This February 7^th, the world over is celebrating the 200^th birthday of beloved English writer, Charles Dickens. What does this have to do with Delaware? Well, as you may know, the novels of Dickens were beautifully illustrated by a number of very talented artists. And one of those artists, Felix Octavius Carr Darley (F. O. C. Darley, as he was commonly known), called Claymont, Delaware his home for many years. Darley was born on June 23, 1822 in Philadelphia and became a self-taught artist, illustrating for national publications such as Harper’s Weekly and Edgar Allen Poe’s literary journal, The Stylus. In 1859, Darley moved to Claymont with his new bride, and the couple resided there until Darley’s death in 1888. Illustrating for many popular 19^th century authors such as Washington Irving and James Fennimore Cooper, Darley is also known for his illustrations of some of Dickens’s American imprint editions. The two were good friends, and Dickens even stopped by for a visit at Darley’s Claymont home while on his second tour of the United States in 1867. Why not celebrate Dickens’s birthday by exploring Delaware’s own connections to the great author? You can still pass by Darley’s home today on Darley Road off of Rt. 13 in Claymont, and then, while you are out and about, you can stop by the Delaware Historical Society research library at 505 N. Market Street to see an original daguerreotype (photograph) of Darley and the collection of prints of his beloved illustrations.

Tintin and Captain Haddock are stranded on a sinking boat in the middle of the ocean. Suddenly, they’re spotted by an enemy seaplane and they’re dodging torrential gunfire. All it takes is one bullet from the steady gun of Tintin to turn the tables, however, and within moments the enemy seaplane becomes Tintin’s means of escape. A quick glance at the operating manual and our hero is airborne and headed for another adventure!

Tintin Seaplane

But did you catch it? If you happened to blink during this scene from Warner Brothers’s latest adaptation of the Adventures of Tintin, you may have missed it. The weaponized seaplane that becomes Tintin’s salvation is a Bellanca, and if this wasn’t immediately obvious to those of us less adept at identifying 1930s-era aircraft, the “Bellanca” cover on the operating manual is meant to tell us in more obvious terms. Delaware turns up in the most unexpected places sometimes!

 

The Bellanca Aircraft Company was founded in 1927 by Giuseppe Mario Bellanca, who immigrated to America from Italy in 1911. A mathematician and engineer, Bellanca developed a passion for flying that led him to operate a flying school in the early part of his career before going on to design airplanes for a number of firms from 1917-1926. His design of the WB-2 aircraft ultimately caught the attention of the du Ponts, who wanted to start manufacturing aircraft in Delaware. In 1927, a deal was made to set up a factory for the Bellanca Aircraft Company just outside of Wilmington in New Castle along the Delaware River. The plant produced approximately 3000 planes before closing in 1954.

Bellanca photographs from the Heyford Collection

Here’s an image of a Bellanca seaplane flying over the Delaware River in the 1930s. Who knew it would be brought to life more than eighty years later in the big screen adventures of a comic book hero?

Bellanca Seaplane over the Delaware River

Visit our research library to see photographs and learn more about the Bellanca Aircraft Company.

~Joelen

Every once in a while, I commit the cardinal sin of cataloging: I read a single letter all the way through. Since our goal is to publish as much of the collection as possible, this isn’t very reasonable. But this week, something caught my eye, and I did just that.

I was working on the papers of John P. Gillis—Wilmington native, commodore in the U.S. Navy, and veteran of the Mexican-American and Civil Wars. The collection contains assorted documents kept by Gillis from 1825-1873. The letter that caught my attention was signed “R. Semmes.” A bit of internet research confirmed this was Raphael Semmes, officer in the U.S. Navy who served with Gillis during the Mexican-American War and who resigned his post in early 1861 to join the Confederate forces. It turns out we have two letters from Semmes to Gillis in our collection, dated January 29, 1861 and February 11, 1861. Considering the timing and what I’d just learned about Semmes, I took a closer look… 

A major theme of this first letter is Semmes’s fear that the Union has been lost for good. He writes, “In a comparatively short life time…we have almost doubled our proportion and material wealth; but all, as it would seem, to no purpose, since this great Union is now fast disintegrating, and is, beyond all peradventure, I think, doomed!” He laments the loss of patriotism and virtue of the American people, accusing them of being arrogant and too politically divided.

Semmes openly confesses his Confederate sympathies, foreshadowing the major decision he made just weeks later. He discusses the recent election of Abraham Lincoln, who he believes was “elected wholly by the North to govern the South.” He concludes the letter on an ominous note, writing to Gillis, “I fear you will never go to sea under the old confederacy. You will probably have your command under the fragment of the government which will be left; if you elect to abide by it, and if it should fall to my task, old friend, to take you prisoner by and by, I will deal with you very kindly.”

 The second letter discusses the death of a mutual Navy friend. Semmes recalls his last meeting with Edward G. Tilton, only hours before he committed suicide. He writes, “I have never had anything to shock me so much in the whole course of my experience.” He goes on to report that Tilton had suffered from Chagres fever three years earlier, and although he recovered physically, the illness altered his brain. According to Semmes, his doctor attributed the “fit of mental derangement” to “nervous apprehension arising out of the troubled state of the country.” This apparently caused Tilton to entertain delusions that his friends had turned on him and that his family was unsafe.

 The first striking thing about the correspondence is that the friendship between Semmes and Gillis survived at all. We don’t have the letters from Gillis, so we miss the full conversation here; but it’s enough to suggest that the two remained close. The other intriguing part is how the issues of 150 years ago are the very things we grapple with today: political divisiveness, the questionable future of the country, mental illness, and depression. I’ve written about this many times, but I think it’s so important in maintaining perspective about our world today.

 -Heather

As election season begins, I always seem to hear the same question pop up, “How did we get the political parties that we have today?” I thought I would seek out the answer to this question. Below is an exert from Political Parties and Elections: Good Citizens Acting Irrationally. This passage explains how and why all our parties (yes, we’ve had more then two!) came into being. I hope this sheds some light on that question that keeps coming up again and again!

~Kathryne

Right after the new government under the new Constitution took office in 1789, we had no organized political parties, just as the Founders hoped. That situation did not last for long. During the first Washington administration, two sides within the administration began to emerge, those favoring strengthening the national government and having it promote commerce and those wanting a weaker national government and favoring the interests of small farmers who wanted most matters left to the states. The Washington administration also split over what role the nation should take in the war that was occurring between Great Britain and France.

On one side, led by Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton and supported by Vice President John Adams, was a group that kept the name Federalists, the same name that they had used when they had promoted the federal union that was central to the new Constitution. They favored a strong and active national government and staying neutral in the war by negotiating the Jay Treaty with Great Britain. Thomas Jefferson, Washington’s Secretary of State, along with his close friend, James Madison, who was a leader in the House of Representatives, found themselves opposing Hamilton’s ideas and were much more sympathetic to the French side in the war. They were initially called Jeffersonians because of their association with Jefferson, and then they chose the name Republicans. Opponents attached the name Democrats to the label, making them Democratic-Republicans. One story is that the label Democrat was attached to suggest that the party favored mob rule by the ignorant many. Jefferson and his supporters preferred the term Republican. A variety of names were used until middle 1830s when the name Democratic Party was accepted. But I am getting ahead of the story.

 With the passing of both Hamilton (shot dead by Aaron Burr in a dual in 1804) and John Adams, the Federalist Party lacked leadership and began to decline. Following the War of 1812, the nation united under the Democratic-Republicans and President James Monroe, who had no effective opposition.

 The Second Party System: Whigs and Democrats

 By the 1820s we had only one party. But again, this situation did not last for long. The Democratic-Republicans split over the personalities and ambitions of presidential contenders Andrew Jackson and John Quincy Adams, son of John Adams. In terms of group support, the split was along familiar lines. Adams had the support of the commercial and banking interests  while Jackson was the candidate of small farmers and western settlers.

 By 1832 all of Jackson’s enemies organized themselves into a party called the Whigs. With the adoption of the name Democratic Party byJackson’s supporters, we had two new major parties that competed with each other for the next two decades. 

 The Third Party System: Republicans and Democrats

 The issue of the abolition of slavery ultimately destroyed the Whig/Democrat party system. Many Northern Democrats who opposed enslavement joined the new party that was forming around the cause for abolition, the Republican Party. Southern Democrats defended human enslavement and threatened secession. The Whigs also split along regional lines. In the South many Whigs joined the Democrats even though they disagreed with Democrats on many economic issues. In short, issues surrounding race and preserving the union trumped economic issues.

 When Lincoln was elected as the first Republican president, the South chose to rebel rather than to accept the election results. So the Southern states declared independence—secession—and the North went to war to force them back into the Union. Party allegiances hardened in the highly emotional atmosphere of war. Many Northern workers and farmers who had Democratic sympathy saw the Democratic Party as the party of treason and rebellion. These feelings greatly weakened the Democrats in the North. Most of the Democrats’ remaining support in the North came from urban political machines founded on immigrant groups, like the Irish support for the Tammany Hall machine in New York City, headed by William “Boss” Tweed.

 Following the war was a short period of Reconstruction when Republicans had political power in the South. But then Southern whites forcibly regained control over southern state governments, took the vote away from black Republicans and sent segregationist Democrats to Washington. The Republican Party dominated the North and most of the new states joining the nation in the West. The result was a regional basis for the political parties with Republican domination of the national government. For several decades resentments and anger over the Civil War dominated economic issues that might have made the two parties more competitive in all parts of the nation. In the South the issue of race and the role that African Americans should play in politics dominated all other issues for more than a century.

 Realignments in the Third Party System

 1. Rise and Fall of the Populist Challenge

By the late 1880s, economic hardships for farmers and workers, who suffered greatly under the economic and political power of railroads and large corporations during the industrial revolution, created the potential for change. As noted earlier in our discussion about the things that political parties do, parties could provide an outlet for all this discontent. Many middle class reformers were attracted to the Progressive movement, which operated both as a political party in the Midwest and as a faction within the Republican Party. Significant numbers of workers and farmers across the nation, including in the South, were attracted to another new political party, the Populist Party, which tried to represent the economic interests of the have-nots. 

 The Populists elected some members to Congress and ran presidential candidates, but failed to get much beyond this. The failure can be attributed to several things, including the split along racial lines in the South that prevented white Populists from seeking black votes that might have allowed them to win elections. Again, racial issues trumped economic concerns. The defeat of their 1896 and 1900 presidential candidate, William Jennings Bryan, who was also the Democratic candidate in those elections, ended the Populist challenge to the two major parties.

  Southern white Populist supporters either went back to the all-white Democratic Party, whose major purpose was to maintain white supremacy, or they dropped out of politics altogether. Voting rates dropped dramatically in the South following the Populist defeat. Few African Americans voted in the South.

 In the North African Americans were loyal to the party of emancipation, the Republicans. Workers in the North split between both major parties, but the Republican Party had the clear edge.

 The regional basis for the two parties that had existed before the Populist challenge was reinforced. The Democrats were the only viable party in the South, but the Republicans dominated the North and the West and the nation as a whole.

 The only Democrat to be elected president between 1896 and the 1932 election of Franklin D. Roosevelt was Woodrow Wilson in 1912. He won only because the Republicans were splintered by the third party candidacy of Teddy Roosevelt, who took many progressive Republicans with him into his Bull Moose Party.

 2. The New Deal Realignment

 Political scientists have long observed that great crises can lead to realignments in who supports the different political parties. And these shifts can create new parties and new majorities within existing parties. We saw that in the 1850s with the crisis surrounding abolition and the rise of the Republican Party. As we saw, the economic crises in the late 1800s almost but did not quite lead to a major shift. But the economic crisis of the Great Depression did lead to a major realignment.

 Republican President Hoover took some action to address the economic crisis of the Great Depression, but not enough to turn things around. Unemployment grew to the range of 25%. Hoover’s greatest failure was his belief that private charity should and could be the way to help people who had lost everything. He rejected the idea that the government should help very much.

 Voters rejected Hoover in the 1932 election. The election of Franklin D. Roosevelt was more a rejection of Hoover than a vote of confidence in Roosevelt and his vague plans or promises. What happened after FDR’s election made all the difference. His New Deal plan was enacted in the famous “100 days” after the election by the huge Democratic majorities in Congress, also elected in 1932. The New Deal provided many unemployed with jobs in massive public works projects. The plan and FDR’s personal style gave average people hope. They flocked to the Democratic Party, creating the New Deal realignment.

 The new Democratic majority in the New Deal realignment included most Northern workers, especially those in unions, rural Americans across the nation who were subsisting on small farms, and Southerners who remained in the party for reasons of race but now had economic reasons as well. In addition, significant numbers of African Americans began to migrate to the party for economic reasons, though that shift would not be complete till the 1960s when the Democratic Party became the party of civil rights. The Republicans remained the party of small businesses and corporations. As FDR and the Democrats created more and more social programs, like Social Security, the Republicans began to view Democrats as taking the nation down a path to socialism. In short, the parties became realigned along economic lines more than regional lines.

While the election of 1932 was a rejection of Hoover, the election of 1936 was a referendum on the New Deal, and FDR and his party won by a landslide. The new Democratic majority would last for decades as parents passed their identifications on to their children.

 3. Dealignment and Regional Realignment—Civil Rights and Social Conservatives, Red States and Blue States

 The New Deal Democratic majority began to erode as new crises arose and as generations passed away. Children sometimes went their own way, so the intergenerational transfer of party identification was less than perfect. Over several generations this made a difference. In another sense the New Deal was a victim of its own success. As living conditions improved for average people, they had less self-interest in helping those who were still at the bottom. More people began to see themselves as paying taxes to help others rather than being the beneficiaries of programs paid for by others.

 The civil rights revolution had a major impact on the Democratic majority in the South. After John Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson supported civil rights and after the Republican Party started to oppose the passage and enforcement of civil rights laws, white southerners began to abandon the Democratic Party. New African American voters supported the party of civil rights and offset some of this loss. But what had been the solid Democratic South changed to a two party competitive region and then to a strongly Republican region. Political scientists see this as a regional realignment.

 A range of social and moral issues reinforced the movement of the South to the Republican Party. Conservative white Christians in the South rejected liberal positions taken by the national Democratic Party on such issues as women’s equality, gay rights, prayer in school, and abortion.

 Foreign policy also eroded the Democratic majority created by the New Deal. Until the 1960s most citizens saw the Republicans as the party of isolationism, rejecting military action to promote American interests. The triumph of Americain WWII was also a triumph for the Democrats led by Democratic President Franklin Roosevelt.

 But then the Korean War went badly. The first Republican President since Hoover, Dwight D. Eisenhower, came to the rescue. He was able to win a truce, using the threat of nuclear weapons.

 Presidents Kennedy and Johnson deepened our commitment to a military adventure in Vietnam in the 1960s that also went badly. Americans turned to another Republican to find “peace with honor,” to use Richard Nixon’s own words. Democrats had turned against the war. Nixon prolonged the war, and in the process gained the support of Americans who supported strong military action. Vietnam flipped the images of the two parties. Citizens began to see the Republicans as the party supporting strong military actions to promote American interests.

 Americans who favored military actions against nations that we saw as threats moved to the Republican Party. This helped Republicans in the South, where many military bases are located and where many military veterans retire. Ronald Reagan’s build-up of the military in the 1980s and George W. Bush’s strong military response after 9/11 continued to reinforce these trends.

 Together these forces shifted the political balance of power. Democrats still had more identifiers than Republicans, but the margin of difference was close enough so that short term issues and personalities could win or lose the elections for either party. Republicans were strongest in the South and in some of the rural mountain states that had a lot of land but few people. Democrats were strongest in the Northeastern seaboard and the Pacific coast. You may have seen maps of Democratic blue states and Republican red states. The two parties were reflecting cultural differences among the regions of the nation. Whichever party won border states that had more cultural diversity (Ohio, Illinois, Pennsylvania, and Florida—sometimes called purple states) usually won national elections.

 E. Future Changes?

 Current trends and unknown future crises will certainly make a difference in the American party system. The percentage of people who do not associate themselves with either major party, the independents, is significantly higher than a few decades ago. They may remain independents, but some crisis could move them to one party or the other.

 Political scientists have been looking for a new realignment for decades now. We may have come close in the early 1970s when Nixon was extremely popular, but his misdeeds in the Watergate scandal did great damage to the Republican Party. One could say the same for the Democrats in the late 1990s.Clintonmaintained the peace and brought prosperity, but was undone by personal failures rather than political failures. Democratic candidates across the nation suffered as a result. Bush’s failure to successfully address the crises of 9/11 by overextending the American military and the economic recession of 2008 squandered another opportunity for realignment. President Obama had that same opportunity handed off to him. 

 Changing demographics in the nation might have a long term effect in favor of the Democratic Party. Minority groups have tended to be more Democratic in identification over the last half century, and minority groups, especially Hispanics, are growing in their proportion of the population. Assuming current trends continue, Hispanics along with other minorities as well a growing number of people who consider themselves multi-ethnic, will create in the years to come a nation that is comprised of a majority of minorities. Single working females, who tend to identify more with and vote more for Democrats than Republicans (creating something called the gender gap), are a growing part of the population. Whites, who tend toward Republican identifications, will become a minority. According to U.S. Census projections, “non-Hispanic whites,” who are currently about three fourths of the population, will fall to about half of the population. In short, Republicans cannot count on winning national elections with only white votes in the not too distant future.

 http://www.usca.edu/polisci/apls201%20text/Ch10%20Political%20Parties%20and%20Elections.htm

The cataloging team is at it again! As of this fall, the online catalog has over 20,000 records—and that means more wonderful and wacky Delaware stories than ever before.

 Most recently, we’ve been working on the Irénée du Pont Photograph Collection. It contains close to 1,000 images taken by Irénée du Pont, Sr. from the late 19^th century through the mid-20^th century. The collection was donated by Irénée du Pont, Jr. in 2003 and includes snapshots of various du Pont family members, family friends, travel photos, houses and buildings, recreation scenes, and a collection of photographs taken at Xanadu, the du Pont estate in Cuba.  The candid photos of family and friends are particularly interesting, giving us a rare glimpse into the leisure time of a prominent family.  And as always, the more you dig, the more you find…

 Boys will be boys. Friends of Irénée du Pont, Sr. pose with pipes and hats in dorm hallway at Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts. Ca. 1892.

19^th century paparazzi. Photo by Irénée du Pont, Sr. of actress Eleanor Mayo, her husband James Elverson, and their bodyguard on the beach in Cape May, NJ. Mayo did not like her picture taken in public, but Irénée managed to snap this photograph before the couple’s bodyguard could catch him. Ca. 1895.

Road trip mishaps. This photo was taken during a road trip to Boston in 1908 to attend a fraternity reunion at M.I.T. Along the way, the car, driven by R.R.M. Carpenter broke down, got stuck in the mud, and, by the looks of this photo, a member of the group was almost left behind!

Into the woods. Irénée, Bill de Kraft, and two other men on camping and sailing trip on the Elk River in Maryland. Apparently, suits and ties were required. May 1918.

At home with the family. Irene S. du Pont holds her infant son, Irénée. 1920.

Kinloch Gun Club. In 1912, a group of Wilmington businessmen established a hunting and social club along the Santee River in South Carolina. Here, W. Winder Laird, R.R.M. Carpenter, Irénée du Pont, Sr., Martin Reyfus, and a guide, meet at the train station. November 1923.

On vacation in Cuba. Photo of Philip and Lydia Laird at Club Nautico in Cuba. The Lairds often accompanied the du Ponts on vacation. 1926.

Worldly travelers. Irénée and Irene S. du Pont pose in front of building during trip to Italy in 1927.

 Remember, you can read about these photos and much, MUCH more at Ask Caesar on the DHS Library page: http://www.hsd.org/AskCaesar.htm. Or, stop by the library for a visit!

-Heather

Happy Delaware Day!

As you may already know, Delaware is known as the First State because it was the first state to ratify the U.S. Constitution. What you may not know is that the ratification took place on this date, December 7^th, in 1787 by a unanimous vote.

Following the Revolutionary War the Articles of Confederation, officially ratified by the 13 founding states in 1781, established the United States of America as a confederation of sovereign states. Unfortunately it quickly became apparent that the new government was much too weak and for the emerging nation. Political unrest, interstate conflict, a troubled currency, and uprisings like Shay’s Rebellion all pointed to the need for a stronger centralized government.

 The Constitutional Convention took place in Philadelphia from May-September, 1787 with the aim of revising the Articles of Confederation. Many participants realized, however, that an entirely new government was needed to replace the one created by the Articles of Confederation. The result was the Constitution, which was signed by a majority of the delegates of the convention on September 17^th, 1787. Congress called for nine states to ratify the Constitution for it to go into effect.

James Latimer served as the president of Delaware’s ratifying convention. Other signers of the ratification included Gunning Bedford, Sr., Gunning Bedford, Jr., Thomas Duff, and Nicholas Ridgely. The vote was 30-0 in favor of the new Constitution, and the convention’s vote thwarted Pennsylvania’s hopes of being the first to ratify. The vote would send the Constitution on its (not altogether uncontested) way to national adoption.

You can experience history in person by viewing a copy of Delaware’s history-making ratification document, held in our library’s manuscript collections. Or, visit the library to learn more about the signers who helped Delaware become the First State.

~Joelen

Did you know that being a Delawarean is something that should have you raising your head up high! That’s right, we might be one of the smallest states in the country, but our little state has a lot of accomplishments to its name. Here are just a few things Delaware is known for:

We are the First State! Delaware was the first state to ratify the federal Constitution on December 7, 1787, becoming the first state in the Union. Being number 1 has lots of perks! Delaware is given the first position in such national events as presidential inaugurations.

We are tiny but tough! Delaware ranks 49th in the nation with a total land area of 1,955 square miles. Delaware is also one of the smallest states in terms of population. Only Alaska, North Dakota, Vermont, and Wyoming have fewer people.

We are low down! Delaware’s average altitude is about 60 feet above sea level, making it the lowest average altitude of any state. Delaware also has one of the lowest high points: Ebright Azimuth at 442 feet is the highest point in Delaware. Located at the junction of Ramblewood Drive and Ebright Road in Wilmington, DE. Only Florida has a lower high point.

There isn’t much dividing us! Delaware has 3 counties, the fewest of any state having counties (only Alaska beats us with no counties at all!).

Bridging a wide gap! Delaware Memorial Bridge is the longest twin span suspension bridge in the world. The bridge, which was opened in 1951, connects Delaware and New Jersey.

We are so smart! According to a survey by the National Science Foundation, Delaware has more doctoral-level (Ph.D.) scientists and engineers, as a percentage of the population, than any other state. Delaware also has a higher rate of patent awards, per person, than any other state.

Our roots are really old! Old Swedes (Holy Trinity Church) which was built in 1698 is one of the oldest churches in America still in use. It is located at 606 church Street, Wilmington, DE 19801.

We flew it first! Tradition holds that the new 13-star flag, the Stars and Stripes, was first unfurled in the Battle of Cooch’s Bridge, September 3, 1777.

We started a movement! Barratt’s Chapel, erected in 1780, is known as the “Cradle of Methodism in America.” The Methodist established the New World chapter of their religion here in 1784.

We protect whats ours! In 1971, in an effort to protect beaches and wetlands, the state legislature of Delaware passed the nation’s first Coastal Zone Act, barring industries that pollute.

Oh, our collections! Delaware has one of the largest Shell Collections (Delaware Museum of Natural History) and Amber Collections (University of Delaware) in the world.

Yes, we have Nylon here! Seaford, Delaware is the site of the DuPont Company’s first nylon manufacturing plant. It was established in 1938. Seaford is now known as the Nylon Capital of the World.

Firsts that swept the country happened here! The introduction of the first Christmas Seal happened in Wilmington, Delaware in December 1907. The designer of the seals was Emily P. Bissell, a Delaware Author. Delaware also had the first beauty pageant in 1880. It was held in Rehoboth Beach. Thomas Edison was one of the judges in the contest, called the Miss United States contest.

We have chickens! Sussex County raises more broiler chickens than any other county in the United States. We also have more chickens living in Delaware than people!

We declared our independence first! Although commonly referred to as one of the original 13 colonies, Delaware didn’t become its own colony until early 1776. Before 1704, Delaware had belonged to Pennsylvania and was commonly referred to as the Lower Three Counties of Pennsylvania. In 1704, Delaware was granted its own legislature but was still under control of the PA governor. Delaware officially declared its freedom from Pennsylvania on June 15, 1776. Just in time to be one of the deciding votes on the Declaration of Independence!

I hope you enjoyed these fun facts about Delaware. These are only a few of what I found. I promise to bring you more fun facts about Delaware in the future.

~Kathryne~

Mary Parker 1843-1918

In Love and War: William and Mollie Parker

In honor of Veterans Day and the 150^th anniversary of the start of the Civil War this past April, I thought I would share a story of love and hope in the midst of the conflict that polarized the nation so many years ago.  William Parker and Mary (Mollie) Rebecca Boyer were living in Smyrna at the outbreak of the Civil War. The pair was deeply in love and did not want to be separated, but William decided to enlist in the First Regiment of the Delaware Volunteer Infantry as a musician. He promised to write to Mollie, serving in camps throughout Maryland and was eventually stationed at Camp Hamilton, a military encampment just outside of Fort Munroe, Virginia. Their love for one another never dwindled in William’s absence, which you can read for yourself in the collection of letters from William to Mollie held by DHS.

William wrote frequently to Mollie, answering her letters and asking her for news of friends and family at home in Smyrna. Like many other soldiers and civilians at the beginning of the Civil War, William hoped for a quick end to the conflict, writing to Mollie that “I have every reason to think that Our time will be short in the Service if things go on as they have been going for time weeks past, the war will Soon end. Then I will be the happiest man alive.” William did not have to wait as long as most soldiers to finish his service and to be reunited with friends and family. He was honorably discharged in August of 1862 when Congress disbanded all regimental bands. Shortly thereafter, William and Mollie married and started their family.

Below you can see photographs of William and Mollie. William asked Mollie to send him a photograph of her to have with him in Virginia. When he received it, he replied: “I received your Picture for which I am greatly obliged. It is a very nice one…You look so nice. I never tire of looking at it.” William and Mollie remind us of the great sacrifices that our veterans have made and continue to make, leaving behind loved ones and serving bravely in uncertain and difficult circumstances. In honor of veterans, visit DHS to learn more about the story of William and Mollie and to discover the stories of many other Delawareans who have served their country throughout the centuries.

–Natalie

William Parker 1836-1920

Wilmington's first African-American Troop #60 met in at St. Matthews Episcopal Church with Martha Evans as leader in 1944. Delaware Historical Society Collections.

Girl Scout cookies, Girl Scout camp, Girl Scout badges—all this and much more will be featured in A Circle of Friendship United by Ideals, an exhibition on the history of Girl Scouts in Delaware and the Delmarva Peninsula that will be on display in the Delaware History Museum from February through June 2012.  We will be joining the Girl Scouts of the Chesapeake Bay Council to celebrate the centennial of girl scouting in the U.S. and the council’s 50^th anniversary.  Filled with objects and photographs in the Council’s extensive collection, the exhibition is sure to be a trip down memory lane for every current and former scout! 

Inspired by her meeting with Robert Baden-Powell, the founder of Boy Scouts and Girl Guides in England, Juliette Gordon Low gathered a group of girls in Savannah, Georgia, on March 12, 1912, for the meeting that began a movement that has involved millions of girls all over the world.  Scouting spread to the Delmarva Peninsula with a troop founded in Cambridge, Maryland, in 1914.  The first Delaware troop started in Wilmington in 1915.

Girls prepare a meal around a fire circle during overnight tent camping at Grove Point in the 1980s. Courtesy of Girl Scouts of the Chesapeake Bay Council.

The ideals of scouting—learning through action, exploring the outdoors, serving the community, and developing leadership skills–have remained constant but the program has changed with the times.  Badges, uniforms, and handbooks from different eras will be on display.  The dairy maid badge is obsolete—today’s scouts attend STEM programs at the Lynn W. Williams Science and Technology Lodge at Camp Country Center in Hockessin. A campfire scene will be a focal point of the exhibition, and maps will show the many sites that have been used for camping over the years. 

Scouting’s goal has always been to help girls grow into strong, capable women.  A Circle of Friendships United by Ideals will honor the scouts and leaders of the past, and inspire those who will take scouting into its second century.  Plan now to visit the exhibit and “make new friends but keep the old!” 

Joe Biden, then a U.S. Senator from Delaware, poses with local Girl Scouts in 2000. Courtesy of Girl Scouts of the Chesapeake Bay Council.

Cooney’s Dancing Instructor, a rare pamphlet on display in our exhibition Steppin’ Out…Under the Stars until the end of the year, captures the world of social dancing in Wilmington not long before the fox trot changed everything in the early 1900s.

Martin H. Cooney, born in Delaware in 1861 to Irish immigrant parents, held industrial jobs in his early years. Dancing, however, was always his first love.  By 1894, when he is first listed in the Wilmington city directory as a dancing instructor, and when he probably published his book, he said that he had been teaching for fourteen years and dancing for many more.  If you do the math—and if you believe what he says—he started at a very young age!

Although the dances presented in the book appear old fashioned to us today, Cooney recognized that times were changing.  “Nearly all Quadrilles now in use have been danced with very slight change for more than fifty years.”  That would put their introduction in the 1840s.  “Many of them have a ridiculous appearance if the proper steps are not used. . . .I do not wish to be understood as ridiculing the people for casting off the old school of dancing.  This is a fast age, and the people will not…be compelled to study and practice for years a system of dancing, that in the end will not profit them much, if anything.”  Cooney’s purpose is to present a variety of simple dances that everyone can learn and enjoy.

Cooney proceeds to give instructions for round dances, quadrilles, and schottisches.  Without illustrations or demonstrations the dances seem very complicated to the modern reader with no interest in Dancing with the Stars.  Cooney also gives detailed instructions on ballroom etiquette.  One rule is that people should “Dance quietly, from the hips downward.  Do not jump, caper, or sway your body.” 

Just as interesting are the many ads for Wilmington businesses that fill about half of the pages of the book.  Many are for saloons, hotels, restaurants, and other businesses that catered to steppin’ out.

Martin Cooney taught social dancing for many years, almost until his death in 1935.  By then dancing and social behavior had changed dramatically. We wish Cooney had updated his book so that we could see how he adapted to the changes in his profession.  If you have any memories of Martin Cooney and his dance classes, we would love to hear from you.