DAYHOFF: All of Westminster got fired up over 'Defense Day' in 1924

DAYHOFF: All of Westminster got fired up over 'Defense Day' in 1924

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By Kevin Dayhoff 

Posted 9/12/10

http://www.explorecarroll.com/community/4714/all-westminster-got-fired-up-over-defense-day-1924/

On Sept. 12, 1924, Carroll County celebrated "Defense Day" in Westminster with singing, parades, a prettiest baby contest, speeches and a beauty contest, of which the prize was $25. (No one entered.)

Much of the day's festivities took place on the Hoffa football field at what was then Western Maryland College -- now McDaniel College.

And oh, by the way ... one of the highlights of the day featured shooting up the field with machine guns. (Maybe it was the machine guns that inhibited the county's most beautiful women from entering the beauty contest?)

More research is needed to understand what "Defense Day" was all about. We obviously no longer celebrate it.

On Aug. 4, 1924, a piece in Time magazine notes that: "The project of holding a National Defense Day on Sept. 12 has met considerable opposition from pacifist bodies. President (Calvin) Coolidge undertook last week to uphold the propriety of the proposed 'Day' in a letter to the National Council for the Prevention of War ..."

[...]  http://www.explorecarroll.com/community/4714/all-westminster-got-fired-up-over-defense-day-1924/

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LABELS: COLLEGES MCDANIEL, DAYHOFF MEDIA EXPLORE CARROLL, HISTORY, HISTORY 1920S, HISTORY 1920S CARROLL CO, HISTORY 1920S WESTMINSTER, PEOPLE SCHROERS-RON, WESTMINSTER POLICE CHIEF SPAULDING
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Kevin Dayhoff Soundtrack: http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/ = http://www.kevindayhoff.net/ Kevin Dayhoff Art: http://kevindayhoffart.blogspot.com/ or http://kevindayhoffart.com/ = http://www.kevindayhoff.com/ Kevin Dayhoff Westminster: http://kevindayhoffwestgov-net.blogspot.com/ or http://www.westgov.net/ = www.kevindayhoff.org Twitter: https://twitter.com/kevindayhoff Twitpic: http://twitpic.com/photos/kevindayhoff Kevin Dayhoff's The New Bedford Herald: http://kbetrue.livejournal.com/ = www.newbedfordherald.net Explore Carroll: www.explorecarroll.com The Tentacle: www.thetentacle.com