Professor Hamilton's Diary: May 9, 1935

He gives a talk on 'Conditions in Central Europe'; what were they?

Finally, Professor Hamilton writes in his diary again. Although he is head of the history department at Albright College, he seems to be a proficient speaker on a wide variety of topics, from Mexican handcrafts to Renaissance art to early American newspapers. Today he gave an evening talk to the Men’s League of St. Thomas Reformed Church titled “Conditions in Central Europe.”

“Hot dogs for refreshments!” he remarked. In 1939, the King and Queen of England will be just as surprised when they are served the delicacy by the Roosevelts in Hyde Park.

I can find no account of the professor’s talk. Interestingly, the Reading Times announced he would be giving an illustrated lecture on Mexico later in May!

So what were conditions in Central Europe at that time? The vintage map above, being offered by a dealer on Etsy, shows the lands of Germany, Austria, Hungary, Romania, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Switzerland and the city-states of Lichtenstein and Dantzig. We already know what was going on in Germany, which was fully under the sway of Hitler and the Nazis. They were getting their war machine in gear.

Paid subscribers can read on about the shifting map of Central Europe between 1918 and 2018.