If only Emmett had become a cult hero, he’d have a shirt like this too! Although he didn’t have a t-shirt, he did have a club. True! When Emmett was running for Congress in 1912, his constituents organized an Emmett Wilson Club, and set one up in every county […]
Yesterday afternoon, I finished reading the 1918 edition of The Chipley Banner. This publication is significant in Emmett’s research because Chipley, Florida was Emmett’s boyhood home. His father, Dr. F.C. Wilson, was a well respected townsman and the postmaster (a patronage gift from Emmett while a congressman). While Emmett was […]
The blogger Michael Segal asks an interesting question: Is ambition an addiction worth having? As some of you know from a few earlier posts, Emmett Wilson essentially drank himself to death at age 35 on May 29, 1918. Behind the drinking, I think, was another addiction: Ambition. Part of a […]
This last week I’ve been tracking down an elusive document in Emmett Wilson’s research; specifically, a copy of a eulogy given for him at the annual Elk’s Lodge memorial service, held on December 2, 1918. It’s obscure, folks. So what else is new? LOL! All these obscure leads I’ve been […]
Friends, a while back I had mentioned that Emmett and I share a common ancestor way back in the family tree, namely the Earl of Caithness. “Earl” is on my maternal grandmother’s side of the family. For Emmett, Earl is on his maternal grandfather’s side of the family, if that […]
Readers, I just finished the second Brand Whitlock book, Her Infinite Variety, in two days. It was a quick read (only 185 pages), and thank God for that. It made me seethe, it was so damn irritating! Argh! In a nutshell: Busy Chicago state senator finds himself languishing and bored […]
Earlier this week, I came across a book, The 13th District, by Brand Whitlock. It piqued my interest in that it was written by a journalist-turned-lawyer-turned-politician, who was in Washington at the same time as Emmett. Also, it seemed like the type of fiction Emmett might have read. Although the […]
Friends, one thing I’ve noticed in doing Emmett’s research over the past year is that he and I have several things in common. For instance, when I first moved to Washington, D.C. many years ago, I was the same age as Emmett, except, I certainly wasn’t a congresswoman. (I worked […]
In Emmett’s day, postcards were sent to friends and family all the time. They were lovely, even humorous. I know from my research that Emmett had a great sense of humor, so I am certain he sent at least a few humorous (as well as serious) postcards to his friends […]
Readers, one thing I have learned in doing Emmett’s research is that the Progressive Movement in which Emmett was an active participant, wasn’t ‘progressive’ in terms of racial or gender equality. For example, today, I found this item about Emmett invited to speak at a meeting for the National Democratic […]
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