "Star-spangled trivia: five things you (probably) don't know about Flag Day."

The American flag continues to be the steadfast symbol of freedom-- and it's something we celebrate every June 14.  Flag Day is an annual is an annual commemoration of Old Glory's creation in 1777, although the layout looked a lot different then. 

Here are five interesting Flag Day facts:

1.  Flag Day originated in Waubeka, Wisconsin, just north of Milwaukee.  On June 14, 1885, the anniversary of the flag's creation, a 19-year-old teacher named Bernard Cigrand led his pupils in a history lesson called "Flag Birthday."

The following year he began a campaign for a national holiday observing the flag's birthday.

Believing that reverence for the American flag would promote attachment to the American republic, President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed June 14 as Flag Day starting in 1916.

The Wisconsin origin of Flag Day is memorialized at the National Americanism Center in Waubeca and celebrated with an annual Flag Day parade in neighboring Fredonia.

Is Your Flag Up?  --Cooter

46 Fascinating Facts About Our 46 Presidents-- Part 6: Roosevelt to Coolidge

26.  THEODORE ROOSEVELT  (1901-1909)

The youngest president, taking office at age 42.

27.  WILLIAM HOWARD TAFT  (1909-1913)

Famous for his corpulence, Taft was the first to throw out the ceremonial first pitch at a Major League ball game

28.  WOODROW WILSON  (19143-1921)

In a 1914  proclamation, he officially established the second Sunday in May as Mother's Day.

29.  WARREN G. HARDING  (1921-1923)

Prior to taking office, Harding wrote a series of lurid letters to his mistress, the wife of one of his best friends.

30.  CALVIN COOLIDGE  (1923-1929)

A quiet man, he purportedly  replied, "You lose," to a visitor who bet she could get at least three words out of him.

--CootPres

A Coal Shortage in 1920

In the last post, I wrote about the Normal School in DeKalb, Illinois, (NIU) having a shortage of coal in 1920.  Evidently this was not just here, but elsewhere.  I came across an blurb in the September 20, Bloomington-Normal Pantagraph newspaper from 1920 as follows:

"A large group of citizens met in the BHS (Bloomington High School)  auditorium to  tackle the coal shortage.  They decided to wire President Woodrow Wilson and ask him to take action against speculators.

"Keeping the McLean  County Coal Co. open is the heart of the issue."

************************************

And, I found a copy of the November  2, 1920 Duluth (Minnesota) News Tribune with headlines "Duluth Coal Companies Charged With Illegal  Combination, Shortage Forced, Prices Boosted."

"A group of West Duluth residents yesterday charged that coal companies have conspired to cause a shortage of coal and to boost prices.  The residents have formed a committee to urge the U.S. District Attorney to  start proceedings against the coal companies."

--Cooter

Voting in the 1918 Election: A War Winding Down and a Full-Fledged Pandemic

One hundred and two years ago on Tuesday, November 5, Americans were heading to the polls to vote.  It was not a presidential election, but stakes were high.  People were electing members of the 66th Congress.  It was also the lone election to take place during the United States' involvement in World War I (though it was winding down) and there was a full-scale pandemic going on at the time.

Campaigning was disrupted tremendously around the country as states had banned large gatherings.  Nebraska, for example, lifted a ban on public gatherings to allow campaigning five days before the election.

The president was Democrat Woodrow Wilson, but the republicans swept to control of both houses in Congress.

This was also a big election for women suffragists.

And, Now We have 2020.  --Cooter

USS Oregon (BB-3)-- Part 4: Service in the Pacific, the Boxer Rebellion, WW I, Pres. Wilson and the Washington Naval Treaty

 After the war, the Oregon had an overhaul and was assigned to the U.S. Asiatic Squadron and participated in the Philippine-American War (Philippines Insurrection).  It also sailed to Japan and reinforced the Eight-Nation Allied Force in China's Boxer Rebellion.  

In 1901, she returned to the U.S. for a refit before returning to her Asiatic Station before being decommissioned in 1906.  During the next several years, the Oregon was modernized and then recommissioned in 1911 and patrolled off the west coast of the United States.

During World War I, the ship saw no action but did  escort troop ships carrying soldiers bound for the Russian Civil War. Afterwards, she was decommissioned for a short time in 1919 before recommissioned for a short time the same year and hosted President Woodrow Wilson during a review of the Pacific Fleet in Seattle, Washington.

In 1920, she was assigned the hull number BB-3 and beginning a year later, a group of naval enthusiasts started a campaign to turn her into a naval museum to be based somewhere in her namesake state.  The Washington Naval Treaty in 1922 required the Oregon to be demilitarized which she was.

By 1924 she had become listed on the Naval register as an "Unclassified Relic."

In 1925, the Navy loaned the Oregon to that state and she was moored in Portland and restored as a museum vessel.

But, That Was Not Her End.  --Cooter

The Tulsa Race Massacre, 1921-- Part 3: Part of a Surge of White Attacks on Blacks in the Country

 The Tulsa rampage was part of a surge of white attacks on black communities-- from Washington, D.C., to Chicago to the Pacific Northwest--  at the time, said Scott Ellsworth, a historian who has worked for decades to bring the Tulsa massacre to light.

The Ku Klux Klan was surging as well, putting many of its members in public office and other influential positions.

In 1915, President Woodrow Wilson gave a White House screening and praise to "The Birth of a Nation," a tremendously influential and viciously racist film on the South.

You sure don't read much about these sad happenings from history, but they should be better known so they don't happen again.  It is horrible that Whites could do something like that to Blacks.  And, for no reason apparently.

I need to temper my anger at black rioting and looting with remembrances of things like this.

The Rise of Daylight Saving Time-- Part 2: World War I, Bills and Vetoes

However, World War I changed all this.  The Germans were the first to adopt Daylight Saving Time (DST) on April 30, 1916, as a way to save on coal-powered lighting in factories.  The British politicians followed suit two days later and set their clocks forward.  Most other European countries did the same.

Time changed slower in the United States, which did not join the war until 1917.  Stockbrokers and manufacturers pushed for it,  but the railroads opposed it fearing a change like that would cause train crashes.  So were farmers, who worked by the sun anyway.

The stockbrokers won, the bill passed Congress and President Wilson signed it.  But, there was a problem as the date the time changed was on March 31, 1918, Easter Sunday.  But, the change went smoothly.

By the next year, the war was over and many wanted DST over as well.  Farmers were still against it and some two dozen bills were introduced in Congress to repeal it.  One passed both houses, but Wilson vetoed it.  A vote to overturn the veto failed.  Another bill passed but again Wilson vetoed it.  This time, though, opponents got the 2/3 vote necessary to overturn it.  DST was dead.

But cities like Pittsburgh and New York passed DST laws and it was brought back for a short time during WW II.  States had various DSTs, including Iowa which at one time had 23 different times depending on what town you were in.

In 1966, President Johnson made DST the law of the land.

I'm thinking DST Year Round would be the thing to do.  I hate changing all the clocks.

Technologically Challenged Me.  --Coot?

When Presidents Lied or Misled U.S. to War-- Part 3: Woodrow Wilson and WW I

President Woodrow Wilson tried to inscribe democratic ideals on the world order during World War I.  But his disdain for Congress and failure to educate the public about his wartime agenda backfired.

He jailed his antiwar foes and faltered at persuading the American people to back his idea for a League of Nations.

--Cooter

WW I Ending-- Part 2: German Government Notified of Military Collapse and Wilson Asked

SEPTEMBER 29, 1918--

Bulgaria signs an armistice with the Allies, becoming the first  of the Central Power to quit the war.

OCTOBER 2, 1918--

Ludendorf  informs the German legislature in Berlin that the war is lost and that armistice negotiations should begin immediately.  The German politicians are shocked by the news, having been largely kept in the dark by the military and Kaiser until now.

OCTOBER 4, 1918

President Woodrow Wilson receives a request from the German government to start armistice negotiations.  The Germans figured he'd be more lenient than the British or French.  Wilson replies with a list of demands as prelude of discussion including  German withdrawal from all occupied territories and an immediate halt to U-boat attacks.

--DaCoot

How Did World War I Affect Women's Suffrage?

From the June 2017 Smithsonian Magazine.

ASK SMITHSONIAN

Question: "How did women's service in uniform during World War I help the suffrage movement afterward? "  Lisa Kathleen Graddy, deputy chair and curator of the division of political history at e National Museum of American History Answered:

President Woodrow Wilson was no great friend of women's suffrage before the war.  But he began to change his mind after learning of the harsh treatment of imprisoned pro-vote demonstrators during the war, which included force-feeding of suffragists on a hunger strike.

The service of more than 10,000 women in the Navy and Marines -- plus thousands more on the home front in factories and offices -- gave Wilson a powerful argument as he lobbied for the 19th Amendment.

"We have made partners of the women in this war," he said.  "Shall we admit them only to a partnership of suffering and sacrifice and toil and not to partnership of privilege and right?"

--CootVote

U.S. Declares War on Germany in 1917

Some of the headlines from the Roanoke (Va,)  Times April 7,1917.

Congress declared war on Germany on April 6, 1917, marking the United States' entry into World War I.

**  United States Accepts Challenge of Germany To Join Great World Strife.

**  After President Wilson Signed Resolution Word Flashed Across the Sea,

**  Congress Convenes on Monday.

**  Order Arrests of Leaders In German Plots.

**  Sixty Alleged Ringleaders Refused Bail and Ho to prison.

**  Thousands Still Kept Under Watch.

**  Warlike Measures Going Forward Briskly To Meet Hostility of Kaiser.

Guess We're All In Now.  --Cooter

February 3, 1924, Death of President Wilson

On February 3, 1924, the 24th president of the United States, Woodrow Wilson, died in Washington, D.C., at the age of 67.

Wilson was the president during World War I.

--daCoot

World War I Concrete Ship, SS Palo Alto, Smashed in Half By Storm

From the January 23, 2017, Vancouver Sun by Ben Guarino, Washington Post.

This is a curious artifact of American history, the crumbling, but famous World War I-era tanker SS Palo Alto.

Since 1930, the unusual concrete hull, a symbol of Santa Cruz County, has been sitting at the end of the pier jutting out into Monterrey Bay.

Saturday, record high 34-foot waves pounded the ship.

During World War I German submarines, U-boats,  were sinking so many Allied ships that there was a fear that we would run out of steel.  In 1917, the Emergency Fleet Corporation was formed under President Woodrow Wilson.

Twenty-four concrete ships were built.

Sounds Heavy to Me.  --Cooter

Today's Marine Corps Came of Age in WW I-- Part 2: Increase in Fighting Force

Despite the limited experience in the Philippines and along the Mexican border, it was going to be very different on the battlefields in France "where machine guns, artillery and chemical warfare were capable of killing 10,000 men in a day."

The Marines, which at the time had less than 15,000 men, had seen combat action in China and Nicaragua, but even that experience wasn't enough to prepare them for what they were about to face.

Army General John "Blackjack" Pershing was appointed by President Woodrow Wilson to command the American Expeditionary Force.  He determined to keep the American units fighting as separate units rather than being supplied piecemeal to British and French forces as replacements.

America was now at war and the Marines would be called upon.  Congress approved an additional 31,000 Marines to increase their fighting strength.  General George Barnett, commandant of the Marine Corps, successfully orchestrated a nationwide recruiting campaign to enlist and commission the best of America's volunteers.

--DaCoot

April 6, 1917: U.S. Declaration of War on Germany

On this date, President Woodrow Wilson signed the declaration of war.

On April 2, 1917, he had gone before a Joint session of Congress and asked for a declaration of war on Germany.  An overwhelming majority of Congress voted to accept it, with just 50 opposing it.

It read "that a state of war exists between the Imperial German Government and the Government and People of the United States."

War had been declared on Germany, but none of the other Central Powers.  War was declared on the Austro-Hungarian Empire on December 7, 1917, but never declared against Bulgaria or the Ottoman Empire.

Of interest, Jeannette Rankin of Montana, a lifelong pacifist, was one of the 50 voting against the declaration in 1917 and she was the only member of Congress voting against the declaration of war against Japan on December 8, 1941.

Today Marks the 100th Anniversary of That Declaration.  The Centennial.

Looking Back to 1916: President Wilson Passes Through DeKalb

From the November 2, 2016, MidWeek (DeKalb County, Illinois) "Looking Back.'

1916, 100 Years Ago

"The special train bearing President Wilson and his party passed through DeKalb this morning on the way back from the western trip where the nation's executive spoke before a large historical society yesterday."

--Cooter

Veterans Day: Through the Decades, Across the Wars-- Part 1: Armistice Day

From the November 9, 2016, Hi-Liter by Sandra Landen Machaj.

It happens every year on November 11.  The nation celebrates Veterans Day.  Sadly, not all schools are out this day.  I understand that we have Memorial Day in May to honor those who have fallen and served, but I think another day of remembrance would definitely be in order.  As a teacher, I know that other teachers do not teach about the significance of these days.

Veterans Day was first known as Armistice Day, a day to commemorate the end of World War I or as it was originally known, the Great War.  A temporary cessation to the fighting agreed to begin on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918 between the Allied and German forces.

This was not the official end of the war, as some believe.  That didn't take place until the Treaty of Versailles and not signed between Germany and the Allied nations until June 28, 1919.  At that signing, Allied interests were represented by British Prime Minister David Lloyd, French Premier George Clemenceau and U.S. President  Woodrow Wilson.

End of a World War-- Part 1: End of World War I in the Headlines

From the November 8, 2015, Chicago Tribune "Chicago Flashback."

"'The Great War'--  the forerunner we now call World War I--  approached its final days in mid-October 1918.  German troops were in full retreat, their government's surrender imminent.  The U.S. president and the German Kaiser seemed to be negotiating the end of hostilities by international cable on the front pages of the world's newspapers.

"Here are select headlines from the last five weeks of the supposed 'war to end all wars.'"

These are from, of course, the Chicago Tribune which cost 2 cents daily back then, $1.50 now.

Monday OCTOBER 7, 1918"

HUNS CRY FOR PARLEY  Other headlines:

Using Torch, Germans Flee
'We Cannot Come To Terms With Them' --Wilson on Sept. 27  (President Woodrow Wilson)
No Bartering To be Wilson
Accept Wilson's Demands As Basis For Peace Negotiations

More to Come Tomorrow.  --DaCoot

World War I's United States Food Administration

From Wikipedia.

In the last entry I wrote about the U.S. Food Administration's poster during the war.

This agency was responsible during World War I for administering food to the U.S.. Army overseas and Allied food reserves.  One important task it had to do was to stabilize wheat prices in the United States.  It was established by Executive Order 2679A by President Wilson in August 1917 pursuant to the Food and Fuel Control Act.

It was under the direction of Herbert Hoover whop later became president.

As part of their program, they released a lot of posters.

--Cooter

Mexican Campaign 1914

I'd never heard of it before, except for the Medal of Honor won by Henry Nickerson in the earlier post from today. So, I had to look it up.

It dated back to the Tampico Affair, April 9, 1914, where a group of US sailors and Mexican forces loyal to Victoriano Huerta faced off during the Mexican Revolution. In response, President Wilson ordered the US Navy to Vera Cruz, Mexico.

On April 21, 1914, Wilson ordered the immediate occupation of Vera Cruz upon hearing that a German ship was headed there with a huge arms shipment for Huerta... Ninety Americans and 300 Mexicans were killed.

This united a divided Mexico with Venustiano Carranza and Huerta demanding an immediate American withdrawal. Wilson later accepted mediation from the ABC Conference with Argentina, Brazil, and Chile.

The occupation lasted six months and did nothing to improve Mexican-American relations.

Thanks Wikipedia and Wilson Foreign Policy.