1922 – Page 7 – Old Magazine Articles

The Myth of Lee’s Sword
(Confederate Veteran Magazine, , 1922)

Responding to the old tale that General Lee offered his sword in surrender at Appomattox, and that the magnanimous General Grant, flush with victory, kindly refused this gesture of humiliation – this anonymous contributor to Confederate Veteran Magazine penned an article that exposes the old saw to be incorrect:

And General Grant says specifically in his memoir (Volume II, Chapter 25, pages 344-346): ‘No conversation, not one word, passed between General Lee and myself either about private property, side arms, or kindred subjects. The much talked of surrendering of General Lee’s sword and my handing it back, this and much more that has been said about it, is pure romance.’

Two Civil War Poems
(Confederate Veteran Magazine, 1922)

Looking back on the American Civil War from a vantage point of fifty-seven years, these two versifiers, both highly schooled in Southern lore, penned these Dixie ditties for their South-land readers of Confederate Veteran Magazine.

Read an article about how Victorian fashion saved a life during the Civil War.

How the Confederacy Armed Themselves
(Confederate Veteran Magazine, 1922)

This two page article will answer some of your questions as to how the South was able to procure the necessary weapons needed to sustain their army as long as they did:

The Southerners were a ‘gun-totting race, so that there were enough firearms for the first round of the struggle at Bull Run.

Click here to read a similar article on this subject.

Lynching as an Extension of Chivalry?
(The New Republic, 1922)

This small column from the pages of THE NEW REPUBLIC reported that women from five Southern states had gathered together in 1922 intending to pass a set of resolutions that would remedy one aspect of the Negro question (an illusive phrase that meant lynching). The attached article remarked that these women

…feel a deep sense of appreciation for the chivalry of men who would give their lives for the purity and safety of the women of their own race, yet They wish to bring about a state of public opinion which will compel the protection and purity of both races.

Decline of Religiosity Among College Women
(Literary Digest, 1922)

The reporter who filed this 1922 article for Literary Digest was concerned with the secular world on college campuses that was damaging the well-balanced minds of American women:

Woman is learning the same things that are taught to her brother; scientific theories destructive of the faith she imbued at home…The women are not doing their duty – they are giving too much time to outside interests – they are degenerating! Women smoking! Women drinking! Women preferring adventures and amusement to caring for families! The flapper – the short skirt – the lack of corsets…

Click here to read the review of a novel that dealt the feminist discomfort with Christianity.

Decline of Religiosity Among College Women
(Literary Digest, 1922)

The reporter who filed this 1922 article for Literary Digest was concerned with the secular world on college campuses that was damaging the well-balanced minds of American women:

Click here to read the review of a novel that dealt the feminist discomfort with Christianity.

Charles Darwin in the Schools
(The Literary Digest, 1922)

An article which discusses the growing number of state legislatures given the task to vote up or down on the issue as to whether or not to allow the Darwin theory of evolution to stand as a legitimate topic for discussion and instruction in their respective school systems. Mentioned in the article was one of the major players leading the charge on behalf of creationism: William Jennings Bryan (1860-1925). The journalist interviewed many assorted hot-heads from the most polished universities on behalf of Darwinists and the reader will no doubt be amused to see that so many years have past yet the arguments remain exactly the same.

Three years after this article was printed Bryan would be standing in defense of Christian Fundamentalism during the famous Tennessee Scopes Trial.

The historian Henry Steele Commager ranked Charles Darwin at number 43 insofar as his impact on the American mind was concerned – click here to understand his reasoning…

Flapper Poesy
(Literary Digest, 1922)

More juvenile flapper verses revealing that the flapper is as old as history itself – and far more meddlesome than her male counterpart.

Click here to read a FLAPPER MAGAZINE review of an anti-flapper movie.

Click here to read an article about the demise of a popular 1940s hairstyle.

Moral Corruption in Hollywood
(The Smart Set, 1922)

Appearing in their monthly column, Repitition Generale, H.L. Mencken and George Jean Nathan briefly explored the reoccurring topic regarding Hollywood immorality:

So long as the majority of figures in the field of movies are recruited from the social and aesthetic slums, so long will the smell of Lime house cling to the movie’s scandals.

Speaking of moral corruption, read this article about the actor Errol Flynn…

The Russian Nobility Struggled in Exile
(Vogue Magazine, 1922)

Luciene Murat (1876 – 1951?), a distinguished member of the French nobility wrote this Vogue article shortly after her return from Turkey in 1922. It is the sort of column that could only have been written by an over-indulged member of the post-war European high-society types, which makes it all the more enjoyable to read. Her reminiscences of her visit to the city of Pera are especially interesting for the observations made regarding the recently displaced White Russians of her acquaintance who reluctantly resided there in some discomfort.