Society columns were once a popular feature in newspapers. Here are some examples from this date in 1892 from the Fargo society column of the Wisconsin Afro-American.
“Mrs. Ella J. Johnson keeps a fashionable dressmaking establishment at 43 N. P. Avenue. Every lady should give her a call.
“There will be services at First Baptist church next Sunday afternoon. Preaching by Rev. Alex Moore.
“The WISCONSIN AFRO-AMERICAN can be bought at Nathan Norris', barber, 63½ Broadway.”
Nathan Norris's barber shop would probably have been upstairs or downstairs of Siegel Clothing Company, a men's clothing store at 63 Broadway. The column went on to report:
“Mr. Geo. Hayes is quite an artist with the guitar.
“Mr. John Spencer made a flying trip to Jimtown and returned in six hours. The whole distance is 180 miles.
“Mr. James Woodfork left last night for Chicago.”
The Wisconsin Afro-Amercican's previous issue on August 13 reported, “Mr. Arthur Johnson is organizing his baseball team, the Blue Caps, and he bets that they can beat anything in the north.”
Also, “Mr. Ford presented his daughter, Miss Alberta, with a fine Hehlin piano, one of the finest in the northwest.”
The Afro-American community of Fargo was so prominent that it merited a society column from several Afro-American newspapers. These newspapers included the Wisconsin Afro-American printed in Milwaukee, The Appeal printed in Minneapolis, and The World, also printed in Minneapolis.
Three years earlier on March 2, 1889, the Appeal had reported, “Mr. Amos Thomas left Monday night for Washington, in company with W. T. Montgomery, the large farmer in Christaine, Dakota. Mr. Montgomery is the largest colored farmer in the Northwest.”
Four years later, on June 27, 1896, The World would report, “The Young men of this city will organize a baseball club Thursday night.”
And “Mrs. Anthony started to build her new residence on the North Side Wednesday, and when it is completed it will be an exceedingly nice one.”
These snippets about the routine daily lives of Afro-Americans from nineteenth century Fargo provide an interesting window into that era long ago.
Dakota Datebook by Andrew Alexis Varvel
References:
“Fargo, N. D., News”, 20 August 1892, Wisconsin Afro-American, page 1, column 3, Miscellaneous Negro Newspapers.
“A Century Together A History of Fargo, North Dakota and Moorhead, Minnesota” (Fargo: Fargo-Moorhead Centennial Corporation, June 1975), p. 110.
http://clay.mngenweb.net/townsmoorheadhistoryfm1875-1975.pdf
“Fargo, N. D., News”, 13 August 1892, Wisconsin Afro-American, page 1, column 4, Miscellaneous Negro Newspapers.
“Fresh from Fargo.”, 2 March 1889, The Appeal, page 1, column 7, Minnesota Digital Newspaper Hub, Minnesota Historical Society.
“Fargo News.”, 27 June 1896, The World, page 2, column 5, Minnesota Digital Newspaper Hub, Minnesota Historical Society.
