Meet Joseph Stalin (Pathfinder Magazine, 1937)
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1937
Articles from 1937
‘It was a Nice Depression” (Scribner’s Magazine, 1937)
I always knew that I would one day find a reminiscence of the Great Depression – what I didn’t expect is finding it in a magazine from 1937. As mentioned in another part of this site, 1937 saw some measure of economic recovery (until it didn’t) and this reminiscence was penned by a fellow who wanted so badly to believe that the whole thing was finally over. He wished so earnestly that the Depression had ended that he listed just what he was missing about it already. Little did he know he had three more years to go.
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Lillian Gish Recalls Making The Birth of a Nation (Stage Magazine, 1937)
Twenty-two years after wrap was called on the set of The Birth of a Nation, leading lady Lillian Gish (1893 – 1993), put pen to paper and wrote this reminiscence about her days on the set with D.W. Griffith.
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Looking Back (Literary Digest, 1937)
When FDR saw fit to nominate a Klansman to the Supreme Court, Hugo Black, it prompted the editors at Literary Digest to recall the history of those terrorists and how they came into existence, their customs and practices, etc.
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Anticipating Elizabeth II (Literary Digest, 1937)
When Edward VIII chose to abdicate, the world’s attention shifted to the new heir, the Duke of York (George VI: 1895 – 1952) and his daughter, Elizabeth (Elizabeth II: b. 1926). This magazine article served to introduce the future queen to American readers – making clear that the princess was something like a British version of the Hollywood child star, Shirley Temple – often imitated and recognized as the gold standard of girlhood. Written during the depression, her lavish, story-book existence seemed unreal to many.
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WPA and the States (Pathfinder Magazine, 1937)
In early March, numerous governors convened and agreed that the WPA was dropping too many dependents from their rolls who were then becoming burdensome to their respective states. The executives then wrote a telegram to the White House insisting that the Federal program stop this practice.
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The Federal Theater Project (Pathfinder & Literary Digest Magazines, 1939)
The Federal Theater Project (FTP) was a division of President
Roosevelt’s Works Project Administration (WPA). The WPA was organized in order to dream up jobs for the many unemployed Americans during the Great Depression. They employed manual laborers with the Civilian Conservation Corps, musicians with the Federal Music Project and historians with the Federal Records Survey – to name only a few of the agencies within the WPA. The Federal Theater Project was intended to hire the nation’s actors, costumers,directors and stagehands:
At its peak in 1936, FTP employed 12,500 people…it had puppet shows, vaudeville units, circuses and stock companies traveling through every state.
The Federal Theater Project (Pathfinder & Literary Digest Magazines, 1939) Read More »
Japan: More power For The Military (Newsweek Magazine, 1937)
As 1936 came to an end in Tokyo, the aftershocks of the February 26, 1936 failed military coup could still be felt throughout the halls of Japan’s Government. The uprising of the military hardliners resulted in four assassinations and a suicide before the constitutional powers regained control. This article covers a more peaceful dust-up on the Parliament floor – and when it was concluded the Generals had the upper hand.
Still the country’s most privileged class, military leaders – modern equivalent of the Samurai, medieval knights – can exert pressure on the government by reason of a 42-year-old imperial edict: the War and Navy Ministries must be headed by army and navy officers; if either resigns, the Cabinet falls.
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Henry Travers as ‘Clarence the Guardian Angel’ (Stage Magazine, 1937)
Ten years prior to being cast in the roll as George Baily’s guardian angel, Clarence, the actor Henry Travers (1874 – 1965) appeared in the Broadway play You Can’t Take it With You. Playing the part of Grandpa Sycamore, he was singled out for praise by the editors of Stage Magazine; the review is attached herein.
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Inequality For Female Barflies (Pathfinder Magazine, 1937)
This column concerns a 1937 bill sponsored by New York State Senator Edward Coughlin. The senator’s bill provided for the arrest of any woman who stood at or in front of the bar of any club, hotel or restaurant licensed to sell alcoholic beverages. Coughlin held that any woman found guilty of this pastime should be charged with disorderly conduct. A few other states were also attracted to this legislation; it passed a year later only to be repealed in the early Sixties.
Click here to read about that moment in 1920 when American Women attained the vote.
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