Looking back: Washington County in the 1920s
Courtesy of Washington County Historical Society
This still was taken in Washington County during Prohibition and is part of the collection of Washington County Historical Society.
Courtesy of WCHS
Charles “Pruner” West of Washington & Jefferson College was the first African-American quarterback to play in the Rose Bowl.
Courtesy of Washington County Historical Society
Washington area residents would have been able to see “talkies” in the 1920s at Capitol Theatre in Washington.
Courtesy of WCHS
Charlotte LeMoyne Wills was instrumental in the women’s suffrage movement.
Prosperity, suffrage and entertainment were keystones of the 1920s in America as well as in Washington, Pa. At the beginning of the 1920s, the country had economically recovered from the trying times of World War I and was beginning to settle into a life of happiness and relative comfort. It was in this time America experienced a lot of firsts.
Included in these firsts was Amelia Earhart becoming the first woman to fly a plane over the Atlantic Ocean on June 17, 1928. Nearly eight years before Earhart’s historic flight, however, an even longer journey was completed with the passing of the 19th Amendment in August 1920. After a long battle for equality that began as early as the mid-1800s, women in America were at last given the right to vote. This battle was fought in local, state and national government by women from all walks of life. The LeMoyne family even finds its niche in the early years of the suffrage battle.
Charlotte LeMoyne Wills, the eldest daughter of Francis and Madelaine, first learned of the suffrage efforts when she attended an abolition conference with her father. After learning of the cause, she decided to make women’s suffrage a passion. She worked with such renowned suffragists as Caroline Severance and Susan B. Anthony. Anthony fondly remembers a visit with Charlotte and her daughter Fanny at their home in Los Angeles. Although Charlotte, who passed in October 1908, would never see the fruition of her labors, it was her dedication and efforts that would help bring about the 19th Amendment.
The passage of the 19th Amendment allowing women to vote was not the only highly contested amendment to be adopted during the 1920s. The 18th Amendment, passed into law in 1920, was a law of prohibition. Prohibition lasted from 1920 to 1933 and was the ban of production, sale and transportation of alcohol.
Prohibition mainly affected the working-class population. While the wealthy had the means to stockpile alcohol before the law went into effect, those with lesser means were left without the ability to purchase alcohol. So a number of illegal alcohol production operations sprang up around the country.
In Washington County, where there was a long history of supporting the rights of local distillers, dating back nearly 200 years to the Whiskey Rebellion, prohibition was not accepted with obedient submission. The sentiment of anger against the 18th Amendment was one that spread across the county.
While alcohol was a limited option for merrymaking, the decade provided a number of other entertainment outlets. Film had been a growing industry and saw a number of developments in the 1920s. The first “talkies” – films with sound and dialogue – were released between 1926 and 1927. These films revolutionized the face of movies forever.
The film industry also saw the introduction of what would become a globally recognized name. In 1928, Walt Disney released the first Mickey Mouse cartoon, Steamboat Willie. The quick popularity of this cartoon propelled Disney to launch a franchise that now boasts more than 500 movies, a TV channel, radio station and amusement parks in five different countries.
Citizens of Washington would have been able to see “talkies” and the release of Steamboat Willie in the local Capitol Theatre. The popularization of these types of films made movie-going a much more common pastime.
In addition to changes in film in the 1920s, the entertainment industry also saw the first Miss America pageant Sept. 7-8, 1921; the invention of the American Pro Football League (1920, which would become the NFL in 1922); and the continued popularity of baseball. America’s pastime erupted in popularity with a variety of local teams cropping up, including the Ward 8 team in Washington.
In 1927, Babe Ruth broke the single season home run record, making baseball even more popular. A few years later, the Yankees would start an affiliate in Washington and for several years made the trip to Washington to play an exhibition. In 1922, Washington & Jefferson College’s football team played against the University of California in the Rose Bowl game. That game holds several distinctions, including being the only scoreless Rose Bowl, the first Rose Bowl to end in a tie, the first African-American quarterback to play in the game (Charles “Pruner” West of W&J), and W&J being the smallest school to ever play in the game.
The prosperity and excitement of the 1920s came to a crashing halt in October 1929, when the stock market crashed. When this happened, the country was plunged into a time of economic depression that saw large numbers of unemployment, a mass exodus to the West Coast and an overall pall of unhappiness. The depression would last through the 1930s, until the beginning of World War II.
Clay Kilgore is executive director of the Washington County Historical Society.