Petula Dvorak

A rock icon and a 100-year-old WWII veteran tell America’s story Kiss front man Gene Simmons paid tribute in D.C. to a man who helped liberate a concentration camp where his mother had been held.

Thank you, veterans.
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Oct. 19, 1925 — Calvin Coolidge’s progressive speech in Omaha focusing on a post-war America continued to ruffle feathers #100yearsagotoday :

Wicked fun to be in Boston today — where true patriots began the “No Kings” movement in 1773! From dancing lobsters and Dunkin’ jokes to a woman standing in silence holding a single lantern — one if by land — high, Boston did it right.

October 15, 1925 — After the KKK marched on Washington, Calvin Coolidge hit on the danger of growing intolerance in America during a speech in Omaha. His remarks were highlighted in a full page ad in The Post #100yearsagotoday.

🧵…It gave citizenship, though not voting rights, to roughly 300,000 Native Americans, whose ancestors lived on that land long before colonists arrived.

October 14, 1925 — The representatives from 24 tribes of the New England region gathered for their third-annual pow-wow in Rhode Island #100yearsagotoday. It was the year after Calvin Coolidge, who claimed to have “a trace of Indian blood”, championed the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924…🧵

Oct. 10, 1925 — New D.C. police superintendent Edwin B. Hesse made his first address to officers #100yearsagotoday. “Nothing is more important to the police department than the deportment of its individual members,” he said. Their duty is to citizens, he said, asking officers to prioritize courtesy.

Oct. 8, 1925 - The Post made history #100yearsagotoday by using a motorcycle, airplane and car in a bold race to get readers photos from the 1925 World Series in Pittsburgh. Head to my Substack for more about the (sometimes dodgy) ways newspapers transmitted photos before we all had send buttons.

🧵…lobotomies, insulin-induced comas and aversion therapy — lead to violence, chaos and federal investigations #100yearsagotoday . The massive campus is now home to the Department of Homeland Security…and some happier things. #history

October 6, 1925 — St. Elizabeth’s was the first federally-funded asylum in the U.S. It aimed for more humane treatments, like hydrotherapy and views of nature. However, overcrowding — it was packed with Civil War veterans, and LGBTQ people subjected to electroshock therapy.. 🧵

#100yearsagotoday, Johnson took the time to write and tell her which of his children is the best ball player. Take a guess. (You go, girl!) #history #womeninbaseball #walterjohnson #leagueoftheirown #womensprobaseballleague #girlsbaseball

Oct. 4, 1925 — Star pitcher Walter Johnson heard about a disappointed D.C. baseball fan who said, upon giving birth to a girl: “Oh, I was wishing for a boy, so he could be a pitcher like Walter Johnson.”Well…
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MAGA trolls sent death threats this alien barbarian After decades of slaying massive puppets of public figures, GWAR just got their first - very specific - death threat

MAGA trolls sent death threats this alien barbarian
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What Hegseth wants is a GWAR department Trump's world wants ferocious warriors on American streets. They were right there, at Riot Fest

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September 29, 1925 — Yup, you get cancelled for being ageist #100yearsagotoday. Meyer’s Shop in D.C. ran a cheeky ad telling “old chap(s)” they had more than the wide-leg pants and suits in “ice cream shades” that young guys were wearing. The outcry was enough for an apology in print the next day.

"I love America!": The sounds of one ICE takedown In a Maryland neighborhood, unidentified ICE agents struggled with a man crying for help and declaring his love for the country that ordered this

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🧵…Three infants died, eventually, and doctors believed it was an outbreak of dysentery. A doctor cleared the home of any wrongdoing — no major investigation necessary — and the society galas and benefits for the home went on, uninterrupted. #history

Sept 24, 1925 — A mystery illness was killing babies #100yearsagotoday at the Florence Crittenton Home, a refuge for “fallen women” that was also an orphanage. Pictured is a window baby display in 1914, pet shop style…🧵

They had so much fun writing!

Sept. 16, 1925 — A DC woman met a small alligator outside her Foggy Bottom home #100yearsagotoday. He was captured and sent to the zoo, joining two other gators who also used to lived in that posh area, swimming in Herbert Hoover’s bathtub before he moved to the White House. #history #alligatorpets

Sept 15, 1925 — A record was set in traffic court #100yearsagotoday. It was 45 days in jail +$165 for a Black man with no permit/registration/tail lights.
Meanwhile, a white dude driving drunk who totaled his car after careening around Connecticut Ave. “was released” and charged with drunk driving.

Invasion

D.C.’s young punks respond to the Trump invasion:

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🧵from 1864-1870 it was info printed publicly; after rural America called for transparency in 1913, the elites’ taxes were made public in 1924 (overturned 2 years later); then early years of the New Deal briefly saw voluntary publicity, which the wealth class quickly quashed . #history #taxes

Sept. 2, 1925 — The listing of everyone’s income taxes were on the front page of The Washington Post #100yearsagotoday! Three times in U.S. history, income taxes were made public …🧵

The Empty (still messy) Nest Were the kids really the problem all along?

The Empty (still messy) Nest
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A reminder about leaders at war:

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August 18, 1925 - A psych professor at George Washington University ran tests #100yearsagotoday to determine “the truth about the woman driver.” Conclusion? “…the woman stacks up higher than the male of the species”. (The first woman to get a license in the U.S. was Anne French — in 1900, in D.C.! )

August 17, 1925 — The DC National Guard had a very different assignment #100yearsagotoday — drills and swimming in Virginia Beach. #history

August 15, 1925 — As the U.S. faced a growing crime wave #100yearsagotoday, an editorial suggested we look at the U.K.’s precipitous drop in crime and the theory that their prison reform was a factor. It wasn’t ice cream socials and yoga, but they enacted a 1925 version. #historymatters