Celebrating 75 years of Old Fort News

The Old Fort News celebrates 75 years of publication in 2012 and so over the course of the next several months some of us on the staff will be perusing past articles from the magazine’s early years and publishing quotes from articles that we find most interesting.

In case you don’t know, the Old Fort News is a magazine published by The History Center. If you are a member, you are automatically subscribed. Not a member? You can pick up copies in our gift shop. We have a number of back issues available and if there is a particular topic in which you are interested, you can have the front desk staff check the article title list for you. This list is printed in the back of the current issue.

This current issue also contains an overview of the publication’s history as well as selected articles from past issues. We strive to use as many photographs as we can because, as they say, “pictures tell a story” and no more so than in the historical arena. This also allows us, with our limited space for displays and exhibits—the downside to a building built in 1893--to publish photos many of us have probably never seen.

The first issue of the Old Fort News was published in 1936 with this opening paragraph on page one:

“This bulletin is a new venture for the Allen County-Fort Wayne Historical Society. The ambition of the Society is that this little publication will prove beneficial to members, schools, study clubs, and the general public. The aim is to serve as a source of information concerning the activities of the Society and matters of general historical interest. From time to time short bits of information such as the findings of research work or source material pertaining to matters of local interest will be printed.”

The publication has changed a great deal since the original work, thanks in large part to our curator Walter Font, who now serves as editor. In his piece on the history of the Old Fort News, written for the current edition, he says:

“…The character of the Old Fort News has gradually been reshaped with almost exclusive emphasis on providing new local histories that are well documented, having lasting value, and presented effectively with good illustrations and page layout.  There is still a place for ‘News from the Past’ pieces, reminiscences and other such tales, but the core value lies in good insightful history that adds to the fabric of our local culture.  The overall presentation was enhanced in 2006 when color was added, the same year we took full advantage of in-house desktop publishing tools.  In some ways the production process has been become more complicated and time-consuming because as one strives to improve quality there is a requirement to pay more attention to detail—the maddening minutia of commas and colons, proper endnote structure and color-enhanced page design.  The use of computer technology has made this almost manageable: text layout, image reproduction and page design are more efficient than the old ‘pasteup’ days.  Tuning the communication instrument will continue as we progress toward Willis Richardson’s 1939 vision of producing a ‘real magazine of history.’”

We encourage you to stop by the History Center’s gift shop to take a look at back issues in which you may have an interest….as well as the other books we have available for sale. The Barr Street Market opens July 7 and until its final day on September 15, admission on Saturday mornings will be free—our gift to Fort Wayne for your support! While you’re shopping to feed the body, shop to feed the mind and learn more about your city’s history. You’ll be amazed at what you’ll learn!

Council of Defense documents provide insight into Allen County during WW I

By Nancy McCammon-Hansen

Civic involvement took a unique turn in Allen County during World War I and recent work by two volunteers provides us with organized documentation to showcase this part of our city’s history.

Jeanne S. Miller and Lorraine H. Weier spent the better part of two years going through our collection of documents from the Allen County Council of Defense (COD), indexing the materials and creating 38 categories so that researchers can more easily find the information they need. The ten boxes of files and the resultant inventory list are now under review by our curator, Walter Font.

Both of these women enjoy Allen County history—Jeanne is a life-long Allen County resident and Laurie has lived here 53 years. This is not the first time they’ve worked on a project together—in fact, it’s the third! Going through massive amounts of paper can be “tedious, dull work” (their words, not this author’s) but they will readily share that the work can some days be fascinating, especially when the opportunity to compare “history” to today presents itself.

The Allen County COD was formed at the behest of the state, which had a state-level organization organized by the United States Council of Defense. The COD was formed by decree of President Woodrow Wilson shortly before the United States entered the WW I. Ultimately, there were national, state, county and township councils.

The Allen County Council “did about everything” according to Jeanne and Laurie, with members who “served voluntarily way past the end of the war. They were prominent citizens who had the time, talent and expertise to do the tasks that supported the war effort.”

Propaganda—on both sides of the war effort—was used by the COD to restrict Germans in their support of the homeland and to promote to “everyone to get on board and support the war effort.”

Fund raising was, as today, a part of the job with a surprising amount of money raised in Liberty bonds and for the Red Cross. Prominent male residents would go to movie theaters to promote the buying of bonds.

Also important to the war effort was the promotion of fair pricing of food stuffs and other vital materials. Farmers were encouraged to produce more crops due to famine in Europe and the Boys Working Reserve was formed to “employ” young men not old enough for the armed services but strong enough to be of service to farmers. A farming background helped, but even city dwellers were encouraged to apply and work for “a pittance”. Jeanne and Laurie found folders full of applications, cards and signatures as well as advice to farmers.

However, no African Americans were allowed to participate in the area’s farming. Integration was not yet a part of our culture. Jeanne and Laurie commented during the interview for this article that among the papers they were sorting was a slip of paper that discussed “black” soldiers not being able to attend local movie theaters and a proposal to change this policy. But they could not find any documentation that the policy was ever changed.

All policies were set at the national level. Jeanne and Laurie were surprised at how much money was raised locally for implementation of those policies as well as the number of citizens who were involved in this war-time effort.

A good example of basic needs by our military was a memo from then Assistant Secretary of the Navy Franklin D. Roosevelt requesting that Americans contribute telescopes and binoculars to the Navy, which was unprepared to join in the fighting.

Fort Wayne during WW I was a very ethnic community comprised of a number of German immigrants, many of whom had not acquired US citizenship. One of the more interesting facts discovered during the cataloging of the COD materials was the attempt to forbid teaching and preaching in German. Lists of young people in German language congregations were developed and boys in particular were identified by age group.

The Allen County Public Library was given a list of books that were to be removed from the shelves. They complied.

The result of compliance to COD activities most often occurred through social coercion. You didn’t want to be seen as disloyal and pressure came from neighbor to neighbor to be a good American. People seemed more willing to go along with whatever the Federal government decreed, especially when it came to restrictions on rationing of items such as sugar and wheat as well as building materials.

In this election year it’s important to note that a major effort was made to get servicemen to vote absentee.

In an age where technology was not particularly well advanced, telegrams were the most often used method of communication.

Jeanne and Laurie will tell you that handling original documents almost a century old is a “privilege” and that history “comes alive” when you see the actual words of real people living in a particular age. Walter Font, the History Center’s curator, served as advisor for the project.

“He’s a true professional who knows his business,” said Jeanne. Laurie added that “Walter’s insight on how to make the material available and how to label folders so people can easily find what they’re looking for” were critical to the success of putting the collection into a usable form for researchers.