Humanity Life

𝘈𝘯 𝘈𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘹 𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘱𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘧𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵.

In the formative years of aviation, when aircraft were little more than wood, wire, and fabric held together by ingenuity, Katherine Stinson earned a reputation as one of the most accomplished pilots of the era. Her career was built on exhibition flying, long-distance travel, instruction, and aviation promotion. More than a century later, her achievements remain firmly woven into the history of early flight.

𝗚𝗿𝗼𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗪𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀

Born in 1891 in Fort Payne, Alabama, Stinson spent portions of her youth in Mississippi and Arkansas. Music initially occupied much of her attention. She heard that stunt pilots earned large sums of money and planned to finance her music education through aviation.

Once introduced to flying, however, she discovered a field that demanded both discipline and imagination. After training with noted aviator Max Lillie, she earned her pilot’s certificate in 1912 and quickly developed a reputation for confident aircraft handling.

At a time when public exhibitions offered one of the few avenues for earning a living in aviation, Stinson became a sought-after performer. Traveling throughout the United States, she appeared before thousands of spectators who gathered to watch aircraft climb, bank, and maneuver in ways that seemed extraordinary. Her exhibitions were noted less for showmanship alone than for precision and consistency. Indeed, fellow aviators and newspaper accounts frequently praised the control she displayed in the air.

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𝘈𝘯 𝘦𝘭𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘚𝘵. 𝘓𝘰𝘶𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘶𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘤𝘳𝘶𝘥𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘣𝘢𝘭𝘭’𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘭.

Long before televised World Series games and multimillion-dollar endorsement contracts, baseball gloves were crude, stiff accessories that players could barely trust. During the late 19th century, fielders often played barehanded or wore thin leather gloves that resembled work gloves more than sporting equipment. Baseballs arrived hard and fast, stinging palms and splitting knuckles.

Into that situation stepped George Rawlings, a St. Louis businessman whose company would become one of the most recognizable names in the sport.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝗶𝘀𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝗮𝘄𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝗕𝗿𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝘀

Biographical information about George Rawlings (1855–1909) is surprisingly limited. Unlike sporting entrepreneur Albert Spalding, Rawlings left behind little personal documentation. The company he co-founded with his brother Alfred in 1887, however, became one of the dominant manufacturers of baseball gloves, game balls, and athletic equipment in America.

The Rawlings opened their business during a difficult economic period in the United States. Early catalogs advertised fishing tackle, football supplies, golf equipment, hunting gear, and baseball products. Like many sporting goods stores of the era, the Rawlings business catered to a growing American market for recreation and organized athletics. Stacks of leather gloves, wooden bats, canvas equipment bags, and hunting gear crowded the store as organized sports gained popularity nationwide.

The brothers initially operated as retailers, but ambition and necessity gradually pushed them into manufacturing. After a fire damaged the business during the 1890s, the company reorganized and expanded production. The setback might have ruined a smaller enterprise, but Rawlings endured, positioning itself for the exploding popularity of organized sports in the early 20th century.

Baseball came to define the company. At the turn of the 20th century, gloves were flat and lightly padded, difficult to close, and often stiff as saddle leather, offering limited control of the ball. Infields were uneven and dusty, and errors were common. Fielders relied heavily on two-handed catches. As pitchers threw increasingly harder and hitters swung more aggressively, equipment innovation became increasingly important.

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𝘉𝘦𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘓𝘶𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘢 𝘎𝘢𝘳𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘭𝘥, 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘪𝘵𝘴 ‘𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴’ 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦.

On July 2, 1881, Charles Guiteau, a crazed and disgruntled office seeker who believed President James Garfield (1831–1881) owed him a position in the government, fired two shots from a British Bulldog revolver into the president, grazing his shoulder with the first bullet and striking him in the back with the second. Garfield lived for another 79 days.

During this time, Lucretia Garfield (1832–1918), often called “Crete” by family and friends, remained constantly at his side, consulting the doctors and doing what she could to help her husband of 22 years fight the horrific pain brought by infection. She herself was only just recovering from life-threatening malaria when news of the shooting reached her, yet she raced to be with James in the White House.

That ordeal and her composure at what some then called “the funeral of the century” won the first lady the admiration of the American people. Tributes appeared in the papers, and hundreds of notes of condolence arrived at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

Only a few of her contemporaries were aware of the backstory to the Garfield marriage, details that only polish Lucretia’s reputation of grace and character.

‘𝗧𝗼 𝗧𝗿𝘆 𝗮 𝗟𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗨𝗻𝗶𝗼𝗻’

Lucretia was the oldest of four children of Zeb and Arabella Rudolph. Three influences from her upbringing on the family’s farm near Garrettsville, Ohio, would deeply affect her personality and her life. Her mother taught Lucretia the practice of “self-government,” the importance of control and doing one’s duty. And, although it was clear to the children that their mother and father loved them, they were not at all affectionate parents. Lucretia would later remember rarely being kissed by her mother and never by her father. Finally, she was an inveterate reader, once writing, “It would be of about as much use to stop breathing as to let books alone if they are anywhere in the region about me. I have to read ... as I have to live.”

After Lucretia had finished with the local school, this thirst for reading along with her keen intelligence prompted her parents to send her at age 15 to the Geauga Seminary, a boarding school for boys and girls about 20 miles from the farm. There, she met James Garfield, whom she first considered “an overgrown, uncombed, unwashed boy.”

Yet they became friends. In 1850, Lucretia enrolled in the Western Reserve Eclectic Institute, a new educational college that Zeb had helped found. When James entered that school a year later, their friendship evolved into a romance. In 1854, they exchanged a kiss in the college chapel and commenced a long and bumpy courtship.

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𝘊𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘱𝘰𝘦𝘵𝘴, 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘭-𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘶𝘱: 𝘚𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 ‘𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭-𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘥’ 𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘤-𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘻𝘢𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘈𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢’𝘴 250𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘢𝘳𝘺.

The largest patriotic poetry contest to be held in decades, if not ever, is going on right now. There is only a month left to submit. The deadline is July 4. Poets can receive prizes in several categories totaling nearly $5,000.

The Great American Poetry Competition (GAPC) is an official event of the White House’s Freedom 250 initiative, celebrating America’s 250th anniversary. Hosted by the Society of Classical Poets, it calls on writers to submit poems reflecting on the American spirit, history, heroes, and enduring ideals.

It is a competition that is unique in the current cultural landscape. In contrast to almost all other poetry contests, which favor formless free verse, this one focuses on traditional craftsmanship in the form of rhyme and meter. It also emphasizes the positive events and ideals that went into the country’s founding and have made America what it is.

This second point needs to be emphasized, as it has become fashionable to bash America in poetry contests. Organizations like the Poetry Foundation and the Academy of American Poets—once pillars of the literary community—have been subject to elite capture by Marxist intellectuals. They espouse un-American communist ideals and offer enormous cash prizes to those who parrot these ersatz virtues. Often these prizes are not held as competitions in the democratic sense of the term, where people submit poems to be judged. Instead, they are awarded by committees to poets who are already a part of their elite club.

The Society of Classical Poets seeks to break that mold. Most of those who submit to our online journal are not “professional” poets from academic backgrounds, but people with normal jobs who write verse in their spare time. Likewise, anyone may enter the GAPC. Entrants retain ownership of their work. Winning poems and finalists receive publication in Society of Classical Poets print and online venues, giving poets the opportunity to reach a wide audience beyond the contest itself.

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