Milton Theatre
The Fox Theatre, built ca. 1914 and opened in 1919, was an Art Deco movie house featuring silent films and later sound pictures. During World War II, the theater was used for fundraising efforts and sold war bonds and stamps, and collected vinyl records to send to troops. The two-story building has also served as […]
War Beneath the Waves: U.S. Submarine Operations in World War II
On Saturday, January 4, 10:30 a.m., President Robert Clark of Wesley College will speak at the Delaware Public Archives on the role of Submarine Operations during World War II.
Civil Air Patrol – Coastal Patrol Base Two
SC-205: Established in the opening days of World War II, the Civil Air Patrol was organized to provide civilian assistance with a variety of military activities including Coastal Defense. Utilizing privately-owned light aircraft, these citizen volunteers patrolled Atlantic waters in search of German submarines and their victims. Some of these planes were subsequently armed. A […]
Forty & Eight Boxcar
This car is one of 49 given to the American people by the citizens of France in thanks for aid rendered during and after World War II. Utilized for hauling military cargo during two world wars, they were known for their complement of “forty men – eight horses.” The “Merci” or Gratitude Train was assembled […]
Immigrant Jewish Farms
Delaware’s first Jewish farmers, Isaac and Ida Benioff, settled here in 1897. Like those to follow, they were recent immigrants fleeing poverty and oppression in their native Russia. Between 1912 and 1929, the Jewish Agriculture Society, based in New York City, provided loans to the Benioffs and other Jewish farmers who moved to Kent County […]
Beebe Hospital
In 1916, two brothers, Drs. James Beebe, Sr. and Richard C. Beebe, had a shared vision to bring modern-day medicine to Sussex County. The Beebe brothers started the first private hospital outside the city of Wilmington on Savannah Road in Lewes. The hospital began as a small, four-room hospital with an operating room and two […]
Delaware State Fair
In 1919 local residents held several meetings to discuss the establishment of a fair. On January 12, 1920, the Kent and Sussex County Fair Association was organized for the purposes of “promoting and encouraging agriculture” and “giving pleasures and diversions to the inhabitants of rural communities.” The first fair was held in July, 1920. In […]
Fort DuPont
This fort was originally established in 1863 as the Ten Gun Battery opposite Fort Delaware. In 1897 construction began on concrete gun batteries armed with long-range rifles, rapid-fire rifles and mortars. The fort was renamed in honor of Rear Admiral Samuel F. DuPont, U.S. Navy, for his distinguished service in 1899. During World War II […]
The “Annie Oakleys”: First Armed Female Prison Guards in the United States
Completed in 1901, the New Castle County Workhouse at Greenbank was the first penal institution in the United States to employ armed female guards. Nicknamed “Annie Oakleys” for their excellent shooting ability with the machine guns and rifles they carried, the women were first introduced to the Workhouse in 1943 as a solution to the […]
Guide to World War II Records at DPA
The seventieth anniversary of the Japanese surrender in World War II seems an appropriate time to make our followers aware that a Guide to World War II Records at the Delaware Public Archives has recently been created. The finding aid is available online and in paper format in the Mabel Lloyd Ridgely Research Room. The […]
