Professor Hamilton's Diary: March 23, 1935

Margaret upset about the baby; Americans fear another world war

This was a Saturday, with morning classes at Albright College only. After the mid-day meal, Professor Hamilton took his wife Margaret to Reading Hospital to be with Mary Elizabeth, still recovering from her mastoid surgery. “Margaret much upset because Mary Eliz. was not quite as bright today and had some fever in p.m.,” he wrote.

He spent the evening reading the book Every Man His Own Historian by Carl L. Becker. The book was based on a speech Becker gave while president of the American Historical Association in 1931. You can read the speech by following this link.

As early as 1935, Americans were becoming very worried about the possibility of another Europen war, with heated debate between isolationists and interventionists. This cartoon on the front page of the Reading Times shows Uncle Sam pondering the choices. Beneath him ran a long editorial about avoiding war.

For more on this subject — which echoes as we consider our role in the present-day wars in Europe and the Middle East — paid subscribers can read on. Click below to upgrade for just 16 cents a day.