21 Essays on 1913

"The Piper at the Gates of Dawn" illustration by
Paul Bransom for the 1913 edition of
The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame.
Source: Wikimedia Commons

For the month of January 2013, the focus of 21 Essays will be on the year 1913.  Woodrow Wilson was starting his first term as President of the United States, the events that led to World War I were steadily falling into place, and my four grandparents were children and teenagers growing up in Virginia, Connecticut, and New York.  Cars, airplanes, movies, record players, telephones, and electric lights were still exciting.  They represented the modern age.

As always, the focus of 21 Essays is very personal—I write about the subjects that particularly appeal to me.  In reviewing the highlights of 1913, the following things leap out at me as being particularly promising:

--  The publication of O Pioneers! by Willa Cather

--  The publication of the Scribners’ edition of Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson with illustrations by N.C. Wyeth

--  The publication of The Custom of the Country by Edith Wharton

--  Publication of Mother West Wind’s Neighbors by Thornton Burgess

--  The premiere of George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion

--  Publication of “September 1913” by W.B. Yeats

--  First publication of “Danny Boy” lyrics

--  The Insects’ Christmas, animated and directed by Wladyslaw Starewicz

--  The Battle of Elderbush Gulch, directed by D.W. Griffith

--  The Armory Show

--  The discovery of the Eberswalde Hoard

--  First discovery and identification of Styracosaurus fossils

I might write on some of these.  And I might even write in-depth on a couple of these.

Of course, this is just a small sampling of potential 1913 highlights.  As always, I’m completely open to suggestions for essays on other subjects or to receiving volunteer essay contributions.  Just keep it positive—this is a place for sharing enthusiasms.

Welcome to the world of one hundred years ago, 1913…

© 2013 Lee Price