Marion Elizabeth Rodgers
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195072389
- eISBN:
- 9780199787982
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195072389.003.0008
- Subject:
- Literature, 19th-century and Victorian Literature
This chapter gives new information about the Great Baltimore Fire of 1904, which destroyed more than 140 acres and left 35,000 Baltimoreans jobless. The event ranks with the Chicago fire of 1871 and ...
More
This chapter gives new information about the Great Baltimore Fire of 1904, which destroyed more than 140 acres and left 35,000 Baltimoreans jobless. The event ranks with the Chicago fire of 1871 and the San Francisco earthquake of 1906 as among the great disasters of American history. The press was hurt most among all the city's industries, but was the first to recover. One of the newspapers cited for their contributions during the crisis was Mencken's Baltimore Herald. The Baltimore Fire also bound Mencken more strongly to the city of his birth and determined the future course of his career, away from writing poetry and fiction and to the choice he had been struggling to make for himself.Less
This chapter gives new information about the Great Baltimore Fire of 1904, which destroyed more than 140 acres and left 35,000 Baltimoreans jobless. The event ranks with the Chicago fire of 1871 and the San Francisco earthquake of 1906 as among the great disasters of American history. The press was hurt most among all the city's industries, but was the first to recover. One of the newspapers cited for their contributions during the crisis was Mencken's Baltimore Herald. The Baltimore Fire also bound Mencken more strongly to the city of his birth and determined the future course of his career, away from writing poetry and fiction and to the choice he had been struggling to make for himself.
Marion Elizabeth Rodgers
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195072389
- eISBN:
- 9780199787982
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195072389.003.0009
- Subject:
- Literature, 19th-century and Victorian Literature
Mencken tried to rehabilitate the Herald after the Baltimore Fire. In his desperation, he abandoned his own principles and printed a fabricated story about the Russo-Japanese war. Restless, he came ...
More
Mencken tried to rehabilitate the Herald after the Baltimore Fire. In his desperation, he abandoned his own principles and printed a fabricated story about the Russo-Japanese war. Restless, he came to the realization that journalism was fleeting, and that “the man who devotes his life to it writes his history in water.” He returned to drama criticism, a powerful medium for scrutinizing the beliefs of society. His first serious book of criticism was on playwright George Bernard Shaw. Although His literary stature was rising, it could not avert the demise of his newspaper, the Baltimore Herald.Less
Mencken tried to rehabilitate the Herald after the Baltimore Fire. In his desperation, he abandoned his own principles and printed a fabricated story about the Russo-Japanese war. Restless, he came to the realization that journalism was fleeting, and that “the man who devotes his life to it writes his history in water.” He returned to drama criticism, a powerful medium for scrutinizing the beliefs of society. His first serious book of criticism was on playwright George Bernard Shaw. Although His literary stature was rising, it could not avert the demise of his newspaper, the Baltimore Herald.
Marion Elizabeth Rodgers
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195072389
- eISBN:
- 9780199787982
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195072389.003.0005
- Subject:
- Literature, 19th-century and Victorian Literature
Henry Louis Mencken joined the staff of the Baltimore Herald in 1899. Mencken's world had expanded from the confines of the family cigar factory to the world of Baltimore and beyond. This chapter ...
More
Henry Louis Mencken joined the staff of the Baltimore Herald in 1899. Mencken's world had expanded from the confines of the family cigar factory to the world of Baltimore and beyond. This chapter provides a glimpse of the newspaper business during the early years of the century, when typewriters were hardly used and telephones were regarded as mere toys.Less
Henry Louis Mencken joined the staff of the Baltimore Herald in 1899. Mencken's world had expanded from the confines of the family cigar factory to the world of Baltimore and beyond. This chapter provides a glimpse of the newspaper business during the early years of the century, when typewriters were hardly used and telephones were regarded as mere toys.
