HISTORY: OK, so we’re kind of enamored with old copies of The Era.
We went back to the turn of last century to find some items to share with our readers. In the same paper in which plans for Susan B. Anthony’s 80th birthday celebration were recounted came this item about women’s rights:
“The most needful and urgent right which the women of our day and generation are lacking in is the right to propose marriage. It is true that the law which prevents such proposals is an unwritten one, but it is nevertheless binding.
“The women of the 20th century may break away from it. If they should do so, what a grand thing it would be for hundreds and thousands of eligible young and middle-aged bachelors who now have too poor an opinion of themselves to pop the momentous question to those idols of the feminine world which they secretly worship.”
Hmm. We think perhaps the menfolk were missing the point of the suffrage movement. Anthony’s work helped pave the way for the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, giving women the right to vote.
MORE: Scrolling through old microfilm, we would stop on occasion to see some colorful language describing incidents.
An example: “A party of Italians living on Third and Fourth streets engaged in a war over a pile of wood a few days ago. The combatants were principally women and a number of scratched faces and sore scalps are a result of the conflict.”
We found, too, a mention of ways to earn money that certainly aren’t appropriate today.
From Sept. 10, 1900, came this job opportunity: “Persons who are out of employment may be interested in learning that the Omaha Street Railway Company offers $500 each for dead bandits, and $250 for live ones. Other transportation companies should make similar offers.”
Yikes.
LEARN: The Bradford Area Public Library has copies of The Era dating back to the newspaper’s beginning. We would recommend taking a look at some of the old copies on microfilm. We’ve found the staff and volunteers at the library to be very helpful in getting one set up and ready to scroll through history. Have you ever wanted to know what happened the day you were born? It’s a good way to find out.
