The reason for last year’s columns on Geneva’s history in 1898, as seen through the lens of the Geneva Daily Times, was the celebration of Geneva’s 125th anniversary. It took very little prodding by Publisher Mike Cutillo for me to agree to follow the coverage of Geneva in 1899.
However, the challenge is that, at the end of 1898, the Times expanded from four to eight pages and began filling them with more wire service stories. In 1899, there were far fewer local stories or coverage of controversial local issues than in the early months of 1898.
As a result, we agreed to a monthly column. This is the inaugural article.
When not focused on a particular local issue, the series will take a broader view of continuing concerns covered by the Times in both years.
The Jan. 12, 1899, edition of the Times carried a laudatory review of the performance of the Boston Ladies’ Military Band to a large audience at the Smith Opera House: “The playing of the band was well received and aroused the audience to a high pitch of enthusiasm. It was quite a revelation to them that a band composed entirely of women could attain such a high degree of excellence.”
All-women military bands........