Liz Writes Life

January 6, 2021

Well we’ve made it through the holidays and into a new year. Yay! Folks are sure hoping 2021 is a happier year than 2020. Time will tell, but we may need to prepare ourselves for more of what we have had and also the unexpected. 

I checked the internet for information on the year 1921 and found it had a lot of the same problems we have had, although the Spanish Flu pandemic hit earlier in 1918. So, here’s a glimpse at life in the United States 100 years ago.

In January, a Science Service was organized with the goal of keeping the public informed of scientific developments. It was renamed Society of Science & the Public. Hum, that was a good simple name!

Also, in American football the University of California defeated Ohio State in the Rose Bowl 28-0. Oops that was an upset!

Hum, this is interesting: The first religious radio broadcast is aired over KDKA in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The De Young Museum opened in the Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. The full-length drama film “The Kid” was released. It was written, produced, directed and starred Charlie Chaplin. The Lowe’s hardware store opened in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina.

On March 4th, Warren G. Harding was sworn-in as the 29th President of the United States. 

In April, the United States Figure Skating Assoc. was formed and the famous play “Liliom” by Ferenc Molnar was produced on Broadway in English.

On May 19th, the Emergency Quota Act was passed by the U.S. Congress, which established national quotas on immigration. It drastically limited immigration from Eastern Europe, so Jews began to immigrate to Palestine rather than the U.S.

In golf, the first international tournament was held and the United States beat the United Kingdom 9 rounds to 3.

Rioting and culture wars were front stage. The first victim of the Osage Indian murders was discovered in Osage County, Oklahoma. And on May 31st, mobs of white residents attacked black residents and businesses in the Greenwood District of Tulsa, Oklahoma. The official death toll is 36, but later investigations placed it between 100 and 300. More than 1,250 homes were destroyed and about 6,000 African Americans imprisoned in one of the worst incidents of mass racial violence in the U.S.

On the upside, 20-year-old Bessie Coleman obtained her pilot’s license in France and became the first African American to earn an international pilot’s license.

On July 2nd, Pres. Harding signed a joint congressional resolution declaring an end to the U.S. war with Germany, Austria and Hungary. Pres. Harding also received Princess Fatima of Afghanistan and was escorted by imposter Stanley Clifford Weyman. Weyman was prosecuted several times for posing as high-ranking elected officials.

Former U.S. President, William Howard Taft, was sworn-in as Chief Justice of the U.S. making him the only person to hold both positions.

In August, the first radio baseball game was broadcast over Westinghouse KDKA in Pittsburgh. Harold Arlin announced the Pirates and Phillies game from Forbes Field. Later in August, there was a riot by West Virginia coal miners leading to the Battle of Blair Mountain.

On Sept. 8, Margaret Gorman, who was 16 years-old, won the Golden Mermaid trophy at the beauty pageant in Atlantic City, New Jersey. This was later dubbed the first Miss America contest. 

On Sept. 13th, what is considered the world’s first fast food chain began when the White Castle hamburger restaurant opened in Wichita, Kansas.

October was a busy month. The World Series baseball game was broadcast for the first time by Newark, New Jersey station KJZ in Pittsburgh; and the broadcast also included other commercial and amateur stations throughout the eastern U.S.

The “Sweetest Day” is staged in Cleveland, Ohio and the Chicago Theatre, which still survives, opened as a movie palace. 

After years of construction, the Link River Dam in the federal Klamath Project, in Oregon, is completed. This expanded the use of stored irrigation water to the farmers settling the Klamath Basin growing food needed to feed America.

Considered the “upset of the century,” quarterback Bo McMillin led Centre College’s football team to defeat Harvard University 6-0. This snapped Harvard’s five-year winning streak.

On Nov. 11th, Pres. Harding dedicated the Tomb of the Unknowns during the Armistice Day ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery.

On Nov. 23rd, Pres. Harding signed the Sheppard-Towner Act that provided federal funding for maternity and child care.

And on Dec 13th, in the Four Power Treaty on Insular Possessions, the Empire of Japan, United Kingdom, French Third Republic and the United States agreed to recognize the status quo in the Pacific. 

Ongoing activities by the U.S. included the occupation of Haiti, which began when the murder of dictator President Vilbrun Guillaume Sam, in 1914, began 20 years of unstable politics and leadership.

There was an economic depression in 1920-1921. 

Prohibition of the use of alcohol beverages continued, which ironically pushed the alcohol industry into the hands of organized crime. But, Prohibition is considered by the scientific community to have lowered the rates of liver cirrhosis, alcoholic psychosis and infant mortality.

The “Roarin’ 20s” became a time of economic prosperity in the urban areas of the U.S. and Europe. Unfortunately, rural areas did not feel much of the same economic improvements.

Take from this bit of history what you want. Remember the old adage: Much has changed, but much has stayed the same! Happy New Year!

Liz Bowen began writing ranch and farm news, published in newspapers, in 1976. She is a native of Siskiyou County and lives near Callahan. Columns from the past can be found at: lizwriteslife.blogspot.com. Call her at 530-467-3515.

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