By John Paulsen
(Seventy-five years ago this coming June 11 the first guest signed the Governor's Mansion register and the Sharlot Hall Museum began. Sharlot Hall Museum will be running a series of articles over the coming months that will explore the people and events that have shaped the Museum's long journey. This Sunday, and last, we will explore what life was like in Prescott in 1928)
Through June of 1928, the stock market continued its wild gyrations with abrupt up and down shifts, including some of record numbers. Buying frenzies alternated with equally wild sell-offs. On June 1, the Department of Agriculture reported prices were 148% of the pre-war level; then on the June 9, Industrial stocks dropped 2-10 points, while higher priced specialties dropped 10-30 points. It appears that widespread unease had resulted from the nation's credit situation.
Frontier Days and Independence Day dominated the news in early July, but on July 3, a petition signed by eighty-eight property owners to the city council requested that Gurley Street from Mount Vernon to Washington be paved. After much wrangling and discussion the paving was put to a referendum, and defeated by a citizen's vote on July 27. Similar to the school bond vote, the Miner noted, "The era of open handed public generosity appears to be past and new public works are more closely scrutinized by those who have to pay the bill." On July 29, the nineth Olympic games opened in Amsterdam, the first Olympics in which women competed. At the closing ceremonies, championship medals in Track and Field went to the Americans.
On August 2, Zasu Pitts opened at the Elks Theater in "Buck Privates". The Miner reported the dedication of Ernest E. Love airport on August 25, and announced that the number of airplanes arriving were the greatest ever for the field. Fifty planes came from March Field alone. Free flying tours were offered during the festivities.
With the upcoming September primary, final Prescott voter register indicated 5,738 registered Democrats and 3,208 registered Republicans. On September 6, Louisiana suffered the second deadliest hurricane in U.S. history. It took over 2300 lives. Schools were dismissed at noon on September 7, so that students could go to the Christy Brothers circus which was in town for two performances. Several well-known stars appeared at the Elks Theater, including Charlie Chaplin in" The Circus" and Hoot Gibson in "The Rawhide Kid". Sculptor Gutzon Borglum visited Prescott on September 11, stating to the Courier that his brother Solon's statute of Buckey O'Neill had no superior in this country, nor perhaps abroad.
New York Stock Exchange continued to report what seems a forecast of the crash of a year later. On October 5, the Courier reported violent swings in stock prices as opposing speculative forces battled for control. This continued as frenzied trading and heavy profit taking swamped trading facilities. However, on October 11, this turned around and stocks jumped 5-15 points. Probably October's most far reaching news was the initiation by Joseph Stalin of his first Five-Year Plan calling for the "collectivization of workers." On the national level, the German lighter-than-air Graf Zepplin airship landed in Lakehurst, New Jersey on its inaugural trip. Then on October 24, the Miner announced the formation of Radio-Keith-Orpheum (RKO) Corporation, predicting it would become a giant in American entertainment.
Locally, the Santa Fe Railroad proposed constructing a graded crossing between Summit and Lincoln avenues. Residents of the "Old Ball Park" and the Dameron tracts protested such a crossing. Ranchers continued to fight the Smelter operators claiming that smelter discharges contained noxious fumes, which were ruining their crops and rangeland. On October 22, a "Smoke Trial" pitted ranchers against the United Verde and Verde Extensions smelters. The smelter operators were found guilty and fined a total of $6.00.
Featured movies at the Elks Theater were Mary Pickford in "My Best Girl", Greta Garbo in "The Devine Woman", and Pola Nagri in "Three Sinners".
November's biggest news was Herbert Hoover's landslide presidential defeat of Al Smith who carried only four states. Prescott recorded an impressive 78% voter turnout in the first election to be carried nationally by NBC radio.
Locally, tragedy was in the news. The attempted cross country flight of the "Yankee Doodle" ended when it crashed in heavy rain and fog in the Bradshaw mountains killing all aboard. Another downside came as all Prescott schools let out a day early for the Thanksgiving holiday and stayed closed through December 9 due to an outbreak of influenza, which caused up to 115 absences per day out of a high school enrollment of 260. Most public meetings were cancelled and the Elks Theater was closed. The epidemic slowly moved eastward across the country infecting some 41,000 people before it died out.
State government lived up to its reputation, when on November 26, Governor Hunt and Senator Fred Colter got into a fist fight at the capital in Phoenix. Lt Comm. John Philip Sousa also lived up to his reputation, refusing to lead his band in a radio broadcast because, "it would give listeners an inadequate idea of the perfection of his musicians."
"The King of Kings" began a two-day run at the Elks Theater on November 6. Late in December, the Grand Canyon disappearance of honeymooning Glen and Bessie Hyde became a human interest story; the couple was never found.
An early Christmas present for Arizona came, when on December 14, the U.S. Senate overwhelmingly passed the Swing-Johnson bill. Signed by President Coolidge, the law authorized construction of Boulder Dam - later named Hoover Dam. On December 21, Santa's Christmas tree arrived from Mt Union. It was to be decorated and lit up for Santa's Christmas Eve arrival. On the evening of December 24, Santa arrived from Flagstaff by way of Winslow, Ash Fork and, finally, Love Airport. For the first time his progress was broadcast to the waiting children (and adults) at the Yavapai County Courthouse Plaza. As 1928 drew to a close, Dr. Ferdinand Ellerman arrived on December 27, to conduct "seeing" tests of Prescott's night skies as astronomers searched for the best place to locate a new 200 inch telescope, which ultimately ended up near San Diego.
Thus ended 1928 in Prescott, in Yavapai County, and the State of Arizona. Had it been a "banner year" as predicted back in January? The two paper's year-end summaries didn't entirely agree. The Prescott Courier titled their summary "Progress of Arizona During 1928 Set New High Records." However, the Miner, in true stick your neck out fashion, headed their summary; "New Year Should Be Lots Better: 1928 Not So Bad," proving that neither had a real shiny crystal ball on what was to occur in 1929.
(John Paulsen is a volunteer at the Sharlot Hall Museum)
Sharlot Hall Museum Photograph Call Number: (misc140pb). Reuse only by permission.
The wreck of the Yankee Doodle in the Bradshaw Mountains in November and the establishment of Love Field just months before were some of the main highlights of 1928. A jittery stock market and a refusal to pave part of Gurley Street also punctuated the year that Sharlot Hall Museum first opened its doors.