Thank you, veterans. wapo.st/4nL9xZx

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.

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.

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.. 🧵

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… 🧵

MAGA trolls sent death threats this alien barbarian open.substack.com/pub/petulant...

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.

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…🧵

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.

D.C.’s young punks respond to the Trump invasion: open.spotify.com/track/2h79Tt...

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 substack.com/@petulant/no...

A reminder about leaders at war: www.washingtonpost.com/history/2025...

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

August 14, 1925 — “There is no factor more potent in determining the character of a future citizen than play,” a D.C. commissioner said #100yearsagotoday, in a report urging a playground accessible to every child in D.C., supervised and open year-round. #historymatters

When D.C. made history by giving Black men the right to vote, the federal government moved in and took over. We’ve been here before and it was all about racism…

His first year in power, Hitler deployed more and more Nazi troops to German city streets. Berliners were surprised by the array of Nazi uniforms occupying their city. #hitlerhistory

Aug. 11, 1925 — The federal budget director wanted say over running D.C. #100yearsagotoday. The District has been “neglected” and deserves more money for improvements as it becomes “an ideal residential city” and is “growing even faster than any other front-rank city”. How nice they were…#history

August 8-9, 1925 — The nation’s capital was overwhelmed by the massive KKK march #100yearsagotoday. After D.C. mandated that the klansmen march unmasked, thousands lined the parade route in civilian clothes, suspected sympathizers who left their robes at home, but cheered on from the sidelines.

Aug, 5, 1925 — Helen H. Gardener donated her brain to science #100yearsagotoday. The highest ranking woman in federal government, Gardener furiously refuted the Surgeon General’s assertion that women do not deserve equality because their brains are simply inferior to those of men…🧵

Aug. 4, 1925 - The Naval Academy launched its first class of aviators #100yearsagotoday, the start of integrating aeronautics into the curriculum.

July 29, 1925 — Giving up an $8 job to become a bootlegger was grounds for divorce #100yearsagotoday . The divorce column was long, detailed and daily. #retropolis

I can't get over the optimism on the faces of these high school boys. They had no idea the hell they were in for. For one summer, America acknowledged the grueling life of "stoop laborers" and our reliance on migrant labor. wapo.st/3ICnXfQ

July 19, 1925 — Don’t worry, folks! A USC study done #100yearsagotoday showed that a college education didn’t steer women away from marriage! #retropolis

July 18, 1925 - A new trend in bootlegging was discovered beneath a Maryland cabin’s trap door #100yearsagotoday — underground stills. The culprit? A former Baltimore cop. #retropolis

July 17, 1925 — That name, though! A hero story #100yearsagotoday honored a girl who saved a dozen head of cattle when the Virginia barn caught fire, common during these hot summers when tightly packed wheat spontaneously combusted. #retropolis

July 16, 1925 - Those of us who had to square dance in grammar school may blame Henry Ford’s anti-Semitic campaign against what he called “Jewish Jazz — Moron Music” #100yearsagotoday . Ford built stages to hold lessons in traditional dances as the rest of America did the Charleston. #retropolis

July 12, 1925 — Charles Ponzi, the creator of the Ponzi Scheme (it’s in the dictionary) got 7 more years in prison #100yearsagotoday, adding to time served for the 1920 scam that cost investors the equivalent of $250 million today (Bernie Madoff, for comparison, did $65 BILLION damage)…🧵

July 10, 1925 - Texas’s first female governor fascinated America #100yearsagotoday. After her husband was impeached, Miriam Ferguson was elected in his place. She served two terms, pardoning thousands of prohibition violators and unmasking the Ku Klux Klan. (Courts overturned her no mask law).

July 9, 1925 — Women were a part of “hobo culture” #100yearsagotoday. Some dressed like men to find work among other itinerant workers. Others worked as cooks and cleaners at “hobo jungles”, the encampments where folks riding the rails stopped over. #Retropolis

July 7, 1925 — Masked bandits who held up the D.C. taxicab office #100yearsagotoday proved that the nation’s capital was no longer immune to this nationwide crime wave familiar in other cities. Residents asked police to guard against bandits instead of chasing bootleggers. #retropolis

Newspapers across the US carried this wire story in July 1933 about Dachau, the camp Hitler created to imprison his opponents — less than 100 days after taking power. That summer, there was a saying in Germany: “Please, God, make me dumb, So I won’t to Dachau come” #hitler #dachau #historymatters

June 26, 1925 - Pet monkeys were fashionable #100YearsAgoToday. Still, it was a little random to see a matter-of -fact, monkey attack in Georgetown, questioning the boy’s behavior over the monkey’s running a monk. Also funny that the monkey hideout is now a new, boutique ice cream shop. #retropolis

Have you seen all the stunning, deep space photos coming in from the Vera C Rubin Observatory? Here’s the remarkable story behind the name…

June 25, 1925 — The world was watching Dayton, Tenn. #100yearsagotoday as the Scopes trial - over a teacher who tried to teach evolution - unfolded. This sidebar gave the disturbing history of the town’s founding. Salesman W. C. Gardenshire kidnapped 4 people from Fiji and toured America with them🧵

A history myth about our military…

June 24, 1925 - Spit-shining your merch was not okay #100yearsagotoday. (His fine is equal to about $1,700 dollars today. )#retropolis

June 23, 1925 — An investigative story found conditions in Arlington County jail were deplorable #100yearsagotoday ; overcrowding, 50 people in a space meant for 27, vermin, stench and a single wash basin. It was routine for someone held on a traffic violation to spend the night there. #retropolis

Great read! Petula Dvorak @petulawrites.bsky.social strikes again, unearthing an uncelebrated American figure whose story is essential to our own. www.washingtonpost.com/history/2025...

Historians believe Ben Franklin knew this decorated and gifted military tactician was gay when he recruited him to help change the course of the Revolutionary War… and he didn’t care. www.washingtonpost.com/history/2025...