1928

Articles from 1928

The KKK Fall from Fashion (The Literary Digest, 1928)

In 1928 the presiding übermensch of the KKK, Hiram Evans (1881 – 1966), saw fit to make a sartorial change in his terrorist organization by declaring that there would be no need in the future for any face-covering to be worn by any member. The article is primarily about the rapid disintegration that the Klan was experiencing and the tremendous loss in it’s over all social appeal throughout the country.

It was a success, temporarily, because it appealed to the playboy instinct of grown-ups and offered burning phrases of patriotism as the excuse for gallivanting about… It failed because its ‘patriotism’ was not real, but ancient bigotry in new a guise… It failed finally, because the genuine American sense of humor finally asserted itself and laughed at the Klan out of court.

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The KKK Fall from Fashion (The Literary Digest, 1928)

In 1928 the presiding übermensch of the KKK, Hiram Evans (1881 – 1966), saw fit to make a sartorial change in his terrorist organization by declaring that there would be no need in the future for any face-covering to be worn by any member. The article is primarily about the rapid disintegration that the Klan was experiencing and the tremendous loss in it’s over all social appeal throughout the country.

It was a success, temporarily, because it appealed to the playboy instinct of grown-ups and offered burning phrases of patriotism as the excuse for gallivanting about… It failed because its ‘patriotism’ was not real, but ancient bigotry in new a guise… It failed finally, because the genuine American sense of humor finally asserted itself and laughed at the Klan out of court.

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America Vilified in the European Press (Literary Digest, 1928)

Envy and admiration as well as ridicule and praise are found in the many articles the European press devoted to this country. Our big business astonishes them, our so-called lack of culture inspires thinly veiled contempt, while our homicide records lead some rather irascible English critics to speak of the United States as ‘the Land of Liberty – for the murderer.’

Yet for all their contempt there was one thing they couldn’t live without: click here to read an article about how much the Europeans loved American silent comedies.

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A Woman in the Salvation Army (American Legion Monthly, 1928)

This article tells the World War One story of Irene McIntyre, a Salvation Army volunteer who served at the front during the most bloody period of the war:

In her two-hundred and fifty-six days under enemy fire, Irene McIntyre was twice gassed and twice received the unusual distinction of a personal citation in Army orders. She saw more of the war at close quarters than any other American woman. One of her citations read:

‘Under fire of high explosives and gas, she established and conducted huts that were noted for their good cheer and hospitality. Her courage and devotion to her voluntary work were a splendid inspiration to the troops.’


1920s Prohibition created a criminal climate
that appealed to more women than you ever might have suspected…


Read about the Women Marines of W.W. II HERE.

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America Commits Itself to the War (Literary Digest, 1928)

In writing a piece for La Revue Mondale ten years after the Armistice, Stéphane Lauzanne (1887 – 1928), Editor-in-Chief of the semi-official Paris Matin wrote a few bitter-sweet words about the American character and how it was both a hindrance and a benefit to the Allies in the war. Yet he was full of praise when he recalled the bold and forward-thinking manner in which America entered the war and committed both blood and treasure.


Click here to read an interview with the World War I American fighter pilot Eddy Rickenbacker.

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The Ongoing French Occupation of Germany (Literary Digest, 1928)

The attached article, written in 1928, reported on how heartily sick the Germans were at having to serve as hosts for three occupying armies as a result of a Versailles Treaty clause that mandated the Allied military occupation until 1935. The Foreign Minister of Germany, Dr Gustav Stresemann, made several eloquent pleas to the diplomatic community insisting that there was no need for the continuing encampments before he began submitting his bitter editorials to assorted European magazines, which are discussed herein:

Friendship between France and Germany is impossible as long as Allied troops remain in the occupation area of the Rhineland…

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Post-War Diary (Atlantic Monthly, 1928)

Printed posthumously, the attached article was written by British Lieutenant Colonel Charles A Court Repington (1858 – 1925) as he recalled his conversations with French Field Marshals Ferdinand Foch (1851-1929), Joseph Joffre (1852 – 1931) and a number of other French statesmen about the First World War during a series of chats that took place in the autumn 1924.

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The KKK in Federal Court (The Literary Digest, 1928)

Attached is a two-page article about that day in 1928 when the KKK stood before Judge W.H.S. Thomson in a Federal Court in Pittsburgh:

A Daniel has come to judgment, in the opinion of many a newspaper writer, when a Federal judge in a formal opinion read the bench delivers a denunciation of the Ku Klux Klan in terms as strong as any of the private enemies of that organization have ever used. Federal Judge W.H.S. Thomson, in concluding that complicated KKK trial, remarked that the Klan was an ‘unlawful organization’ coming into court ‘with filthy hands after open and flagrant violation’ of the law…


CLICK HERE to read about African-Americans during the Great Depression.

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