A Somber Armistice Day Observance — 1922

by Paula Bosse

Veterans march in Dallas (Dallas Public Library)

by Paula Bosse

On November 11, 1922, Dallas observed the 4th anniversary of the end of World War I. The photo above, taken by Dallas photographer Frank Rogers, shows veterans of the devastating war marching north on Masten (N. St. Paul) from Main Street — they are headed to First Baptist Church for a special remembrance service.

The crowd is somber, with the war still fresh in their memories. From The Dallas Morning News:

Soberly and without show of emotion Dallas celebrated Saturday, the fourth anniversary of the stilling of the guns of the World War. Their faces mirroring no more than idle curiosity, tens of thousands of men, women and children flowed lazily along the Main Street waiting for the parade of men who had been part of the glorious adventure, but there was no evidence of that high-racing blood that filled the hearts of Americans on Nov. 11, 1918. (Dallas Morning News, Nov. 12, 1922)

More details of the scene can be seen when zooming in on the photo and on the faces of the participants and the spectators (images are larger when clicked).

by John Knott, DMN, Nov. 11, 1922

***

Notes and Sources

Photo of the Nov. 11, 1922 Armistice Day parade is from the Frank Rogers Collection, Dallas History and Archives, Dallas Public Library (photo accession number is PA78-2-1003).

The address of the Cecil V. Rogers drug store was 1814 Elm Street. The movie posters for the silent films “Rags To Riches” (playing at the Old Mill) and “To Have and To Hold” (playing at the Palace) are posted on the back of the old Majestic Theatre (its second “temporary” location, which, I believe, had once been the old opera house — see the 1921 Sanborn map here). The cartoon is by Dallas Morning News cartoonist John Knott.

See other Flashback Dallas posts on Dallas and World War I here.

Flashback : Dallas