Jayme L. Job

5/2/2014: Long before the Internet and online blogging, there was amateur journalism, a hobby that began shortly after the American Civil War with the availability of small and inexpensive printing presses. Amateur journalists published and circulated their own newspapers, and sometimes books. They formed associations and held conventions. Similar to the Paris salons of the 18th and early 19th centuries, they also gathered informally with other writers to exchange ideas and information. In the late 19th century, one of the leading amateur journalists of the day was living in Fargo, North Dakota.

1/22/2014: A kidnapping report that had put the city of Fargo into a frenzy was retracted on this day in 1928. On January 19, eighteen-year old Esther Monson was found lying unconscious on a sidewalk in downtown Fargo.

1/8/2014: A Fargo postal carrier reported the success of his new winter contraption on this day in 1928.

12/31/2013: In the early 20th century, many North Dakota communities held balls to celebrate the New Year. They often used the occasions as fundraisers for charitable causes or specific funds. For example, when the residents of Williston wanted a band in 1901, they held a New Year’s Eve ball to raise funds. Over sixty couples attended the ball to hear the brand new orchestra play; they danced into the New Year to “exceptionally good” music, which the band played until three in the morning. The Williston Graphic reported that the residents “…may well feel proud of the band and of her orchestra.”

12/20/2013: By the late 1880s, Thomas Nast was already an American legend. Called “the father of the American caricature,” he had popularized satirical cartoons in the nation’s newspapers, working for the New York Illustrated News and Harper’s Weekly. His cartoons had propagated the use of such symbols as an elephant to represent the Republican Party, and in 1862, he created the popular image of a benevolent Santa Claus still used today.

12/11/2013: When John Miller became North Dakota’s first Governor in the fall of 1889, he had little idea how demanding his new position would be. In addition to setting up a new state government, Miller was about to face a severe economic crises. Miller, a wealthy bonanza farmer with over 17,000 acres of land, had little experience with poverty.

12/10/2013: Each December since 1929, the Lloyd Spetz Post of the American Legion has held the Open Your Heart holiday drive to provide Christmas food baskets and children’s clothing to needy families in Burleigh County and the Bismarck-Mandan area. Christmas 1929 marked a devastating holiday season for many families, as the October stock market crash wiped out many peoples’ savings and led to layoffs across the country. By early December, it had become clear that Bismarck’s needy were growing exponentially. American Legion members wanted to help their neighbors, even if it was just to ensure they had enough to eat on Christmas Day. They founded the Open Your Heart charity, and began encouraging others to open their hearts for the cause. On Christmas Eve, Legion members delivered Christmas food baskets and warm clothing to several area families.

12/6/2013: The first black person known to enter the area that would later become North Dakota was a slave. Owned by William Clark, York accompanied Lewis and Clark during the Corps of Discovery Expedition. He was born in Virginia to slaves owned by Clark’s father, a small plantation owner. He was selected to be young William Clark’s companion. When the elder Clark passed away in 1799, Clark inherited his boyhood companion.

12/5/2013: When the state of Minnesota was organized in 1858, settlers living to the west of the new state boundary began to examine their own situation. Prior to being carved out as a state, Minnesota had been a part of the much larger Minnesota Territory, which had extended west to the Missouri River. Now, residents living between the Red and Missouri were no longer part of the organized Minnesota Territory, but were living in an essentially unorganized frontier. Without a territorial government, they had lost the political structure, representation, and protections they had previously enjoyed. A movement began calling for a territorial government west of the Red River.

11/28/2013: Twenty-five years ago, the New York Times reported on the North Dakota system of Thanksgiving holiday furloughs for prison inmates. A furlough for an inmate is a temporary, unsupervised release. The state had released fifteen prisoners to spend Thanksgiving with their families. Although many states offered prisoner furlough programs at the time, North Dakota was expanding its program when others were decreasing or eliminating theirs, drawing criticism and casting a spotlight on the state.