Tag: 1938

  • Elite Education Eludes Brilliant but Broke Youth

    Elite Education Eludes Brilliant but Broke Youth

    In a scathing indictment of America’s education system, Harvard University President James Bryant Conant laid bare the stark reality of a nation where privilege reigned supreme over merit. On March 2, 1938, at the American Association of School Administrators in Atlantic City, New Jersey, Conant delivered a searing critique of the university’s admissions process, revealing…

  • Hammer to the Head: DC Husband Indicted for Brutal Office Assault

    Hammer to the Head: DC Husband Indicted for Brutal Office Assault

    In a shocking display of marital mayhem, Thomas W. Blackstock, 42, has been charged with assaulting his estranged wife, Ola Mae Blackstock, with a hammer inside the Internal Revenue Building on February 14, 1938. The attack left the 42-year-old woman battered and bruised, with witnesses claiming Blackstock struck her three times on the head. According…

  • Fidelity’s Dirty Secrets Exposed: New Association Picked to Clean Up the Mess

    Fidelity’s Dirty Secrets Exposed: New Association Picked to Clean Up the Mess

    WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 26, 1938, WASHINGTON D.C. – In a move that sent shockwaves through the nation’s capital, the District Court handed down a decision yesterday that would have far-reaching consequences for the city’s financial underbelly. The court gave its final approval for the sale of the assets of the Fidelity Building Loan Association to the…

  • Washington’s Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing: Stitely’s $84,000 Payroll Heist

    Washington’s Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing: Stitely’s $84,000 Payroll Heist

    It was a chilly winter morning in Washington D.C. when Reno E. Stitely, the former chief of the voucher unit at the National Bank Service, awaited his transfer from the District Jail to a Federal penitentiary. The 36,000 fine and a 0-to-12 year prison term, handed down the previous day for an $84,000 payroll fraud,…

  • Holding Companies in the Doghouse: Edison Exec Bites Back at FDR

    Holding Companies in the Doghouse: Edison Exec Bites Back at FDR

    January 15, 1938, New York City – In a scathing rebuke, W.K. Kellogg, president of the Edison Electric Institute, took aim at President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s assertion that utility holding companies were being controlled by a ‘4-inch tail wagging a 96-inch dog.’ The phrase, used by FDR to describe the influence of holding companies on…

  • Banks Collapse Amidst French Financial Chaos

    Banks Collapse Amidst French Financial Chaos

    January 14, 1938, marked a dark day for the French economy as the nation’s financial woes deepened. In a desperate bid to restore confidence in the financial system, French Prime Minister Albert LeBrun took to the streets, seeking to reassure the public that the government would do everything in its power to address the crisis.…