The Liberty Bell Comes to the Rescue Part 1 – By Donna Schlachter

Photo by Brett Sayles: https://www.pexels.com/photo/pass-and-stow-bell-on-sunny-street-5437555/



When I think of the Liberty Bell, I recall images of that cracked ringer, and I wonder how it could possibly come to the rescue. After all, this lump of iron from over two hundred years in the past—not to mention that jagged slash that makes it unusable—just reduces any credibility this historical artifact might otherwise claim.

BUT…

In April 1917, just weeks after joining World War 1, the United States was in deep trouble—financial trouble. In order to finance this country’s war efforts. The Treasury Department undertook the largest war-bond drive ever, $2 billion (more than $40 billion in today’s dollars)—in only six weeks.

They engaged the promotional efforts of movie stars, billboards, streetcar ads, and fliers dropped from planes. But sales were poor. So they huddled behind closed doors, and came up with a firecracker of an idea.

They would ring the Liberty Bell.

No, you might say. Unheard of. What if—what if it broke clean in half?

Treasury Secretary William McAdoo didn’t care.

And to follow this grand scheme, every bell in the nation would peal out the good news once the peals of Old Liberty had faded.

 

From Smithsonian magazine, April 2017

So, on the bond campaign’s final day, June 14, 1917, Philadelphia Mayor Thomas Smith and his entourage approached Independence Hall and climbed the steps to where the bell hung. Thousands watched. You could hear a penny drop. Microphones and a Victrola trumpet waited for the sound that would revitalize the nation.

Using a small gold hammer, he struck the bell once. It remained intact. A second time. A third, and on through to thirteen times, once for each original colony. Then every church, school, fire station, and building that had a bell tower rang its bell, echoing over the land the commitment of the citizens to fund and win this war, as well as to revere the past, present, and future in this single act.

How ironic that only a hundred years before, the bell hung in Independence Hall, a building slated for demolition. A local newspaper editor went on a campaign in 1818 to save the building where the Declaration of Independence had been signed.

A new bell replaced the original, which was still rung for special occasions, such as the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration; in memory of founders’ birthdays; and over the Transcontinental phone line in 1915.

Needless to say, with this publicity, bond sales soared, easily exceeding the goal.

 

Hint about the Liberty Bell's previous journey -- two of the many folks who came to view the bell -- from Moline. Smithsonian magazine April 2017

 

Next time, later in the year, I'll share about the amazing road trip the Bell took two years before the events in this blog post.

About Donna:

A hybrid author, Donna writes squeaky clean historical and contemporary suspense. She has been published more than 60 times in books; is a member of several writers groups; facilitates a critique group; teaches writing classes; and judges in writing contests. She loves history and research, traveling extensively for both, and is an avid oil painter. She is taking all the information she’s learned along the way about the writing and publishing process, and is coaching committed career writers. Learn more at https://www.donnaschlachter.com/the-purpose-full-writer-coaching-programs Check out her coaching group on FB: https://www.facebook.com/groups/604220861766651

 

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Resource: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-liberty-bell-won-great-war

Dave Gallaher - The Original All Black Captain

Erica Vetsch here: Over this past year, we've been exploring historic sites in Minnesota, but today we're taking a bit of a detour. Into the world of sports!

Over the past year, I have become an avid fan of rugby. Not just any rugby, but New Zealand rugby. I LOVE watching the New Zealand national team, the All Blacks.

For me, being a fan means learning the history of the team I'm supporting. In order to understand the present, you have to understand the past, and that goes for sports teams, too.

And one of the things I love about rugby is the history and tradition. The five pillars of Rugby are:

Passion

Integrity

Discipline

Solidarity

Respect

In discovering the history of the All Blacks, no figure looms as large as that of Dave Gallaher, a man who displayed those five pillar qualities not only on the rugby pitch, but across the whole of his all-too-short life.

Dave Gallaher, who was born in Ireland but immigrated to New Zealand when he was a child, came up through club rugby and became the captain of the All Blacks. He was the skipper of the team when they made and unprecedented tour of Europe where they played 36 matches and won 35 of them! (The one loss is still disputed by die-hard All Blacks fans.)

Rugby was not a professional sport, (and didn't become professional until 1995!) so the players received no pay for their seven month tour of the 'home countries.' Being the captain of a group of men far from home for an extended period of time took a special kind of man, a great leader.

Dave Gallaher in 1905, wearing the original All Black
jersey with a leather yoke and embroidered silver fern.

One thing that made Gallaher such a good leader is that he always led from the front. He never required of his team anything he wasn't willing to do as well. That leadership example extended to other areas of his life as well, from his job at a freezing works (slaughterhouse/meat-packing plant) to his volunteer enlistments in both the Boer War in 1901 and World War I in . By the time The Great War rolled around, Dave Gallaher was well beyond the age of enlistment, but he was determined.

Dave Gallaher in uniform.

Gallaher enlisted in 1916, and while awaiting deployment to France, learned that his younger brother, Douglas, had lost his life in battle. Gallaher held the rank of sergeant. On October 4th, 1917, during the attack on Gravenstafel Spur near the town of Passchendaele, Belgium, Gallaher was killed in battle. He was buried at Nine Elms Cemetery in Belgium. Though his gravestone (on the reverse side) gives his age as 41, he was actually 44 at the time of his death, having concealed his true age back in 1901 when he enlisted to fight in the war in South Africa.

D. Gallaher's grave in Belgium. It is not unusual
to see a rugby ball placed here.

This last week marked the 100th anniversary of the death of Dave Gallaher. The Originals captain wasn't the only All Black killed in action. In fact, thirteen All Blacks rugby players, 1 in 10 to wear the jersey up to that point, gave their lives in The Great War.

Passion

Integrity

Discipline

Solidarity

Respect

What more could you ask from your heroes, both in sport and in life?

Below is the current captain of the All Blacks, Kieran Read, paying his respects to the man who held the office a hundred years before. One facet of the All Blacks culture that is taught and re-taught to the players is that they don't own the jersey they wear. They are merely custodians, and it is their job and their honor to add to the legacy, to pass it on to the next man having enhanced it through the embodiment of the five pillars.

Photo credits from: https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=13948575 

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Erica Vetsch is a transplanted Kansan now residing in Minnesota. She loves history and romance, and is blessed to be able to combine the two by writing historical romances. Whenever she’s not immersed in fictional worlds, she’s the company bookkeeper for the family lumber business, mother of two, wife to a man who is her total opposite and soul-mate, and avid museum patron.
You can visit her online at www.ericavetsch.com and on Facebook at Erica Vetsch Author