Results tagged “World War I” from York Town Square

Marquis de Lafayette's toast in support of George Washington hangs York, Pa.'s Lafayette Club's reading room. (For a closer look, see: Marquis de Lafayette captivates folks even today.) The club is profiled in the October edition of Spaces, a glossy magazine exploring luxury living in Central Pennsylvania published by the MediaOnePa. For subscription information, visit Spaces. Also of interest: York's Lafayette Club: 'It's not your father's club ... It's historic. But it's not prehistoric' and Gettysburg's Majestic Theater: 'This was a golden project' and Former Hahn mansion: 'I thought it would make the most spectacular funeral home'.

From the mailbag: A mixed bag of links to a bit of everything around York County:

- Did you know that Route 74, that winding road that runs diagonally across York County linking Dillsburg in the northwest with Delta in the southeast, wasn't marked as such until 1927. That and lots of other road information at: http://www.pahighways.com....

Mayor E. S. Hugentugler, York's mayor during World War I, faced a difficult job at a difficult moment. York's new mayor next year will face staggering challenges, but perhaps miniscule when compared to those faced by Hugentugler. Background posts: York's first mayor Daniel K. Noell named one of his sons, well, 'York' and York mayor Brenner brought order during tumultuous times and For decades, York's underground comfort stations spelled relief.

Mayor E. S. Hugentugler had the map of Germany written on his face.

A German-American mayor in a largely German-American area could have been particularly suspect in those days of the Great War, World War I, when such counties were not trusted because of purported sympathy for the kaiser.

The mayor tried to assure outsiders that the city was behind the war by what would be considered heavy-handed tactics today. (Indeed, they were heavy-handed measures back then.)

According to "Never to be Forgotten," he banned anti-war meetings, organized an anti-spy group and a task force to guard York County's industrial plants... .

The (York, Pa.) Gazette and Daily previewed a performance of the 350th Field Artillery "Black Devil" Band, scheduled to perform at the Orpheum on April 17, 1919. Lt. J. Tim Brymn, led the band. The band's performances impressed a large York audience. Background posts: When York County rolled up its red carpet to people of color and Yorktowne to continue as overnight success and York's 221 E. Princess St. home to telling ironies.

The all-black 350th Field Artillery Band, known as the "Black Devils," drew encores in two appearances in post-World War I York.

"Well, to make a long story short, the Black Devil Band took well in York, and it merited all the praise that it got," a Gazette and Daily reviewer wrote.

That review, in itself, is a bit of an artifact of history, even going beyond the obvious reporting about a performance by a segregated band from a segregated military unit... .

York native Jeannette Zinn died while serving with the YMCA in war-torn Europe in 1918. Background posts: From war bonds to pets and people and Spanish flu epidemic in York: 'People died one right after the other' and Easter in York County, 1919: Sadness, joy, hope.

In the months following World War I, Jeannette Zinn was feted as a war hero.

One source in the York County Heritage Trust files lists her as the first woman from York "to give her life for the great cause of freedom."

It's not clear if that means in all wars up to that point or in the Great War, as World War I was then called.

Clearly, women provided tremendous aid in previous wars. Cassandra Small Morris became ill, for example, after caring for Gettysburg wounded.

But she survived.

Unfortunately, not much is known about Jeannette Zinn... .

This clip from The (York, Pa.) Gazette and Daily observes what happened on the war front "over there" in World War I. It shows part of a roll call of the 195 or more York countians who died, including George Woods (left), fighting with a machine gun unit. While those in the military were battling the Germans, the Spanish flu and other deadly diseases in France, their families back home were struggling against the flu virus, as well. Background posts: World War I bond drive: Spanish 'Flu bug, no more than Hun, was not going to tarnish York's perfect patriotic record' and York's Spanish flu epidemic of 1918: 'It remains one of the darkest periods for White Rose residents' and Easter in York County, 1919: Sadness, joy, hope.

York Hospital had no ambulances except a horse-drawn carriage in 1918.

That was particularly problematic in this year of the pandemic Spanish flu.

"(B)ut even if there had been one, it could not have taken all of the stricken to the hospital; there was simply no room for all of them there," Florence La Rose Ames wrote in "That Sovereign Knowledge."

That history detailing the hospitals first hundred years starting in 1880 made several points about the homefront flu battle:

The Fourth Liberty Loan drive during World War I was under way in York County and so was the Spanish flu, as this newspaper ad states. Background posts: Single shell killed two York countians in World War I and Well-known doctor, York, Pa.'s Edmund Meisenhelder, beat back flu and York's Spanish flu epidemic of 1918: 'It remains one of the darkest periods for White Rose residents'.

In the fall of 1918, leading York businessman Grier Hersh had a problem.

He faced a fourth Liberty Loan drive goal of $8.7 million. Those funds would be used to prosecute World War I.

He planned for church bells to ring a 7 p.m. each night to remind citizens of that goal. Military planes would drop "propaganda bombs" on the city.

"But all these well-laid plans came to naught," Carl E. Hatch and Joseph Hicks wrote in "World War I: York, Pennsylvania's Response."

The Spanish flu hit York... .

Clair Good worships during a Stony Brook Mennonite Church Easter service at sunrise at Lower Windsor Township's Samuel S. Lewis State Park overlooking the Susquehanna River. Background posts: Easter stories of sacrifice & selflessness and Pre-World War II Thanksgiving holds lessons for York countians today and Henry Laurens' Christmas in York Town: 'I will not quit my post, although I ... fear that I may perish on it'.

I penned an editorial in today's (4/12/09) York Sunday News tying themes of Easter with world events during difficult times 90 years ago.

Interested in your thoughts:

A York newspaper story headlined "Joyful Observance of Easter Festival" on Saturday, April 19, 1919, set the stage for services the next day.

It was full of meaning to Gazette and Daily readers.

And for readers 90 years later... .

Only a bridge pier remains today of the trolley line from York to York Haven, cut back to North York on June 1, 1932. The pier sits near the once bustling Cold Springs Park and Elm Beach. Background posts: Conewago crossing near Manchester hot spot for years and Conewago crossing, Part II and Big Conewago serves as physical, symbolic divider of York County culture.

Sue Shiflett of East Berlin is looking for photographs of Elm Beach, the popular swimming spot on the Conewago Creek near Manchester.

The beach - actually a concrete deck extending from the bank - operated on the north side of the Conewago across from Cold Springs Park, destination for trolley excursions.

"My great grandfather, Fred Spiese, operated a swim suit rental and restaurant at Elm Beach," she wrotes.

Today, Elm Beach is abandoned and Cold Springs Park developed. A silent pier from a long-one trolley bridge stands guard... .

Ron Trout was just a kid when Camp Stewartstown, next to the Presbyterian Church in that southeastern York County community, operated in the summers of 1944 and 1945. The camp formerly stood in and around the park's ballfield, in background. Background posts: Jamaican fruit pickers worked York County orchards in World War II , Story revives memories of oft-forgotten York County POW camp and German POWs: 'They worked cheaper than We did'.

Clifton Kehr (clkehr@juno.com) persisted through my World War II talk at York's Lutheran Village/Sprenkle recently.

He then via e-mail shared some insight about German prisoners of war, housed in Camp Stewartstown to pick fruit for two summers... .

Rickey Cox shows a model of a planned memorial to honor Vietnam War veterans at a York Revolution game in 2007. Dallastown sculptor Lorann Jacobs designed the model and is shaping the monument. Background posts: Of local Jewish WW II group: 'It's a skeleton post. I'm it.', War memorials stand proudly in towns throughout York County, and Wrightville's overlooked attractions.

York County's Vietnam Veterans Memorial Committee is looking for a few good men - and women.

While fund raising for a Vietnam Memorial at the York Expo Center continues, the committee is putting forth plans to unveil the statue.

Committee members are looking for vets from the Vietnam War-era - circa 1962-1975 - to extend invitations to the unveiling ceremony... .

This ticket to the nation's Centennial celebration of 1876 is part of Robert Shaub's collection. It was recently printed in the Codorus Valley Chronicles, a monthly publication of the Codorus Valley Area Historical Society. The newsletter wraps up the society's activities each month and reports on events of other historical groups. Background posts: Good stuff found in Codorus Valley Chronicles, Who was that slain Yankee messenger at Green Ridge? and Abandoned Codorus Railroad not just any railroad.

The Codorus Valley Area Historical Society does something that other local historic groups miss.

The Jefferson-area group (Codorus is the name of Jefferson's post office) gives other historical societies an opportunity to report on their activities - Northern Maryland and West Manchester are two of those groups.

They do so in the business part of their meetings.

And in their newsletter... .