Bicycling Bloomerites • Blodgetts of Brookby • The Road to Berlin, Part 2 • Recurrent Features
Valley HISTORY
Grand River Valley
HISTORY The Magazine of the Grand Rapids Historical Society
Volume 27 • 2012
Editor Matthew L. Daley Copy Editor G.F. Korreck Designer Jan Ensing, GRCCePRINT Printing GRCCePRINT Publications Committee Thomas R. Dilley Wilhelm Seeger ISSN (0739-084X) © 2012 Grand Rapids Historical Society. Started in 1979, GRAND RIVER VALLEY HISTORY is published once each year by the Grand Rapids Historical Society and is distributed to members as a benefit of membership. Permission to quote or otherwise reproduce portions of this copyrighted work must be sought in writing from the publisher. Communication, inquiries, and manuscript submissions may be sent to the editor at 111 Library Street NE, Grand Rapids, MI 49503. Further information about the Grand Rapids Historical Society is available on the Society website and on Facebook. www.grhistory.org E-mail: info@grhistory.org Facebook: search Grand Rapids Historical Society The Grand Rapids Historical Society does not assume responsibility for statements made by contributors or the editors. Single and back issues, if available, are $5 each plus postage. Established in 1894, the Grand Rapids Historical Society is dedicated to exploring the history of West Michigan; to discover its romance and tragedy, its heroes and scoundrels, its leaders and its ordinary citizens. The Society collects and preserves our heritage, passing it on to new generations through books, lectures, and education projects. Executive Committee: Gina Bivins, president John Gelderloos, vice-president Alan Bennett, treasurer Board members: Charles Bocskey Matthew Daley Thomas Dilley W.D. Frankforter, emeritus Timothy Gleisner Marilyn Hamill Sharon Hanks Chris Kaupa Jeffrey Sytsma Gordon Olson, emeritus Nan Schichtel Wilhelm Seeger Jennifer Morrison, secretary John Morrison, newsletter editor
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Departments
5 Curator’s Corner / Pioneer Painting—Reflections on the River of Time Alex Forist 6 Glance at the Past—from the Grand Rapids Historical Commission / George Wilson Welsh and his Newspapers Diana Barrett 7 Greater Grand Rapids Women’s History Council / The Women’s Angle Jo Ellyn Clarey
Features 8 Bicycling Bloomerites: Women’s Bicycle Culture in Gilded Age Grand Rapids Samantha Bullat 22
The Blodgetts of Brookby Jeffrey Sytsma
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The Road to Berlin: Arthur Polmanteer’s Journey, Part 2 Craig Jolly
Departments 63 From the Western Michigan Genealogical Society / What time is it? David Lee Smith 64 From the Grand Rapids City Archives / The Fluoridation Experiment William Cunningham 65
Lost and Found at the Library / The Money Question Tim Gleisner
66 Presidential Artifacts from the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum / The Mayaguez Incident James W. Draper About the Cover: Overman Wheel Company produced the “Victoria” women’s model for its Victor line of bicycles. The firm contracted with the Sligh Furniture Company for wooden wheel components during the 1890s. This 1895 lithograph advertisement was drawn by noted artist William Bradley, and utilizes Art Nouveau movement themes. (Prints and Photographs Division, POS-US .B732, no. 42, Library of Congress)
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A Letter to Our Readers ach year the development of Grand River Valley History presents new challenges both to authors and its editors. Selecting the best images, structuring the stories, and working with the various archives and historical collections means that the task is never a dull one. The final product is one that represents the best work of all involved and the pride that each participant brings to the endeavor. Bicycles, long the province of the young, have returned to the streets of metropolitan Grand Rapids and across the United States. The creation of dedicated lanes, trails, parking spaces, along with the challenge of living with them on congested streets appears to many observers as a new phenomenon. These are the issues vexing road planners and drivers, not the issue of who should be allowed to ride bicycles. Yet, as Samantha Bullat’s article demonstrates, the issue of women riders was of paramount importance during the “bicycle craze” of the 1890s. This new form of transportation challenged social norms and views of women during a period of tremendous change for social equality. The enormous popularity of the television series Downton Abbey recalls an era of the vast country house of British aristocracy around the First World War era. Yet, we rarely think of these sites as being close to home. Jeff Sytsma’s article on the Blodgett family home, Brookby, reveals a family just as tied to a home during a similar era. Just without the peerage titles. Finally, we complete this issue with the conclusion of a story started in our 2011 issue. Craig Jolly’s biography of Arthur Polmanteer takes us into his 4
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combat experiences with the First Army in Europe from January 1945 until the end of the war and his return to his family. His story reminds us again of how many served their nation during one of history’s darkest periods. This dedication is worthy of respect and reflection. As a final note, I am pleased to report that the 2011 issue of the magazine was the recipient of a State History Award from the Historical Society of Michigan as an “Outstanding Publication” by a local history organization. This is a tremendous award that recognizes the effort put forth by all of our authors and sponsors, most importantly the membership of the Grand Rapids Historical Society. Without your membership this magazine would not be possible, and I offer my appreciation. I hope that you find the current issue of interest. — Matthew L. Daley, Editor
Curator’s Corner Pioneer Painting
aron Turner’s painting of early Grand Rapids is a combination of history and whimsy. Probably painted during the 1880s, the colorfully oiled landscape depicts Turner’s recollection of what Grand Rapids looked like when he arrived as a 13-year-old boy in 1836.1 The painting shows a view of Grand Rapids looking east from Island Number One. The Grand River is in the foreground and Prospect Hill dominates the center. The three structures are a Native American wigwam (now the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel), the first frame house in Grand Rapids belonging to Joel Guild (McKay Tower), and Louis Campau’s fur storage house (Rosa Parks Circle). Turner was born in upstate New York in 1822 and came west with his family in the 1830s. He was a man of many talents and enjoyed a distinguished career as the editor of the Grand Rapids Eagle newspaper. When Grand Rapids was incorporated in 1850 he was named the first City Clerk.2 He also designed and engraved the City Seal for Grand Rapids.3 Turner was involved in politics, and identified with anti-slavery elements of the new Republican Party as early as 1854.4 Later in life, he was known as a sportsman interested in hunting and fishing, as well as a talented amateur artist.5 This wonderful painting was recently bequeathed to the Grand Rapids Public Museum and will become a part of
Bequest of Harold Garter, #2012.60.1
Reflections on the River of Time
Oil Painting, Grand Rapids in 1836 by Aaron B. Turner, c. 1885.
the Permanent Collection. It is one of the lamentably few surviving artistic works which [that] help give life and color to our understanding of what Grand Rapids looked like in its earliest days. Turner’s attention to detail, particularly the reflections of the buildings in the river, is both charming and sophisticated—but how accurate can a 50-year-old memory be? Did Turner paint Grand Rapids as it actually was, or were his memories distorted by the haze of nostalgia and American pioneer mythology? Only the River knows. — Alex Forist, Collections Curator for the Grand Rapids Public Museum
Endnotes Grand Rapids Democrat, June 12, 1892, “Our Early Editors,” p.9. 2 Charles C. Chapman and Company, History of Kent County, Michigan, 1881, p. 418-419. 3 City of Grand Rapids Website: http://grcity.us/ city-manager/Pages/Government-Information. aspx, accessed on 10/25/2012. 4 Grand Rapids Herald, August 19, 1900, “An Old Man’s Movement,” p.4. 5 Grand Rapids Democrat, June 12, 1892, “Our Early Editors,” p.9. 1
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Glance from the Past
FROM THE GRAND RAPIDS HISTORICAL COMMISSION
George Wilson Welsh and His Newspapers ome say printer’s ink ran in the veins of George W. Welsh, former newsboy, longtime mayor and political figure of Grand Rapids. Starting in 1906, at the age of 23, he published the monthly Fruit Belt until 1927. He purchased United Weeklies in 1919, and acquired the Grand Rapids Chronicle, another weekly, in 1921. Welsh related an interesting tale regarding the origins of the Shopping News, established in 1927. The personal owners of the five largest stores in the city: Friedman & Spring, the Boston Store, Herpolsheimer’s, Wurzburg’s,
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and Steketee’s were at the mercy of the advertising rates charged by the two daily papers, the Herald and Press. The merchants proposed to Welsh that they would each sign one-year contracts if he would start a free, weekly Shopping News. Welsh ordered a large 40-ton press, using all the cash he had to make the down payment, but he needed $10,000 more to pay for its installation. Welsh thought the signed contracts from these large merchants would ensure a loan from the bank. “I found that our two daily newspapers had slammed the doors of every bank in Grand Rapids. The bankers were afraid, and refused to make me a loan,” he said. Welsh’s friend Joseph Brewer told him, “If you had ten-dollar gold pieces, you couldn’t borrow five dollars from any local bank. Welsh went to Carroll Sweet of the Old National Bank who informed him, “We have a guaranty bond; if you can get someone to sign it that we feel is worth the money, there would be no questions.” “How about former governor Groesbeck?” Welsh asked. “Just as good as Henry Ford.” Sweet replied. Welsh returned with the bond, and after the bank’s board met Sweet said, “I’ve never told this to anyone since I’ve been a banker; you can’t borrow money from this bank regardless of your endorsements, and I can’t tell you why.” Welsh smiled and told him that he knew the reason why. Welsh finally got his loan at low interest with long renewal terms from National City Bank in New York City. In 1970, at the age of 87, Welsh took over the bankrupt Interpreter and published it until his death in 1974. — Diana Barrett, Grand Rapids Historical Commission
FROM THE
Greater Grand Rapids Women’s History Council The Women’s Angle uring its 25th anniversary year in 2013, the Greater Grand Rapids Women’s History Council (GGRWHC) is highlighting the research underlying its more visible work sponsoring programs and publishing to address the under-representation of women in accounts of Grand Rapids history. Since 1988 GGRWHC has studied local women and broadcast the news that they were important partners in the creation of our city. Data unearthed in West Michigan has in turn found uses far beyond local boundaries. Even before recent digitizing projects began, academic historians were using GGRWHC hardcopy materials to alter the incomplete national picture of American women. Recently, two more books have appeared featuring material from the GGRWHC collection of oral history interviews housed in the Grand Rapids Public Library. Todd Robinson’s A City within a City: The Black Freedom Struggle in Grand Rapids, Michigan, uses several sources liberally, especially an interview with the late Ella Sims. For her 2009 book about domestic workers of the Second Great Migration, Making a Way Out of No Way, historian Lisa Krissoff Boehm adds original interviews, but she also relies on GGRWHC interviews, among them Ella Sims’s. In a comment about the importance of women’s oral testimony, Boehm both explains the mission of the GGRWHC and inspires more local work: “Existing archival collections feature few stories of the Second Great Migration, and only rarely has the movement been considered from the female viewpoint in oral histories. Of the resources that exist, few could rival the specificity and wrenching emotion of [Ella] Sims’s memories” (92). On May 2nd, 1994, the GGRWHC’s Jane Idema and Bunny Voss interviewed Mrs. Sims, after which transcribers created a manuscript version of the audio for the use of researchers like Boehm. Today, the GGRWHC continues interviewing living women at the same time it has been digitizing audio and transcripts of 50+ interviews. As the history of Grand Rapids women becomes more and more available worldwide, the GGRWHC hopes its local significance will be more readily understood. — Jo Ellyn Clarey, Greater Grand Rapids Women’s History Council
Ella Sims, Grand Rapids History & Special Collections Department, Grand Rapids Public Library
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bicycling : bloomerites women’s bicycle culture in gilded age grand rapids
t is little wonder that given the bicycle’s sudden and unexpected popularity, a debate would rage across the country in an effort to better understand this new phenomenon, especially its appropriateness for women. Much of the current scholarship has focused on the relationship between the bicycle and women on a national level, but an analysis of the relationship between bicycles and women at a local level is necessary for better understanding of how large-scale trends impacted everyday people. This paper seeks to examine how Grand Rapids women’s cycling experiences fit into the larger bicycle culture in Grand Rapids, as well as the national discussion on the relationship between female cycling and evolving ideas of femininity and equality. An analysis of local primary sources compared to national primary sources and previous scholarship on national and international trends shows that the experiences of Grand Rapids women cyclists in the 1890s are representative of the larger debate surrounding health, safety, and fashion that was taking place on a worldwide level.
(Author photo.)
(Ada, Michigan Glass Plate Negative Collection (Coll. 122), 122-9-14, GRPL Grand Rapids History & Special Collections.)
by Samantha Bullat
The author riding a 1940s vintage bicycle wearing a reproduction riding outfit. (left) Woman on a “male type” bicycle wearing a split skirt, though one that is very long even with a covered chain drive.
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n the women’s gymnasium on the third floor of the McMullen Block on S. Division, 75 Grand Rapids women met in May of 1895 to vote on a garment that was the cause of discussion, concern, and ridicule across the Western world.1 It was praised by reformers and lampooned in the press. It had first risen to public notice in the 1850s but had languished under the same scrutiny it was now experiencing in its revival. But this time, women, like the Grand Rapids citizens assembled in the gymnasium, were determined to make the controversial garment socially acceptable for those who wished to participate in the craze for a newfangled form of transportation, recreation, and exercise that had swept the nation. The new craze was the bicycle; the garment: bloomers.
(Michigan Cyclist, August 2, 1894,
pg. 15, GRPL Grand Rapids History
& Special Collections.)
the disease of cycling
(Figure 1) The discussion of gender appropriate attire was of no small interest to observers of the period.
Grand Rapids was not immune to either sensational fad, as the 75 women could attest. When the votes were tallied, it was clear that Grand Rapids women were strongly in favor of the bloomer costume for female cyclists, with only one dissenting voice in favor of the long “regulation” skirt with weighted hem.2 The women then went one step further, and drew up a series of resolutions that gave their rationale for the rational dress: “God, Our Heavenly Father,” had made them “bipeds” and “endowed [them] with reason”, and their reason told them that “the most convenient and most truly modest dress is the one which clothes each leg in separate coverings.”3 The very need for discussion of women’s bicycling clothing sprang from women’s involvement in the bicycling craze that reached its height in the 1890s. Bicycles were hardly a novel invention in the late 19th century, but it was an innovative new style that debuted in America in 1887 that suddenly made them so accessible and popular. The “safety” bicycle, with two wheels of equal size and “pedals attached to a chain-and-sprocket mechanism,” was faster, lighter, and safer (as its name implies) than the “ordinary” that preceded it.4 The ordinary, or penny-farthing, had a high front wheel considerably larger than its back wheel, making simply mounting it a considerable feat
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(Photo circa 1895. James R. Hooper Photograph Collection (Coll. 59) 59-3-1 Neg.759, GRPL Grand Rapids History & Special Collections.)
of balance and dexterity. From 1890 to 1895, the number of U.S. manufacturers of safety bicycles shot up from 17 to 126, and one estimate claimed that by May of 1896, “Americans had spent $300 million on bicycles…and $200 million on related products.”5 By comparison, there were only six manufacturers of ordinaries during that bicycle’s heyday in 1885.6 Purchasing the new bicycles were over 2,500,000 Americans that Issac Potter of the League of American Wheelmen estimated were present in 1896.7 The safety bicycle had revolutionized the bicycle industry and sparked a nationwide love affair with cycling. With the country consumed with bicycle fever, the population was spread on a spectrum between those who denounced the machine as unhealthy and dangerous for both men and women, and those who touted its benefits to health and women’s rights. (Figure 2)
(Figure 2) Women’s bicycle clubs and outings became increasingly common during the 1890s and a source of public discussion and concern.
Searching For Social Acceptance In the 1890s, cycling became the newest form of socially acceptable exercise for women, to be added to calisthenics, a forerunner of aerobics and an activity that could be practiced with other fitness-minded women in the McMullen Block’s female gymnasium. Doctors, physicians, and laymen already hotly debated the physical advantages or disadvantages of calisthenics and female exercise, and cycling proved no exception. For every cycling-induced harm proposed by doctors, there was a benefit to counter it. Where some physicians hailed it as a cure for such ailments as dyspepsia, heart disease, and diabetes, others warned of “kyphosis bicyclistarum” or “cyclist’s spine” and other “diseases of cycling” like “bicycle hernia” and “cyclist’s neurosis.”8 Following this school of thought, the Grand Rapids Press described in vivid detail the potential dangers of “the bicycle foot” which caused the muscles to swell and the bones to
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st 16, (Michigan Cyclist, Augu
d Rapids History 1894, pg. 10, GRPL Gran
& Special Collections.)
thicken until the lady would be required to wear a bigger shoe.9 After playing upon women’s vanity, the author admitted that it is “a matter that each lady must solve for herself. It lies entirely between her conscience and her foot.”10 Another article provided one doctor’s warnings on some of the dangers of cycling. Dr. Shadwell told the story of a woman of “good constitution” who regularly exercised, but upon taking up cycling, developed “internal inflammation” which proved to be of “great detriment [to] her health.”11 But the author still could not deny that “to the great majority…of both sexes, the wheel, when used and not abused, brings health to mind and body.”12 A British physician interviewed for the Press insisted that there was nothing “anatomically or constitutionally in the woman that especially excludes cycling as a recreation for her,” although he was just as quick to mention that “girls should not begin to ride regularly until they have reached their seventeenth year, and not then unless they are strong and well formed.” 13 However, in an interview for the Grand Rapids Herald, Mrs. Frank Lee, a woman cyclist, stated that cycling was “of great benefit to women” and “the only thing to avoid is over-riding and that is a thing which few will be apt to do.”14 In just a small sampling of medical opinions offered in the Press, it is possible to see both sides of the debate on the benefits and drawbacks of women’s cycling. Clearly, the same ambivalence of professional medical thought towards women’s cycling that was present on a worldwide scale was also an important part of the local discussion about the subject in Grand Rapids. (Figure 3)
(Figure 3) The apparently Canadian author of the poem reflected a change in cultural attitudes towards gendered athleticism and the growth of the “Gibson Girl” ideal.
The Safety of the Streets
top far right (Figure 5) The Yost Manufacturing Company of Toledo created specific models and advertisements, such as this one from 1895 that appealed to women cyclists. far right (Figure 6) The Grand Rapids Cycle Company also utilized local parts and appealed to male riders by offering handlebars suitable for formal riding. Such ads indicate the change in bicycle culture from strictly racing to a broader ridership including women.
(Grand Rapids Public Library Photo Collection (Coll. 54), 54-4.5-42 Neg.4, GRPL Grand Rapids History & Special Collections.)
right (Figure 4) This 1897 advertisement from the Hamilton-Kenwood Cycle Company shows the differences between the men’s and women’s models, including the handlebars, the frame, and the protected chain drive on the women’s model. Additionally, the company utilized local parts from the Sligh Furniture Company, primarily wooden wheel rims.
By far the most common and realistic dangers of bicycle riding were the more practical ones of collisions and tumbles. Women were certainly not the only ones susceptible to these types of mishaps. The challenge of keeping cyclists, pedestrians, horses, and other vehicles safe on the road was a thorny enough problem so as to require a Grand Rapids city ordinance that prohibited cyclists from riding on the sidewalks in certain parts of the city, and requiring
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(Grand Rapids Press, August 15, 1896, pg. 11.)
(Michigan Cyclist, August 4, 1895, pg.14, GRPL Grand Rapids History & Special Collections.)
cyclists to go no more than eight miles per hour on the sidewalk in others. Cyclists were likewise compelled to outfit their bicycles with a bell to alert unsuspecting pedestrians of their approach.15 One male violator of the ordinance against riding on sidewalks paid $1.83 “for his fun.”16 Issues of bicycle safety were not just a Grand Rapids issue, but a national one as well. A Minnesota case reached the state Supreme Court, where it was decided that “a person driving a horse on the highway has no rights superior to those of a person riding a bicycle.”17 Such a ruling set the precedent for other states like Michigan in regards to the uncharted realm of bicycle safety laws. In passing and enforcing its ordinance on bicycles, Grand Rapids joined other cities and states in the nation in dealing with issues of legislation for cyclists. Although both men and women riders were expected to comply with such safety laws for their protection and the protection of others, women were provided with extra measures to ensure their safety while cycling. The Pope Manufacturing Company in Connecticut, one of the country’s oldest and most famous manufacturers of bicycles, developed and marketed bicycles specially targeted towards women beginning in 1888.18 What made these bicycles unique were innovations specifically designed to increase the safety of female riders. The Columbia bicycle model 46, for example, featured a cage-like covering for the back wheel and the chain, with the intent of preventing women’s skirts from becoming caught in the twirling mechanisms. The later model 51 did away with the chain altogether, instead using a shaft mechanism to propel the bicycle, which made the bike faster and lighter and would have helped to keep women’s skirts free from the chain. Grand Rapids bicycle manufacturers mirrored their national competitors. The Grand Rapids Cycle Co. developed the “Clipper” ladies chainless bicycle, which used a shaft mechanism similar to the Pope Columbia model 51. This innovation demonstrates that Grand Rapids was not about to be left behind in bicycle manufacturing, but was eager to be up-to-date with the latest technology and make it available to consumers. The Grand Rapids Cycle Co. “Clipper” also speaks to the considerable volume of women cyclists in Grand Rapids who constituted enough of a market that the company believed it would be profitable to create a bicycle specifically for that demographic. (Figure 4) (Figure 5) (Figure 6)
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(James R. Hooper Photograph Collection (Coll. 59), 59-3-1, Neg.760, GRPL Grand Rapids History & Special Collections.)
(Figure 7) Despite the hostility from some observers regarding women riding bicycles, mixed gender riding grew more accepted during the 1890s.
It was not only bicycles that became tailored to women riders during the 1890s. Practical clothing that enabled a woman to more safely and conveniently ride her bicycle was necessary if she were to continue to ride as far and as fast as she’d like. But what many women considered to be “the most convenient and most truly modest dress” was an outfit that had been ridiculed into obscurity when it first came about in the 1850s.19 As the controversial bloomer costume experienced a resurgence with female cyclists in the 1890s, the ridicule around the costume did as well. What made women’s cycling clothing such a potent topic of conversation in both parlors and in print was the very public nature of the activity it was worn for. Bicycles literally and figuratively took women out of the domestic sphere and into the public sphere, where they were open to criticism from the men (and other women) they passed on the street. (Figure 7)
The Subject of Special Attire The bloomer costume championed by daring female cyclists in the 1890s had its roots in the reform dress of shortened skirts over full “Turkish” trousers that were being worn as early as the 1820s in some utopian communal groups.20 In spite of its name, Amelia Bloomer did not design bloomers, but she did wear them and defend them as editor of the Lily, printing her first article about the garment in 1851. Elizabeth Smith Miller, credited with being the first American woman to wear bloomers, introduced them to her cousin Elizabeth Cady Stanton and other women’s rights activists, making the outfit “an inherent element in the demand for political equality.”21 Most female (and male) proponents of such reform dress advocated bloomers as a highly practical and healthful alternative to the heavy, burdensome skirts that were so in vogue. Bloomers allowed for increased movement while maintaining modesty during physical activities. But such an avant-garde fashion choice was swiftly opposed by those who saw within 14 Grand River Valley History / Volume 27
(reprinted from Punch). http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/ndlpcoop/moahtml/title/harp.html
the bifurcated garment an attempt to usurp men’s rights. Trousers were inherently male just as skirts were inherently female. Thus, for a woman to don men’s clothing, even a variation, was the first step down a road to a world where women took on more than just men’s clothing, but also their habits, activities, and rights. This fear is perfectly illustrated in the Punch cartoon “Women’s Emancipation,” where bloomer-clad women have adopted the male practices of smoking and carrying canes and assume masculine positions of holding the body. In 19th century men’s minds, masculinity and femininity were on either side of a see-saw: if women became more like men, then the balance tipped and made men more like women. And nothing could be more threatening to the natural order than the emasculation of men by women. In the face of such intense ridicule and scorn, the bloomer fell from favor among many women’s rights activists within a few years, even with its namesake, Amelia. (Figure 8)
(Figure 8) “Women’s Emancipation (Being A Letter Addressed to Mr. Punch, With A Drawing, By a StrongMinded American Woman),” Harper’s New Monthly Magazine, vol. 3 (August 1951), pg. 424
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(Voice of Fashion, Vol.11, No. 44, Summer 1897, pg.18.)
(Figure 9) Publications devoted to fashion also responded to women riders by providing patterns for socially acceptable riding attire such as this “Bicycle Suit.”
All of these accusations resurfaced in the 1890s as numerous women cyclists adopted the costume for many of the same reasons their reformminded predecessors did. The Queen of Fashion, a monthly American magazine, printed an article in 1895 insisting that bloomers were threatening traditional gender roles by robbing women of “that innate modesty which is her greatest charm.”22 Writing to the New York Times, Marguerite Lindley reminded readers that even “strong-minded and noble women” like Susan B. Anthony and Mary Walker, wearers and proponents of “mannish costume,” were subject to indignities at the hands of a public that was not ready for bloomers. For Lindley, “the Knickerbocker age has not yet arrived.”23 The admonishments found in widely read national publications were also echoed in Grand Rapids. The Press reported on August 12, 1895 that the pastor of the First United Brethren Church at the corner of Buchanan and Stewart preached a sermon the night before in which he vehemently “attacked the subject of bloomers.”24 Lady cyclists in the congregation “threw down the gauntlet” and fought back, prompting the pastor to remind them that the divine and perfect Almighty had made women separate and distinct from men.25 Here was the old argument that linked bloomers to the usurpation of the “rights” of men, and the belief that women who wore bloomers actually wanted to be like men, instead of merely wishing for more practical clothing. The Grand Rapids pastor expressed the same concerns about gender roles that were being expressed in publications like The Queen of Fashion.
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(Grand Rapids Public Library Photograph Collection (Coll. 54), 54-4.5-42.2, GRPL Grand Rapids History & Special Collections.)
But unlike the 1850s, the 1890s saw more proponents of the bloomer costume than opponents.26 Women cyclists now clamored for reform garment patterns, prompting Butterick Pattern Company to begin manufacturing them in 1893.27 Bloomer bicycle outfits were featured in fashion plates from Harper’s Bazaar and sold in magazines, such as the Chicago-based Voice of Fashion.28 Grand Rapids newspapers likewise provided bloomer images and information for their female readers to copy, evidence of their desire to keep Grand Rapids women up to date with the newest and most stylish in bicycle clothing. A June 1, 1895 piece from the Grand Rapids Democrat depicted the latest in cycling fashion with a “new and neat bicycle costume for young ladies” consisting of jacket, skirt, and “knickerbockers.”29 (Figure 9) (Figure 10) Grand Rapids women cyclists were understandably concerned about what to wear while riding, as multiple articles confirm. The Women’s Cycling Club of Grand Rapids adopted a constitution in May 1895, but could not come to a consensus on “a suitable dress for the wheel.”30 Ultimately it was decided that “each member wear the suit she prefers.”31 This sentiment appeared just a few days before in a May 11 article where even men “who do not seem to be in the discussion at all, insist that bloomers look best on women cyclists; but they make distinctions…Much—yes, a great deal—depends on the woman.”32 An article from August of that year regarding women cyclists in the city repeats the same concept
(Figure 10) An unidentified woman stands beside a Hamilton-Kenwood Cycle Co. Ladies Model 14 from 1897. The lowered center frame brace, the enclosed chain drive, and the raised handlebars distinguish it from the “Gents” model.
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& Special Collections.) Grand Rapids History L ember 13 1894, p.7, GRP (Michigan Cyclist, Sept
(Figure 11) The Michigan Cyclist’s cartoonist comments on the debate on acceptable women’s attire for bicycles, though probably from a man’s perspective.
of individual choice, stating simply: “those who wish to wear bloomers wear them.”33 There is no hint of derision or ridicule in mentioning women who chose to don the garment, intimating a growing acceptance of the use of bloomers. Not only were women increasingly able to wear bloomers without overwhelming ridicule, but they were given the authority to choose for themselves whether to wear them. (Figure 11) Indeed, it would seem that the bloomer costume was quite popular with Grand Rapids cyclists, from the nearly unanimous vote in favor of them at the McMullen Block, to an August 30, 1895 article that stated bloomers could be “well borne” in the city and were not nearly as shocking as two young women who had dared to smoke cigarettes in public.34 In Grand Rapids, bloomers were now tolerated, but “mannish” activities, such as smoking were not, suggesting that although woman had won a step towards equality and freedom in their clothing choices, they still had a long road ahead of them to true equality. Bloomers, however, had arrived. A city alderman even proposed an amendment that “prohibited the riding of wheels by women unless clothed in the bloomer costume.”35 Although the amendment was not mentioned again, it demonstrates the varied and evolving attitudes towards the controversial mode of dress. The garment that had once been worn by reformers and religious groups was now being worn in France “where the fashions of the world are originated.”36 Any woman even slightly interested in keeping up with the latest styles would consider wearing Mrs. Bloomer’s peculiar trousers for her daily spin. Considerable change had taken place in the perception of bloomers since they first shocked the world almost 50 years earlier. The presence of both denunciation and appreciation of bloomers in the national press as well as in Grand Rapids indicates a population coming to terms with new and challenging concepts of women’s place in society. (Figure 12) (Figure 13) In the 1890s, very few people doubted that bicycles meant great change for women, least of all the women riding them. At the age of 53, suffragist Frances Willard learned to ride the bicycle, and published her thoughts on the experience. She saw powerful parallels between her mastery of the bicycle and her ability to take on any challenge that life presented her with: “He who succeeds, or, to be more exact in handing over my experience, she who succeeds in gaining the mastery of such an animal…will gain the mastery of life, and by exactly the same methods and characteristics.”37 Bicycles provided women with a literal and figurative agent of freedom, giving them freedom of movement and freedom of choice. They accomplished feats equal to or surpassing that of male riders in distance and speed. Though a debate raged on both a national and local level about women’s health,
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(Ada, Michigan Glass Plate Negative Collection (Coll. 122), 122-4-2, GRPL Grand Rapids History & Special Collections.) (Ada, Michigan Glass Plate Negative Collection (Coll. 122), 122-10-3, GRPL Grand Rapids History & Special Collections.)
(Figure 12) When families purchased their bicycles they often posed alongside them, as they did with a new automobile in later years.
(Figure 13) Families took their bicycles to their vacation cabins as a way to explore the countryside.
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(Photo circa 1935 or 1936. James R. Hooper Photograph Collection (Coll. 59), 59-3-1, Neg.787, GRPL Grand Rapids History & Special Collections.)
(Figure 14) Cycling clubs remained popular well into the 20th century. The Ramona Cycle Club had its headquarters on Wealthy Street and reflected the shift in ridership from primary transportation to recreation.
safety, and fashion in regards to cycling, it is the millions of women riders who provide the ultimate testimony to the power of the bicycle in women’s lives. (Figure 14) An analysis of local primary documents from Grand Rapids paints a picture of how the bicycle affected the lives of everyday women. These women were not necessarily liberal reformers bent on changing the status quo, but more likely were women who saw within the bicycle a means of transportation and exercise over which they had complete control. Grand Rapids women organized their own clubs and voted democratically on issues relating to dress. They chose on an individual basis what their clothing would be, and their peers respected that decision. Grand Rapids bicycle manufacturers saw women as a viable and important market, and tailored their products to meet the needs of their consumers. Physicians who saw the benefits of cycling for women encouraged them to partake in the exercise that would make them healthier and more productive human beings. The women cyclists of Grand Rapids, like those in the rest of the nation, were leaving naysayers in the dust and riding full-speed into the future. (Figure 15) Samantha Bullat is a 2013 graduate of Grand Valley State University. An earlier draft of this article received the GVSU History Department’s Quirinus Breen Prize for the best student essay for 2012.
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Endnotes “Going to the Gym,” Grand Rapids History, accessed April 13, 2012, http://historygrandrapids.org/learn.php?id=204 2 “Out for Bloomers,” Grand Rapids Evening Press, May 1, 1895, 1. 3 Ibid. 4 Sue Macy, Wheels of Change: How Women Rode the Bicycle to Freedom (With a Few Flat Tires Along the Way) (National Geographic Society, 2011), 22. 5 Ibid, 25. 6 Ibid. 7 Karen J. Kriebl, MA. 1998. From Bloomers to Flappers: The American Women’s Dress Reform Movement, 1840-1920. PhD dissertation, Ohio State University, 107. 8 Elizabeth Fee and Theodore M. Brown, “Bicycling for Power and Pleasure,” American Journal of Public Health 93, no. 9 (2003), 1409. 9 “All the World Awheel,” Grand Rapids Press, June 6, 1896. 10 Ibid. 11 “Dangers of the Wheel,” Grand Rapids Press, May 14, 1897. 12 Ibid. 13 “The Bicycle for Women,” Grand Rapids Press, June 17, 1893. 14 “Mrs. Lee’s Opinions,” Grand Rapids Herald, April 24, 1892. 15 “Paste This in Your Hat,” Grand Rapids Press, April 11, 1895. 16 “Police Court news,” Grand Rapids Press, June 13, 1893. 17 “Bicyclers’ Rights,” Grand Rapids Press, November 16, 1894. 18 http://www.vintagecolumbiabikes.com/id79.html (Accessed February 1, 2013). 19 “Out for Bloomers,” Grand Rapids Evening Press, May 1, 1895, 1. 20 Patricia A. Cunningham, Reforming Women’s Fashion, 1850-1929: Politics, Health, and Art (Kent State University Press: Kent, 2003) 35. 21 “Reminiscences By E. C. S.,” History of Woman Suffrage, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, and Matilda Joslyn Gage, eds. (New York: Fowler and Wells, 1881), pp. 469-71; 864. 22 Kriebl, 106. 23 Ibid, 108. 24 “Bloomer Women,” Grand Rapids Press, August 12, 1895. 25 Ibid. 26 Kriebl, 106. 27 Ibid, 111. 28 The Voice of Fashion, May 1, 1897. 29 “For Beauty Awheel,” Grand Rapids Democrat, June 6, 1895. 30 “Women’s Bicycle Club,” Grand Rapids Press, May 16, 1895. 31 Ibid. 32 Untitled, Grand Rapids Evening Press, May 11, 1895. 33 “Going on Wheels,” Grand Rapids Press, August 24, 1895. 34 “The New Women,” Grand Rapids Press, August 30, 1895. 35 “Bloomers Compulsory,” Grand Rapids Press, July 31, 1895. 36 “Going on Wheels,” Grand Rapids Press, August 24, 1895. 37 Frances Willard, A Wheel Within a Wheel: How I Learned to Ride the Bicycle, with Some Reflections by the Way (Chicago: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1895), 28. Accessed January 21, 2013. http://www.archive.org/stream/wheelwithinwheel00williala#page/28/mode/2up
(Author photo.)
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(Figure 15) The resurgence in ridership has spurred a renewed interest in the culture and history of bicycles.
2012 / Grand River Valley History
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The BLODGETTS of
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by Jeffrey Sytsma
n article in the Michigan Tradesman observing John Blodgett’s death in 1951 said “Future generations will bless the name of Blodgett because of the philanthropy of John Wood of that name.”1 In order to bless a name, or thank an individual, one needs to be familiar with that name or individual, or at least remember the (Personal collection of Rebecca Smith-Hoffman)
person. Local historians as well as older generations might remember or recognize the family, who they were and what they did for this city. However new generations of
residents in Grand Rapids are only familiar with a new generation of prominent families who have moved to the forefront of the local newspaper and media. It is therefore worthwhile to consider the (Personal collection of Sam Cummings)
lives and contributions of an earlier generation of
entrepreneurs and philanthropists to see the longer patterns of a city’s history. (left) A view of the formal gardens looking back at Brookby taken during the early 1940s. (above) John Blodgett standing in the formal gardens in 1941. 2012 / Grand River Valley History
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Lost and Found AT THE LIBRARY
The Money Question he Grand Rapids History and Special Collections department recently received a donation of three stereo cards from a man in Rochester, New York. He had purchased each of the cards for 50 cents at a flea market. The three cards show images of the 1876 Centennial celebration and parade held in downtown Grand Rapids. One of the cards has a white smudge on the right hand side of the image. I was curious about the smudge and decided to look at the card through a magnifier. What I discovered was that the smudge was actually a sign on Sweet’s Hotel advertising a book, the Money Question by Wm. A. Berkey. The image is grainy, but you can just make out the sign. (Figure 1) At first I was skeptical about Berkey being the author, since he was president of the Phoenix Furniture Company at that time, would go on to form the William Berkey Furniture Company, and would likely not have taken the time to author any work since he was busy establishing and running two of the largest furniture companies in Grand Rapids. (Figure 2) (Figure 3) Since I never heard of the book, I looked it up in our collections and realized that the library did not own this title. With some further research I was able to determine that the book was Berkey’s political manifesto in support of what was called the Greenback Party. The Greenback Party had only a few candidates elected to office throughout the United States, one of whom was Henry S. Smith, elected as mayor of Grand Rapids in 1878. Not
(Figure 1)
(Figures 2 and 3)
only had I come across a title we did not own, but I had also come across a piece of forgotten Grand Rapids political history! I had to have this title to add to our collection and I conducted a search for it on different bookseller sites and was able to find one for sale.
Through the help of a local donor we now own a copy of this work, and it will reside here in the Rare Book collection of the Local History Department of the Library! — Tim Gleisner, Supervisor, Grand Rapids History & Special Collections Department 2012 / Grand River Valley History
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Presidential Artifacts FROM THE GERALD R. FORD PRESIDENTIAL MUSEUM
The Mayaguez Incident he Mayaguez Incident tested the resolve of our nation in trying times. Drawn into the fray were two men who hailed from Grand Rapids, Michigan. One took the reins and made the tough decisions from the highest office in the land, while the other entered harm’s way to implement the swift military response. Afterwards, both drew honors for their leadership and heroism. Khmer Rouge forces from Cambodia seized the SS Mayaguez and its crew in the Gulf of Siam on May 12, 1975. President Gerald R. Ford, a native of Grand Rapids, saw the need to act decisively at a time of perceived American weakness abroad. He ordered a marine assault on the ship and the nearby island of Koh Tang on May 15. Squadrons of HH-53 Jolly Green and CH-53 Knife helicopters were used for the rescue operation. Among those who participated in the military operation was Grand Rapids native Staff Sergeant Martin Jablonski, who served as flight mechanic on one of the Jolly Greens that deployed marines on the second wave of the assault. The helicopters encountered fierce resistance. Several went down and marines fought desperately to maintain a beachhead. Jablonski later recalled, “on the island, mortar shells had exploded all around the aircraft and shrapnel had severed an electrical wire
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Martin Jablonski’s siblings, Timothy and Pamela Jablonski, donated his Distinguished Flying Cross citation, medal, and a unit plaque to the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum in his memory and for all those who serve.
bundle located two feet from where I was positioned…I had been lucky.” The fourteen-hours of combat netted the ship and its entire crew. The heavy casualties suffered by the small strike force added a few final scars to the legacy of Vietnam. In a live broadcast to the nation, President Ford deflected praise to those who took part in the rescue: “I wish to express my deep appreciation
and that of the entire Nation to the units and the men who participated in these operations for their valor and for their sacrifice.” The United States Air Force awarded Martin Jablonski the Distinguished Flying Cross for “courageous action aided in the recovery of the SS Mayaguez and its crew.” — James W. Draper, Museum Registrar
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Grand Rapids Historical Society c/o Grand Rapids Public Library 111 Library St. NE Grand Rapids, Michigan 49503
Non-Profit Organization U.S. Postage PAID Grand Rapids, MI Permit No. 234
