• East St. Louis Riots of 1917

    The Great Migration saw great numbers of Southern African Americans who traveled north to find jobs and opportunities. One of the places that became a stopping point was the industrial city of East St. Louis. In Illinois across the Mississippi river from St. Louis, East St. Louis was booming due to increased production for World War I. The Aluminum Ore Company and American Steel Company were prominent among those hiring. However, tensions were running high as up to 2,000 people a week were arriving from the South. The rate was so high that Marcus Garvey actively tried to discourage migration to East St. Louis, but still people came. In February…

  • Dorothy Lawrence-  The Woman in the Trenches

    History is full of women who disguised themselves and fought along their menfolk for causes they believed in.  A prime example are the women who inspired the legend of Molly Pitcher during the American Revolution.  (For more on this, please see this post:  http://www.historynaked.com/searching-molly-pitcher/ )  According to historian, Elizabeth Shipton, many women made it to the front line as nurses in the trenches or helping those wounded in No Man’s Land.  Some women took up arms and called “she soldiers”, but they had to operate in secret.  Dorothy Lawrence was one of these.  She disguised herself as a man and fought in the trenches along with the men.   Dorothy…

  • Edith Wilson and the Secret Presidency

    Woodrow Wilson was tired.   He had been negotiating the Treaty of Versailles, planning for the League of Nations, campaigning for the US inclusion into said League of Nations and planned a speaking tour of the United States in support of this effort.  He had suffered from a terrible bout with influenza in April 1919, and had not allowed himself the opportunity to rest.  By September of the same year, Wilson was noticeably thinner and paler and his asthma was growing worse.  He also complained of terrible headaches.  Instead of taking the rest that he obviously needed, Wilson pushed on. On the evening of September 25, 1919, Wilson collapsed after speaking…

  • The Sleeping Spy

    When World War I broke out in Europe, the United States was neutral.  It was considered a fight in Europe, and we were better off staying out of it.  Although President Wilson favored the British, the US officially took no side.  However, Wilson’s preference encouraged American companies to sell to the Allies.  However, not everyone was thrilled with this.  German Ambassador, Count Johann von Bernstorff, protested vigorously that US companies were selling arms and materiel to Britain, France and Russia.  There was a British blockade of Germany, which made it extremely difficult for Germany and Austria to import at the same rate.  However, his protests fell on deaf ears as…

  • The Great Emu War

    Yes, I am actually referring to the bird. Following World War I, large numbers of ex-soldiers from Australia and Britian took up farming within Western Australia. With the onset of the Great Depression in 1929, these farmers were encouraged to increase their wheat crops, with the government promising but failing to provide assistance in the form of subsidies. Wheat prices continued to fall, and by October 1932 matters were becoming intense. The farmers prepared to harvest the season’s crop while simultaneously threatening to refuse to load the wheat. The difficulties facing farmers was increased by the arrival of as many as 20,000 emus. Emus regularly migrate after their breeding season,…