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Detroit Historical Society
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1901 Time Capsule
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- Description:
- This tan paper envelope contained a 2-page letter that was written by Robert Barrie who was the president of the Detroit Common Council. The envelope is entitled in handwritten black text "Our Legislative City Government" by "Robert Barrie" and "Compliments of the President of the Common Council, 1900, City of Detroit." It is addressed to "The Honorable President of the Common Council, City of Detroit, AD 2001, Detroit, Mich."
- Date Issued:
- 1900-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Detroit Historical Society
272. Police Commissioners
- Description:
- This cyan halftone picture was cut from a page and shows a group of head and shoulders images. The pictured individuals include four Police Commissioners: Capt. John Conline, George W. Fowle, Ralph Phelps, and Marvin M. Stanton as well as Secretary, J. E. Dupont and Assistant Secretary, J. H. Cleveland. A handwritten date beneath John Conline's image shows "1899" and a handwritten date at the bottom of the cutout shows "Jany. 1st 1901."
- Date Issued:
- 1900-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Detroit Historical Society
273. This 2-page letter was handwritten in black ink on slightly yellowed paper by William C. Houghton
- Description:
- This 2-page letter was handwritten in black ink on slightly yellowed paper by William C. Houghton who was an alderman from the eighth ward of the city. The paper is printed with light blue lines and shows the letterhead of the Common Council, City of Detroit at the top. It also has the watermark, "Old Berkshire Mills." The verso shows the names and addresses of Common Council members and members of the various Council committees. The text of the letter has been transcribed as follows: "Dec. 31st 1900 To the relatives of Wm. C. Houghton who are left in Detroit in the year 2001. At this date I am living at 241 Avery Ave. I was married to Lou. [Louise] H. Echlin of Buxton Ont on Sept 10th 1879. We have four children: Irene Clara aged 19 years Charles William " 16 " Harold Wesley " 13 " Edna Catherine " 7 " My age is 45 years and four months. My wife's age is 42 years on the 10 of Jan 1901. My father is living also. My mother who was Elizabeth Keel of Greenfield. My father came from England in 1835. I have three brothers Walter C., John W. and George, and two [no?] sisters. Yours, Wm. C. Houghton"
- Date Issued:
- 1900-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Detroit Historical Society
274. This 3-page letter was typewritten in black text on slightly yellowed paper by Armond H. Griffith
- Description:
- This 3-page letter was typewritten in black text on slightly yellowed paper by Armond H. Griffith who was the Director of the Detroit Museum of Art. The first page shows the letterhead of the Detroit Museum of Art and is dated "December 31st, 1900." The page also has a partially readable watermark, "West---ock." The second two pages are of a larger size and show the watermark, "Riverside Paper Company." The body of the letter gives some description of the museum, attendance by the public, and mentions the names of various local artists. All three pages have several corrections that have been handwritten in black ink and the last page is signed in black ink by the director, "A. H. Griffith."
- Date Issued:
- 1900-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Detroit Historical Society
- Description:
- This folded sheet of writing paper was from the personal stationery of William E. Quinby who was the President of the Detroit Free Press. It is blank, slightly yellowed, and the shows the sender's initials, "WEQ," in a decorative blue and silver script at the top. The paper also has a watermark that shows "Academic, C.G.&S., London."
- Date Issued:
- 1900-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Detroit Historical Society
- Description:
- This 1-page letter was handwritten in black ink on slightly yellowed paper by the Commissioners of the Metropolitan Police Commission. The letterhead of the Commission is printed in black ink across the top of the page which also has the watermark, "Calvert Bond." The text of the letter has been transcribed as follows: "Dec. 31st 1900 To the Honorable Mayor and Common Council of the City of Detroit for the year 2001 Greeting, While the Mayor of the City of Detroit, William C. Maybury, Police Commissioners of Detroit, George W. Fowle, Ralph Phelps, Jr., Marvin M. Stanton, Homer Warren, and J. Edward Dupont, Secretary, together with Captain D. B. Hogsdon (one of the heroes of the battle of Manila, who was in command of the ship, 'McCulloch,' at Manila) were at lunch in what is known as the 'Russell House Cafe' situated at the southeast corner of Woodward Avenue and Cadillac Square, at 2 o'clock P.M. December 31st 1900, they prophesied as follows: That the business center of Detroit will be at what is now known as 'The Grand Circus Park.' Mayor Maybury and Commissioner Stanton prophesied that Detroit will have a population of 1,500,000 and Commissioners Phelps and Fowle prophesied that the population will be 2,500,000 and all agreed that Canada would be annexed and become a part of the United States and that Detroit would be known as 'Greater Detroit.' The Mayor William C. Maybury proposed the toast: "The health and prosperity of the Mayor and the Citizens of Detroit of the 21st Century.' the toast was pledged with 'High Balls' which consisted of a fluid composed of what is known as whisky and a fluid known as water, the latter but little used except for bathing purposes and navigation; a little ice being added to make the High ball a trifle more palatable. Very courteously and respectfully yours, W. C. Maybury Geo. W. Fowle Ralph Phelps, Jr. Marvin M. Stanton J. Edward Dupont D. B. Hodgsdon"
- Date Issued:
- 1900-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Detroit Historical Society
277. Hunt Street Station
- Description:
- This cyan halftone picture was cut from a page and shows a front corner view of the Hunt Street Police Station building. A handwritten date at the bottom of the cutout shows "Jany. 1st 1901."
- Date Issued:
- 1900-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Detroit Historical Society
- Description:
- This 12-page letter was handwritten in black ink by Mrs. Sidney Trowbridge Miller on her personal stationery. Her address, "524 Jefferson Avenue," is printed in blue text near the upper right corner of each page. The text of the letter has been transcribed as follows: December thirty first, 1901 [1900] A travelled Englishman, writing in the London Spectator about three years ago, said that the most exclusive society that he found anywhere was in the large American cities outside of New York and Chicago. He gave as the reason for this that the leading social circles in the 'old mold' were kept together principally by cohesion, while in these American towns it was pressure from without their line that solidified them. In example, [if] a man pleads of bribes his way into society in this country, he usually attempts to force it. The latter method gives rise to resistance and hence exclusion. Be the reasoning true of false, it certainly is true that the leading social circle in Detroit is today, and has been for decades, hard to get into. It is possibly more true here than in most cities of this part of the country. The early leaders of society here, say from seventy five to a hundred years ago, were the families of French civil officials and army officers who had settled here, together with a few English and Scotch officers, and younger sons with their families, supplemented by the representatives of the American government as they were selected, and the American officers from the Fort. Withal it was a refined collection, which rated good breeding higher than wealth. It left its indelible stamp on the society of the town, and each successive generation has it impress, so that today the tone of society is good and the atmosphere has a sweeter fragrance than in many places more noted. It is of course a fact that there have been great changes in the personnel. The names of Godfroy, Beaubien, St. Aubin, Desnoyer, Van Dyke, and Campau of the French have many of them passed away from the social calendar, their descendants having intermarried with other stocks. And the same is true of some of the earlier Americans here, but the Brushes, Biddles, Sibleys, Stantons, Jones[es], Ledyards, and Trowbridges still have prominent representatives in society, and they are there not because of wealth. For most of them are not among the rich, but because of the conservatism already described. The days when the only carriages in Detroit were owned by General Cass and the Trowbridges are sixty years away; now the having of fine horses and handsome trappings is beyond description. To the older circle have been added families like the Lothrops, Millers, [?], Joys, Russels, Douglas' and others who have some from different places within the last sixty year, and have attained distinction in professional life. To them might be added the descendants of some gallant Irish gentlemen like the Georges and Lysters who have been welcomed long since. The descendants of these families are the arbiters of form today, and with them, the most prominent additions within the last years are perhaps the Miller, Newberry, Alger, Walker, and Palms families whose social power comes largely from business ability and great wealth, but who are cultivated and refined as well. So much for the leaders. The others are too numerous to mention, and the beautiful women and charming young men of their families with those of the older stocks already named suffice to make Detroit known through the country as a recognized social circle. Jefferson Avenue is par excellence the fashionable street of Detroit. There is a growing tendency toward the building of handsome homes far up the street in the neighborhood of Van Dyke and Seminole Avenues away from the dirt and noise of the factories and trains on the back streets, but the little portion of the Avenue between Hastings Street and St. Aubin Avenue is still the most highly prized and contains the very power of Detroit society. Woodward Avenue, the most beautiful of all the streets, has a distinct society of its own; although many of its residents and the residents of the innumerable pretty side streets that run from it are members of the more aristocratic Jefferson Avenue set. Fort Street and Lafayette Avenue which until recently have been popular residence streets, are now rapidly being deserted and left to the mercy of tailors, factories, and railroads. Social life here today is much as everywhere else in the civilized world. The forms of amusement are in Winter, the theatres, balls, receptions, afternoon teas, dinners, and card parties. for theatrical amusement there are three playhouses. The best of these is the Detroit Opera House on the Campus Martius where almost all of the best actors from New York and from abroad are seen during their times. It seats about two thousand and is gorgeous in internal coloring - too much probably for the taste of most. Here on gala occasions, all of the socialites are gathered. A theatre party of ten or twelve is a familiar mode of entertainment and on first nights, many are found. After the performance, such a party sups at the home of the hostess or perhaps at the Detroit Club or the Russell House Cafe. The other theatres are the Lyceum and Whitneys which are not so expensive and appeal more to the popular taste for sensation or extravaganza. The balls are seldom given in private homes nowadays as the list of eligibles is so long that few homes are large enough for this form of entertainment. They are usually given in public halls engaged for the purpose by the host. Of these, Strassburg Hall on Adams Avenue, Harmonie Hall on Wilcox Street, and the armories of the Light Infantry Guard on Congress Street and Larned Street are most in vogue. These halls are elaborately decorated by professional decorators and florists - the adornment sometimes costing several thousand dollars. Dances usually commence about half past nine and last until the wee hours! An incident, but not a feature is the supper - across the boundary in Canada it is the feature. There it consists of different salads, oysters, croquettes, frequently quail, ices, coffee and punch, and sometimes champagne. All prepared by a caterer - usually one who rejoices in the name of A. Hain. In Summer, the Country Club at Grosse Pointe to which a trolley line runs, is the haunt of the fashionables, here golf and steam yachting claim most of the habitants, though many ride and drive, and the automobile has just been introduced, a new diversion is offered. Various clubs of a literary and musical nature improve the taste, and add to the acquirements of the members. They are too many to mention and are very popular. Whist is the fashionable card game - bridge whist being the craze of this season. Taking it all in all, the society of Detroit today is attractive in the extreme and you will find many tributes to it if you read the letters or writings of visitors from other places. To say more might seem self laudatory, but I can only add that I hope the readers of this a hundred years hence will be as beautiful and charming and fine as my dear friends in its present social life. Lucy Trowbridge Miller"
- Date Issued:
- 1900-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Detroit Historical Society
- Description:
- This 4-page letter was handwritten in black ink on slightly yellowed paper by lawyer, D. Augustus Straker. The paper has the watermark, "Riverside Paper Company." The text of the letter has been transcribed as follows: "December 31, 1900 Detroit, Michigan To the Hon. William Maybury Mayor of the City of Detroit, Mich. "The past, present, and future of the colored race in Detroit." Sir, none who have lived the allotted time of human life within the confines of our beautiful city can fail to notice the changes, and events which have marked the 19th century, and especially so as relates, to the colored race of people, living and who have lived in Detroit. The 19th century found the colored people of Detroit a race of slaves although slavery is not known ever to have had a foot hold here. The incoming of the 20th century finds every man, and woman, and child of the colored race enjoying complete freedom under the law. The 19th century found the colored race in Detroit ignorant, uneducated, poor, and unenlightened, save with few exceptions. The 20th century dawns upon us with every school door in the City of Detroit wide open, welcoming within its walls every colored as well as white child of our common citizenship, and from whose precincts have come educated and well equipped colored men and women who have filled high honor and trust. The 19th century found laws upon the statute books of our state which deprived the colored man and woman of employment of every civil, and social privilege participated in by our white fellow citizens. The 20th century finds the colored citizens of Detroit in the employment and right to go and enter every public place established for public accommodation. the 19th century found the colored race poor and in many instances homeless, because of the low wages and restricted opportunity to labor and receive adequate wages. The 20th century finds a large percent of the colored race in Detroit the owner of their residences. In the past, enough was not earned for any part to be saved. On the incoming of the 20th century a large number of our colored citizens are depositors in our savings banks and some carry a fair commercial account in the transactions of their business. The moral status of the colored race in Detroit with the advantages afforded compare most favorably with that of any other race of people similarly situated. No laws discriminate between the races on account of color. These achievement have been brought about by the pioneer energy of such veterans among the colored race as William Lambert, Ben De Baptiste, John Richards, George Parker, and others. And now as to the future of the colored race in Detroit. If we should augur from the past and present, we have the brightest expectation for the future. Two elements must enter into the future progress of the race. One by the white race and the other by the colored themselves. This element is equal opportunity. This and this only remains to test the true development of the race. In the past this was wholly desired by the colored race, in the present it is but partially employed. We look to the future for its completion. We ourselves must be ready for the wider opportunity to come. May one hundred years hence find us in the full enjoyment of those rights and privileges which prejudice now deny us. A prejudice does now exist on the fringe of the 20th century. I predict that the sunlight of a more perfect understanding of man will drive out the demon prejudice and when the 21st century arrives he will find no resting place in the beautiful city of the straits. D. Augustus Straker"
- Date Issued:
- 1900-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Detroit Historical Society
- Description:
- This slightly yellowed paper envelope contained a 4-page letter and that was written by William C. Maybury, Mayor of Detroit. The upper left corner is printed with the return address of the Executive Office. A handwritten note on the right side of the envelope shows "First paper to be opened - Greeting of the Mayor of Detroit, 1900, to the Mayor & people of 2001."
- Date Issued:
- 1900-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Detroit Historical Society