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Article Title: From the Pulpit to the Press: Frank Crane’s Omaha, 1892-1896

Full Citation: Paul Emory Putz, “From the Pulpit to the Press: Frank Crane’s Omaha, 1892-1896,” Nebraska History 96 (2015): 136-152

URL of article: http://www.nebraskahistory.org/publish/publicat/history/full-text/NH2015FCrane.pdf Date: 1/15/2016

Article Summary: Few remember Frank Crane today, but as a syndicated columnist he became one of America’s most popular and oft-quoted writers. Earlier, as a dynamic young Methodist minister in Omaha, he threw himself into local politics with a reformer’s zeal, sharpening his ability to market himself and to communicate effectively with common men and women.

Cataloging Information:

Names: Frank Crane, Phillip S Merrill, J B Maxfield, Ralph Breckenridge, Erastus Benson, Elijah Halford, Edward Rosewater, George P Bemis, Benjmin Fay Mills, Cunningham Scott, Gilbert Hitchcock, George Herron, Charles Sheldon, H L Mencken, Sinclair Lewis

Nebraska Place Names: Omaha

Keywords: Frank Crane, First Methodist Episcopal Church, Department of Women’s Work, Chautauqua College, Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle (CLSC), Pulpit Editorials, The Guidon, pew-rent system, “Tenth List,” Edward Rosewater, George P Bemis, Slocumb Law, Board of Fire and Police Commissioners (BFPC), prostitution, burnt district, Cunningham Scott, Gilbert Hitchcock, Kelly’s Industrial Army, social gospel

Photographs / Images: Frank Crane (frontispiece from his book, Some Observations on Books and Libraries in General and on ‘The Sacred Books of the East’ in Particular, 1918); First Methodist Episcopal Church, Omaha (exterior and interior views); masthead of The Guidon, First Methodist’s periodical; Edward Rosewater, editor and publisher of the Omaha Bee; Omaha Mayor George P Bemis; itinerant evangelist Benjamin Fay Mills; Gilbert M Hitchcock of the Omaha World-Herald; inset excerpt from Crane’s column, Omaha Bee, November 24, 1912; inset excerpt of an Omaha Morning World-Herald article about a visit Crane was to make to Omaha, May 15, 1913; “General” Charles T Kelly addressing Kelly’s Industrial Army in Council Bluffs, Iowa, April 1894

FROM THE PULPIT TO THE PRESS

Frank Crane’s Omaha

1892-1896 By Paul Emory Putz

Frank Crane. Frontispiece from his book, Some Observations on Books and Libraries in General and on “The Sacred Books of the East” in Particular (New York: Oriental Foundation, 1918).

136 • Nebraska history he crowd that gathered at Omaha’s train depot in early 1896 to say farewell to TMethodist pastor Frank Crane and his wife Ellie could not have envisioned the heights of fame to which their beloved minister would ascend.1 A thirty-one-year-old Crane had moved to Omaha from Bloomington, Illinois, in the fall of 1892, assuming leadership of First Methodist Church.2 His success in Omaha caused his Methodist star to rise, and in 1896 Crane accepted the pastorate of prestigious Trinity Church in Chicago—and with it, the largest salary of any Methodist minister in the city.3 A plum Chicago pulpit was one thing, and would have been expected by his Omaha admirers. Attaining international fame and a readership in the millions as a syndicated newspaper columnist was quite another. By the time of his death in 1928 Crane had left the pulpit behind, in the process becoming one of America’s most-read and most- quoted (and perhaps most-criticized) writers.4 Crane held a soft spot for Omaha long after he departed. Reminiscing on his pastoral career in 1922, Crane called his time in Omaha “the happiest of all my ministry.”5 His appreciation for Omaha was indeed well-founded, for in the Gate City Crane began to experiment with the writing form that became his ticket to success: the short, snappy take on current events or on human nature that he later dubbed his “preachments” or “four minute essays.”6 Looking at Crane’s three and-a-half years in the West—a sense that something must be done gained First Methodist Episcopal city—from September 1892 until February 1896— popular support. Omaha’s First Methodist Church Church, southeast corner opens a window into a fascinating time in Omaha’s needed reform as well. In 1889 the congregation of 20th and Davenport Streets, Omaha, February history and also helps to explain how Crane had undertaken the construction of a brand new 15, 1926. Central High developed the skills needed to become a writer of edifice, a costly endeavor that placed the church School is visible to the national renown.7 As Crane sought to extend the under a heavy burden of debt.9 Church leadership right. Completed in 1891, local influence of his Omaha pulpit in the name deemed the project necessary for two reasons. the Romanesque Revival of Christian reform, he sharpened his ability to First, the 1892 General Conference of the Methodist Spanish Gothic church featured a 130-foot-tall market himself and to communicate effectively Episcopal Church was slated to be held in Omaha. bell tower, decorated with common men and women. The success Crane Only an impressive new building would plant brickwork, and terra cotta achieved in gathering an interested audience the proper impression in the minds of Omaha’s ornamentation. It was in Omaha became the first move towards his visitors. Second, as an early historian of Omaha destroyed by fire in 1954 transition from the pulpit to the press—a transition Methodism put it, “Omaha was much in need of a and was replaced by a new church at 69th and that not only helps us to understand the career of prominent church building, centrally located and Cass Streets, now known Frank Crane, but also helps to explain how liberal of an attractive design.”10 Like Protestant leaders in as First United Methodist. Protestant ideas were made accessible for mass numerous American cities in the 1880s and 1890s, NSHS RG3882-10-36-2 consumption beyond the bounds of the church in Omaha’s Methodist leaders viewed the urban the early twentieth century. landscape as a dangerous place in need of spiritual Crane’s entrance into Omaha came in the midst renewal.11 An attractive church building could serve of troubled economic times. Beginning in 1890 as a base of operations as Omaha’s Methodists with a disastrous year in Nebraska for crops and joined with fellow Protestants in their efforts to win accelerating with the nationwide panic of 1893, souls to Christ, fight vice, and tame the city. the hard times remained for the entirety of Crane’s The beautiful new red-brick building, pastorate.8 Responses to the crisis varied, but across completed in 1891, met the high expectations the country—and particularly in the Midwest and of Omaha’s Methodists. A writer for the Omaha

Fall 2015 • 137 Interior of First Methodist World-Herald viewed the building as a sign of Crane’s winsome personality, his “well Episcopal Church, circa Methodism’s newfound sense of respectability proportioned and athletic” five-foot eleven-inch 1942. The sanctuary could and responsibility. No longer were Methodists a frame, and his distinct, clear sermons proved seat 1,200 people. 16 NSHS RG3882-10-32-02 “kind of half civilized sort of people, who were popular. By the end of his first year more than 100 attempting to shout and amen themselves into the new members had joined First Methodist, putting kingdom.” That notion would be easily dispelled, their total at 453.17 In 1894 membership reached the author declared, with a trip “to the great brick 523, and in the year of Crane’s departure in 1896 it edifice on Twentieth and Davenport.”12 Prior to stood at 560. One newspaper report roughly a year Crane’s arrival, however, the prestigious building after his arrival claimed that his sermons regularly was not living up to its potential. The pastor from attracted 1,500 people.18 The Methodists’ presiding 1889 until 1892, Phillip S. Merrill, was a dull speaker elder of the Omaha District, J. B. Maxfield, extolled whose lengthy discourses “tend to tire instead of Crane’s “glorious achievements” in 1894.19 Upon interesting an audience.”13 First Methodist needed Crane’s departure in 1896, Maxfield offered even a charismatic leader who could galvanize Omaha’s more effusive praise. He described the pre-Crane Methodist population (the largest of any Protestant days as “so overcast with gloom, thick with dark denomination in the city), keeping the pews filled clouds that betokened everything.” Crane’s arrival, and the debt under control.14 With the hiring of however, “was to the fortunes of this church as a Frank Crane, Omaha’s Methodists had their man.15 sunburst in the presages of darkness and storm.”20

138 • Nebraska history Crane’s efforts did indeed put First Methodist in the forefront in Omaha. Membership went up, the debt went down, and Crane worked to modernize the church in other ways.21 Although Crane’s talent and penchant for publicity—a theme that will be explored later—was certainly a driving force behind his success, it is also important to note that Crane did not accomplish his goals single-handedly. He benefited from the efforts of prominent lay members like lawyer Ralph Breckenridge and businessman Erastus Benson.22 He also had the good fortune to preside over First Methodist during the three years that Elijah Halford lived in Omaha. The former editor of the Indianapolis Journal and President Benjamin Harrison’s executive secretary, Halford took up residence in Omaha in 1893, “gallop[ing] into Omaha after the fashion of Mohammed, with a sword in one hand and a Bible in the other,” the San Francisco Call declared.23 Halford established a popular adult Bible class at First Methodist, leading it until his departure in 1895.24 Even more crucial than the activities of promi- Chautauqua College, his innovative fundraising Interior of First Methodist nent laymen were the efforts of the women of First techniques, his sensational public campaigns Episcopal Church, circa 1942. Methodist. In the 1890s, as in nearly every decade against Omaha’s mayor and against the industrial NSHS RG3882-10-32-01 of American history, women made up a greater armies of Coxey and Kelly, and his invention proportion of Protestant church membership than (perhaps “branding” is a better term) of the “Pulpit men. Yet they lacked access to the male-dominated Editorial.” In all four of these areas Crane framed forms of churchly power and were constrained his efforts as crusades for the betterment of his by the dominant notion in American society that church and city. Yet in the long run they seemed to women were designed especially for the domes- have a greater impact on Crane’s eventual career as tic “sphere” of private home life.25 Women in the a writer than on the city of Omaha. postbellum era nevertheless managed to extend Crane launched Chautauqua College in 1893, the their public influence through organizations like first of its kind in Omaha.28 The College was con- the Women’s Christian Temperance Union, often nected to the Chautauqua Literary and Scientific framing their efforts as a natural extension of the Circle (CLSC) reading program, created in 1878 domestic sphere to which they were suited. During to encourage “self-culture at home.”29 According Crane’s tenure, this public domesticizing tendency to historian James Eckman, participants in CLSC received expression in the creation of the De- often banded together in local circles for weekly partment of Women’s Work. The department was meetings and mutual encouragement on their path organized around sixteen neighborhood-based toward intellectual improvement.30 Crane strongly divisions dispersed throughout the city. Each encouraged his church members to join the Chau- division focused its efforts on four broad activities: tauqua College, and he opened the doors of First visiting the sick, helping the needy, reaching out Methodist for the weekly meetings. In his view, the to unchurched families, and promoting Christian CLSC reading program—which featured five books sisterhood.26 Frank Crane may have been the tow- written and selected by trusted experts, as well as ering symbol of First Methodist Church’s renewed The Chautauquan, a monthly magazine devoted to vibrancy, but the women who toiled in obscurity the program—would serve to “broaden you, culti- for the sake of the church were the boots on the vate you and make your life more worth living.”31 ground, indispensable to his reputation.27 In an age of sparse college attendance, the Chau- While Crane should by no means be seen as tauqua College provided a means through which a solitary conquering hero, his involvement in middle-class men and women could learn from the at least four developments during his time in latest and greatest in modern intellectual thought, Omaha deserves further attention: his creation of presented in an easily accessible manner.

Fall 2015 • 139 The Guidon was First Along with weekly discussions of the readings, economic system. Yet churches often felt they had Methodist’s short-lived Crane brought in prominent guest speakers, such little recourse. The money donated by the wealthy periodical launched during as William Jennings Bryan, professor and social for the privilege of a front-row seat heavily subsi- Crane’s pastorate. gospeler George Herron, and photographer Frank dized the costs of building and running the church, Carpenter. Although the speakers generally skewed making up for the considerably smaller sums that Protestant, Crane attempted to bring in Jewish and could be given by less fortunate congregants. Catholic speakers as well. Careful to note to his To make up for the loss of pew-rent revenue, congregation that “our religion is the helpfulest and Crane instituted a system of monthly subscrip- purest of all,” Crane nevertheless thought it useful tions. Calculating that the church needed $200 to “have with us speakers of all shades of faith.”32 a month to pay for all expenses, he attempted The program became a hit in Omaha, widening the to secure monthly pledges from congregants scope of First Methodist’s outreach and adding to that added up to $200. In his efforts to raise the Crane’s reputation as a modernizer.33 But broadening necessary funds Crane depended heavily upon the reach of First Methodist was only useful if First The Guidon.36 The short-lived periodical (it was Methodist kept the lights on and the bills paid. Crane launched by Crane and ceased publication soon understood this imperative, and he proved to be an after he departed) had two purposes.37 First, it innovative—and perhaps overbearing—fundraiser. served as a centralized form of communication The degree of difficulty for achieving financial for the members of First Methodist, keeping them stability was already high when Crane entered Oma- up-to-date on meeting times, church-sponsored ha. In his first year in Omaha the church narrowly activities, new members, and other relevant infor- avoided defaulting on a payment due on their new mation.38 Second, it was a tool for raising money. building.34 Crane made things even more difficult The masthead made this second purpose quite when he eliminated First Methodist’s pew-rent system clear: printed each Saturday above the title was in early 1894.35 Under the pew-rent system, wealthy the periodical’s motto, “The Greatest Is Love. The congregants purchased the best seats in the front of Tenth Is The Lord’s.” the church for their own use. Naturally this caused In the pages of The Guidon Crane constantly criticism, particularly in an age with an increasing dealt with the dual problems of convincing his awareness of wealth inequality and an understand- congregants to pledge enough money to cover ing by many of the unfairness of America’s monthly expenses and ensuring that congregants

140 • Nebraska history (Left) Edward Rosewater, editor and publisher of the Omaha Bee. Crane’s political activism put him at odds with Rosewater, who supported Mayor Bemis. NSHS RG2411-4772-1

(Right) George P. Bemis served as Omaha’s mayor from 1892 to 1896. He infuriated Crane and other reformers by allowing gambling houses and brothels to operate openly by paying monthly fines. Henry Vincent, The Story of the Commonweal (Chicago: W. B. Conkey Co., 1894), 73.

followed through on their pledges. He created a Professor Coin teaching bankers and businessmen club of sorts called the “Tenth List,” made up of about the benefits of bimetallism, Crane’s version members who had agreed to tithe (or give a tenth had a man named “Gould Coin” (a play on the of their income to the church).39 To encourage name of the famous railroad magnate Jay Gould) others to join, he printed the names of “Tenth List” teaching First Methodist board members about members, with the none-too-subtle marketing ploy church finances. Not surprisingly, Gould Coin that it was “becoming more and more popular reiterated familiar Crane-approved themes about among our people.”40 generous monthly subscriptions as the proper way Along with encouragement by example, Crane to supply funding for the church.44 used more direct tactics. In October 1894 he noted By the summer of 1895 Crane devoted less that the church members had only committed space in The Guidon to financial matters. This may to giving $165 per month. “Can you, who read have been because they had been resolved to this, possibly increase your subscription?” he his satisfaction, or it may have been the result of implored.41 In January 1895 the situation had gotten Crane’s shifting focus towards Chicago, the city to worse. “Some have decreased their subscriptions, which he would move in February 1896. Whatever and others have stopped their regular subscription,” the case, the constant pressure that Crane applied Crane wrote. “This is no more or less than to the members of First Methodist seemed to put suicide.”42 Two months later, the problems persisted. the church in better financial condition than when “How shall this church escape defeat and disaster he arrived. The Omaha World-Herald credited if its membership neglect the punctual discharge of Crane with “reducing the debt until now but a their financial obligations?” he asked. Cautioning comparatively small portion, funded at a low rate that members should avoid the excuse of “hard of interest, remains.”45 times,” he ended his plea with a warning that “God While Crane received occasional attention from is not going to hold him guiltless who trifles with the press for the successful results of his fundrais- these serious obligations.”43 ing, the press usually did not devote attention to Crane complemented his shrill rhetoric and dire his tactics. One exception came from the Omaha warnings with more creative tactics, including Bee. In November 1895 the Bee reported on a literary parody. Riffing on Coin’s Financial School, lecture Crane gave to the Omaha Ministerial Union. the wildly popular free-silver pamphlet that Crane’s discussion, titled “Church Finances,” criti- became a sensation in 1894, Crane wrote a story cized the lax giving practices of American Protes- in March 1895 titled “Coin’s Financial Church tants. He referred longingly to the “Jewish law that School.” While the original featured a man named one-tenth of the income of each individual should

Fall 2015 • 141 During a revival in Omaha One of the first shots fired came in 1881, when the in December 1892, itinerant Nebraska legislature passed the Slocumb Law. evangelist Benjamin Fay Among other regulations, the Slocumb Law made Mills lambasted the city for openly flaunting vice. Rev. it illegal to sell liquor on Sunday or election days, Henry Stauffer, ed., The Great and it instituted a license system that required the Awakening in Columbus, payment of a $1,000 fee for the privilege of legally Ohio, under the Labors of selling alcohol in Omaha.51 Then in 1887, due in Benjamin Fay Mills and His part to concern over lax enforcement of the laws Associates (Columbus: Rev. W. L. Lemon, 1895) against vice, the Nebraska legislature changed the way that Omaha’s police force was selected. The new law wrested the power to appoint police from Omaha’s city council, and instead gave it to a five-member governor-appointed Board of Fire and Police Commissioners (Omaha’s mayor was given one spot on this board).52 Despite these reforms, dealing with Omaha’s vice remained a perennial issue throughout the 1890s (and beyond).53 Thus, when Crane entered the scene in 1892 he came into a city that had plenty of precedent for clean-up campaigns. Furthermore, on a national level urban reform efforts were never more prominent than in the years from 1892 to 1895. During this time New be reserved for the support of the church.” With York’s Presbyterian minister Charles Parkhurst an implicit anti-Catholic bias, Crane decried that engineered a temporarily successful campaign Protestant churches had to rely on voluntary giving against corruption and vice in New York City, and to meet their financial needs—unlike the Catholic Chicago launched a reform campaign of its own Church, which supposedly coerced its members in the wake of William Stead’s blistering expose, If into giving.46 Edward Rosewater, the Jewish editor Christ Came to Chicago.54 of the Bee, did not let Crane’s message go without Drawing on sources both local and national, a series of pointed rhetorical questions. “Would Crane soon found a way to put his name on the Mr. Crane have us go back to the era of state Omaha map. His path to notoriety followed in supported churches?” Rosewater asked. “Would the wake of a revival led by Benjamin Fay Mills in he have the church-goer rated for the contribution December 1892.55 Mills, a revivalist who tended to box just as he is rated for the tax gatherer? If the eschew strident emotional appeals in favor of a more free-will income of the churches is inadequate, is it sedate approach, nevertheless lambasted Omaha for the fault of the preachers or of the laymen?”47 openly flaunting vice.56 Mills had cause for complaint, Rosewater’s dig at Crane would not have been for despite a Nebraska law that outlawed gambling, surprising. The feisty Republican editor regularly Mayor George Bemis (elected in 1891) had instituted took swipes at ministers, particularly when he a system in which some gambling houses were detected a hint of hypocrisy.48 But Rosewater had allowed to operate in the open so long as they paid another motivation for his criticism. Well before a monthly fine of $150 and subjected themselves November 1895 Frank Crane had thrown himself to regular police surveillance. Bemis regulated wholeheartedly into local politics, making a name Omaha’s prostitution (which was technically illegal) for himself to the consternation of Rosewater and in a similar way: each month, prostitutes and their the Rosewater-backed mayor, George P. Bemis. landlords reported to the police court, where they When Crane arrived in Omaha in 1892, the city were fined and then sent on their way.57 had a long-standing and well-deserved reputation For Mills and for many Protestant leaders as a wide-open town.49 Gambling, prostitution, and in Omaha, this system blatantly violated both alcohol—the unholy trinity of nineteenth-century Nebraska’s laws and God’s laws. Chastened by vice—flourished, particularly in the lower down- Mills’s critique and inspired to action, in the last town area of the third ward where the notorious few months of 1893 Omaha’s ministerial union, “burnt district” was located.50 Yet Omaha also had led by First Baptist pastor W. P. Hellings, began a history of reform and protest against such vices. a petition campaign urging the enforcement

142 • Nebraska history of Omaha’s laws.58 In particular, the petitioners That changed in April when the Methodist targeted the selling of liquor on Sunday, the open Ministerial Association of Omaha and Council Bluffs operation and licensing of gambling houses, and met. Their two topics for discussion reflected the the open operation and licensing of prostitution. recent controversy between Bemis and the anti- They asked Omaha’s officials—including the vice reformers: prostitution and what to do about mayor, city council, and police chief—to carry out the burnt district. While some Methodist ministers their duties and shut down the houses of ill-repute. supported Bemis’s view that driving prostitutes On February 17, 1893, the anti-vice petition, out of the district would not solve the problem reportedly measuring 115 feet long and including nor help the women reform, Crane would have 4,000 signatures, was presented to Omaha’s none of it. Prostitutes, he argued, did not belong city council.59 The council quickly dispatched in society or the church at all. In fact, their sin was it to the mayor and the Board of Fire and Police “unpardonable.” He also lambasted the elected city Commissioners (BFPC), noting that those entities officials for opting to regulate prostitution instead of held the power to enforce laws. Before the council enforcing the laws, and he argued that “without legal meeting adjourned, however, Mayor George suasion moral suasion will never be a success.”64 Bemis—who happened to be in attendance—took The public outcry over Crane’s harsh words the would-be reformers to task. He agreed that played right into Bemis’s hands. Here was the selling of liquor on Sunday should be stopped, evidence that the mayor’s critics truly were if it was happening. But he defended licensing fanatical. Immediately, prominent Episcopalian gambling houses. This tactic was more effective, he minister John Williams wrote to the World-Herald argued, than banning them outright (as mandated calling Crane’s comments “utterly alien to the letter by Nebraska law) and forcing them to flourish in and spirit of Christianity.”65 That Sunday Crane took dark places. He also argued that a crackdown on to the pulpit in front of a packed house to explain “The Christian prostitution would merely drive the women out of his remarks. Backtracking somewhat, he explained pulpit has no the burnt district and into the rest of the city. Bemis that he meant only to say that the church should then turned the tables on the reformers, placing the not exalt reformed sinners. Rather, prostitutes holier task than blame for the proliferation of vice at the door of the should come back to the church with humility. church. “Instead of building fine churches on the Although he went easier on the prostitutes, he to ply the lash hills, build a home, a mission in the burnt district, intensified his criticism of the mayor. “If a man is on such wicked and let the society women go there and take the elected to do a thing he either ought to do it or social outcasts by the hand,” he declared. “What give up the job—or keep cool when plain people policy.” the churches need is more life.”60 tell him he is a failure,” Crane said. He concluded The anti-vice petitioners did not take kindly by dismissing accusations that ministers should to Bemis’s advice. In March 1893 they presented stay out of city politics. “The Christian pulpit has their petition once again, this time to the BFPC no holier task than to ply the lash on such wicked (as mayor of Omaha, Bemis was one of the five policy,” he declared.66 members of the BFPC). During the meeting Bemis Despite Crane’s criticism, or perhaps because painted the petitioners as fanatical, claiming that of it, Bemis managed to retain his seat as mayor they wanted to “exterminate every saloon keeper, in the November 1893 election.67 But the battle bartender, gambler and prostitute.”61 Although the was not over. Late in December district judge BFPC elected not to take any action on the anti-vice Cunningham Scott presided over a gambling trial. petition, Bemis clearly felt the pressure.62 “I am At issue was an injunction filed by Charles Pierson, not in favor of adopting the extreme and fanatical owner of the Denver Saloon (and an associate views advocated by some of the representatives of Omaha’s future political boss Tom Dennison), of the anti-vice crusade,” he declared, “neither am against a man who lost $1,000 when gambling at I in favor of turning the city over to the violators the Denver. In retaliation, the man “squealed” to of law or morals.” Trying to position himself as the police, leading them to issue search warrants the compassionate and practical middle-ground for Pierson’s establishment.68 Judge Scott was to between two extremes, Bemis marched forward determine whether or not to support Pierson by with his policy of vice regulation.63 upholding the injunction. As these developments unfolded in the first few During the proceedings Mayor Bemis took months of 1893, Frank Crane kept a low profile. the stand, testifying regarding the details of the He clearly supported the anti-vice efforts, but he was city’s regulatory policy. Nothing new came out of not yet prominently identified with the movement. Bemis’s testimony: he informed Scott about the

Fall 2015 • 143 Gilbert M. Hitchcock, eighty years before Richard Nixon, he called on the circa 1900. Hitchcock’s silent majority to mobilize. “The public opinion of Democratic Omaha thieves, criminals, sports and evil-minded business World-Herald backed Crane against Rosewater men want [the license system]. But there is another and the Bee. public, sirs, than this: a public that does not make NSHS RG2411-2414 so much noise, but is none the less alive.”72 He de- clared that licensed gambling amounted to discrim- ination against the poor (who could not afford to pay for the right to commit crime), and he ridiculed the idea that Omaha was not as bad as other cities. In the end, he called for action: “But do you think God is dead? Are we incapable of doing a thing because it is right . . . The pulpit is one place where you shall hear the voice of God . . . In the name of that God to whom the citizens of this place have erected this house of worship, I lay upon you the solemn duty of impeaching every official who has protected crime.”73 With Crane and Scott leading the charge, Bemis once again felt the heat. The mayor probably did not help his cause by making Crane the focus of his annual message, given on January 3 before the Omaha city council. Calling Crane “a preacher who relies upon sensations rather than truth and Christ’s teachings to build up his church,” he defended his gambling regulation plan as compliant with Nebraska law. He also reminded his listeners of city ordinance that decreed that gambling houses Crane’s harsh comments about prostitutes the would be fined $150 per month, and he explained previous spring, once again claiming for himself that police regularly checked on the open the compassionate high ground.74 gambling houses to ensure that they were being Omaha’s newspapers had a field day with the run in an orderly fashion. This was too much for renewed controversy between Crane and Bemis. Scott. “Mayor Bemis, is there not a statute making As an ardent Bemis supporter the Bee took aim gambling a crime in this state?” he asked. When at Crane, a “minister who delivers hand-me-down Bemis answered in the affirmative, Scott lashed sermons seeking notoriety and popularity by out, asking, “[i]s it any less a crime for a man to advertising a political harangue from the pulpit.”75 steal a horse in an orderly manner than otherwise, Meanwhile, the Democratic World-Herald and its and what is the difference between an orderly editor Gilbert Hitchcock lined up on Crane’s side, commission of a horse theft and running an orderly declaring that his “reputation in this community gambling house?”69 The next day, Scott overturned places him far above the reach of the . . . arrows of the injunction, ruling that Nebraska’s law outlawing the Omaha Bee.”76 Crane milked the attention, us- gambling superseded the city ordinance providing ing “neatly printed placards dangling from the bell for its regulation. Unwilling to stop there, he also ropes on every motor car in Omaha” to advertise called for Bemis’s removal. “The chief executive of “in flaming red characters” that he would deliver an the city, who has violated his sworn duty, should anti-Bemis sequel on January 7.77 True to his word, be impeached,” he said, “and branded as an Crane came out firing—both at Bemis and at the impeached scoundrel in office.”70 citizens of Omaha, whom he said were complicit As the excitement over Scott’s incendiary state- for allowing the gambling regulation system to ment grew, Crane cashed in on the public interest continue. As for Rosewater’s accusations, Crane with a New Year’s Eve sermon titled, “With Hell declared that “the religion of Jesus Christ. . . is a Are We At Agreement.”71 His sermon was truly a sensational religion.”78 The following week, Crane tour-de-force of indignation. He blasted gambling hammered home his theme from the pulpit once house owners, elected officials who did not enforce again: “The establishment of the burnt district was the law, and apathetic church members. Nearly illegal, the present policy of monthly fines is illegal,

144 • Nebraska history and the whole thing from first to last is carried on material. With the economic crisis reaching its in defiance of common honesty, the sentiments of peak in 1893, Crane tended to express sympathy decent people and the laws of the sovereign state for working class men and women. In one sermon of Nebraska.”79 in 1893, for example, he declared that “[o]ur Throughout January and February of 1894 the social system is not just” and argued that “the Crane-and-Scott-led attack on Bemis received day of competition is passing; that of cooperation considerable attention from Bemis and the is at hand.”86 At times, he seemed to side with press, and it re-energized the flagging anti-vice social gospelers like Grinnell (Iowa) professor campaign first launched during the Benjamin Fay George Herron, who believed that salvation was Mills revival.80 Bemis took the blows especially not merely individual but also collective, and that hard. For the next year he made it a habit to America’s economic system needed to be built pepper his public speeches with shots at Crane upon the foundation of brotherhood rather than on and Scott. Appropriate venues for Bemis’s barbs competition and greed.87 Yet unlike Herron, Crane included the opening ceremony for a dental believed that the economic order could only be society, the opening ceremonies for baseball made more cooperative and fair through the long, season, and even a meeting of the Boys and Girls slow process of changing the ideals of individuals. National Home and Employment Association.81 Passing laws would not do; only a “campaign of During the latter speech, given before a group of education” that encouraged the transformation of adolescents, he went into a lengthy digression “the hearts of individual men” would suffice.88 about true Christianity. Crane and Scott, he said, Thus, despite advocating an economic future Omaha Bee, “have none of the true Christianity . . . They would in which the “vast powers of wealth” would be November 24, 1912 like to take the fallen women out into Jefferson made “responsible to the people,” Crane remained Square pour kerosene oil on them and burn them committed to the primacy of the individual to the stake.” By the end of his speech, committee as the agent of societal transformation.89 His member Rev. John Williams—one of Crane’s middle ground position on America’s economic more strident critics among Omaha’s clergy—felt system was reflective of his view on labor, as compelled to ask dryly if Crane should be allowed Crane seemed to vacillate between support for to give a rebuttal.82 labor’s cause and criticism of labor’s tactics.90 Thanks in part to Crane’s and Scott’s public Crane’s inconsistencies came to a head in April efforts, the Omaha city council launched impeach- 1894 when Kelly’s Industrial Army, following ment proceedings against Bemis in July 1894.83 The Coxey on the march to Washington to demand impeachment effort ultimately failed, but that it jobs for the unemployed, passed through occurred at all owed something to Crane’s ability to Omaha. In a scathing editorial for the Omaha use his pulpit to marshal publicity to the anti-vice Christian Advocate, Crane denounced Kelly’s cause.84 Although larger political forces and person- march as impractical and harmful to the al rivalries unrelated to Crane were also involved in laborers it purported to help.91 Omaha’s labor the push for impeachment, Bemis clearly consid- leaders quickly responded, condemning Crane ered Crane one of the main instigators. According to for “using the columns of an alleged religious a newspaper report, during impeachment testimony publication to abuse the cause of labor.”92 In he “bewailed the fact that the attention of Rev. response Crane defended himself partly on social Frank Crane and other preachers had been called gospel grounds, arguing that “the true cause of to him and induced to persecute him.”85 Bemis had industrial suffering” was “the false economics” good reason for his accusations: three of the six of the business world. That problem, he argued, impeachment charges brought against him were would be overcome not by demanding short-term related to the concerns over gambling highlighted unemployment relief, but by “advocating the ideas by Crane and the anti-vice crusaders. of justice, co-operation and brotherhood as the Crane’s campaign against Bemis made him basis of the business world of the future instead a household name in Omaha. But even before of the power, competition and hate as has been his sensational anti-Bemis sermons Crane had the case in the past.”93 Unsurprisingly, Crane’s developed a habit of addressing controversial working-class critics were unmoved.94 issues from the pulpit and a penchant for drawing While Crane did not convince labor leaders of publicity to his opinions. The issues of labor and the wisdom of his advice, the Bemis and Kelly economics, both hot topics of conversation in the incidents nevertheless show that by 1895 Crane Omaha Morning 1890s, provided Crane with particularly useful had demonstrated considerable skill in attracting World-Herald, May 15, 1913

Fall 2015 • 145 “General” Charles T. Kelly attention to his ideas. But he was not satisfied. He Thanks to the attention his Pulpit Editorials of California addresses needed a more consistent way to get his opinions received from the daily press, Crane grew increas- Kelly’s Industrial Army in into the heads and hearts of Omaha’s citizens. In ingly fascinated with the power of the newspaper. Council Bluffs, Iowa, in April 1894. Kelly’s group June 1895 he came up with a solution: the creation In September 1895 he discussed for the first time was the western section of “Pulpit Editorials.” The editorials were short a theme that would become a staple of his later of the protest movement addresses given before Crane’s Sunday evening work: the notion that newspapers were “the very known as Coxey’s Army. sermon and intended to be “an editorial statement best extant medium for reaching the people.” In Ohioan Jacob Coxey led of the attitude of Christian manhood toward Crane’s view, “[p]ulpits are good, and also are unemployed marchers 95 to Washington, D.C., to present day topics.” They covered a wide range books; the quarterly review influences few, the demand that Congress of issues: free silver, the Nebraska state fair, trusts, monthly a few more, the weekly religious period- create public works jobs. the “new woman,” strikes, Sunday excursions, icals still more, but best of all is the newspaper.”98 Crane denounced Kelly in prominent individuals, new books, and more.96 Crane’s use of the word influence is telling, for print. Vincent, The Story of To attract a wide audience Crane arranged for the in his view societal transformation could only the Commonweal, 73. topics of upcoming Pulpit Editorials to be printed occur when “the influence of Jesus Christ spreads in the Friday editions of the Guidon and the Omaha through the hearts of men.”99 Such an influence World-Herald. On occasion summaries of his Pulpit did not necessarily spread via an instantaneous Editorials were also printed by the World-Herald.97 conversion experience, but rather occurred

146 • Nebraska history gradually as people learned to think the right as a paternalistic attempt to mold the reader or thoughts and hold the right ideas. The example listener towards right opinions became more and efforts of Christian men and women were and more a means of merely stimulating thought, crucial to achieve the sort of Christian influence of giving the reader something interesting to that Crane had in mind. “Man is the only teacher,” ponder, of providing a service.105 Crane’s words Crane wrote in 1894. “It is not the Bible upon your became a commodity to be marketed, sold, pulpit … but the preacher and the people who are and consumed in whatever manner the reader teaching the masses what to think of Christ.”100 wished—particularly after 1909, when Crane gave Crane’s fascination with the newspaper, then, up his pulpit for good and launched his career as came in part because he viewed it as a vehicle a syndicated newspaper columnist.106 His columns through which Christians could influence the were similar to his old Pulpit Editorials, with an greatest number of people. Crane’s notions were important difference: Crane’s newspaper columns not necessarily unique. A similar impulse lay focused much less on helping the audience behind the attempt made by Charles Sheldon, develop a Christian perspective, and much more pastor and author of the wildly popular novel In on sentimental messages of inspiration and His Steps, to run the Topeka Daily Capital “as Jesus advice that would help readers succeed in life. would” for a week in 1900.101 But where Sheldon Although Crane still believed that he exerted a focused his efforts on Christianizing the entire moral or spiritual influence through his writing, he newspaper, Crane had the less ambitious goal of recognized that his writing was heavily influenced Christianizing a newspaper column or two. by the wishes of the popular audience that he When Crane moved to Chicago in 1896 he wanted to reach. As Crane put it in 1922, continued his pulpit editorials, gaining attention “I . . . give the world what it wants. I give it ideas at a national level thanks to his more prominent and words . . . because it orders them and pays for city.102 Not everyone was impressed with his them . . . I am a business man. I am a merchant of innovation, of course, particularly when they ideas. I am a craftsman with words.”107 disagreed with his opinions. For example, Crane’s For Omaha’s residents it may have been ardent supporter in Omaha, the World-Herald, surprising to see Crane, the ardent critic of changed its tune when Crane began to speak out corruption and vice, become an author known in in 1896 against Democratic presidential nominee the 1910s and 1920s for his overflowing optimism (and former World-Herald editor) William Jennings and sunny aphorisms. “You can have the success of Bryan. A World-Herald writer reminded readers satisfaction as certainly as two and two make four,” that Crane was “the minister who does not want Crane wrote in one of his typical advice pieces. reformed women mingling with the members “All you have to do is find the cosmic laws of the of his congregation” and suggested that Crane spirit and keep them . . . You cannot fail, if you stop discussing politics and start discussing the know how to live.”108 His columns proved so popular gospel.103 Two years later the World-Herald again that they were collected and reprinted in no less fumed at Crane, this time for his prayer at a peace than eleven books between 1911 and 1920, with the jubilee in Chicago. The jubilee, held to celebrate capstone being the ten-volume Four Minute Essays the end of the Spanish-American War, was a collection.109 Crane’s simplistic positive outlook, his prominent affair with President William McKinley blatant commercialism, and his prolific production and other notables in attendance. Crane’s did not go unchallenged. Perhaps Crane’s former prayer—with a direct shot at Williams Jennings foes in Omaha took pleasure in seeing his essays Bryan—indeed invited controversy: “We thank constantly scorned by the “smart set” literary figures thee that thou hast spared us the demagogue in of his time, including H. L. Mencken and Sinclair our hour of crisis and hast given us a chief servant Lewis (who created a hapless character in his brave, temperate, wise and firm.”104 novel Babbitt based partly on Crane).110 Mencken Crane’s taste for controversy was a strategic in particular disdained the shallowness of Crane’s choice. He realized that a boldly expressed writing, describing it as “canned sagacity” and opinion in plain language got people talking, “boiled-mutton ‘philosophy’” that possessed “not a and that before he could exert influence he had weakness for ideas that are stale and obvious, but a to gain the attention of an audience. After he distrust of all ideas whatsoever.”111 moved away from Omaha, however, the question But even if some aspects of Crane’s fame and of who was doing the influencing became more success would have been surprising to his former difficult to decipher. What had begun in Omaha Omaha acquaintances, in many ways his work

Fall 2015 • 147 Paul Emory Putz received as a columnist was an extension of the skills NOTES an MA in history that he developed during his time in Omaha. His 1 from the University of innovative fundraising tactics for First Methodist “Personal Paragraphs,” Omaha Daily Bee, Feb. 26, 1896, 8. Nebraska-Omaha, and were a precursor to his ability to sell himself and 2 “Omaha Methodist’s Pride,” Omaha World-Herald, Oct. 9, 1892, 7. is a PhD candidate in the his writings; his focus on reaching the “common department of history 3 man” shared a similar impulse with his Chautauqua Minutes of the Fifty-Eighth Session of the Rock River Annual at Baylor University. His Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church (1897), 117. article “A Church for the project; his realization that controversy produced Crane’s combined salary and housing allowance stood at $6,000 People and a Priest for the publicity, and that people liked simple, clearly- (the second-highest compensation package was $4,000). Common Man: Charles articulated opinions on current events emerged 4 Examples of Crane’s popularity abound. In 1927 Church W. Savidge, Omaha’s from his involvement in the anti-vice campaign and Business listed Crane as one of the twelve ablest preachers— Eccentric Reformer” even though Crane had not served in a pulpit since 1909. See appeared in the Summer his pulpit editorials. Indeed, for Crane his writing “Pick 12 Pulpit Leaders,” New York Times, July 10, 1927, 7. A 2013 issue of Nebraska career was nothing less than the natural extension book of famous quotations in 1917 included thirty-one quotes History. He thanks Tim of his time in the pulpit. “I do not consider that I from Crane, placing him alongside figures like Thomas Paine, Alfred Tennyson, and Ralph Waldo Emerson. See C. F. Schutz, Grundmeier and Barry have resigned from the ministry, or that I have gone Hankins for reading early Wit and Wisdom (Milwaukee, WI: 1917). A newspaper article on out of the pulpit,” he wrote in 1922. “I have simply Crane in 1917 claimed that “In the history of newspaperdom no drafts of this article. moved on to a larger charge.”112 editorial service so widespread has heretofore been known.” See “The Story of Dr. Frank Crane,” Evening Star (Washington Ironically, Crane’s journey from the pulpit to DC), Dec. 10, 1917, 10. In a memorial service after his death, C. newspaper celebrity had been predicted in 1897. T. Brainard compared Crane to Socrates and commented that Taking aim at one of Crane’s pulpit editorials in 1897, no author had ever had as many readers. See “Memorial for Dr. Crane,” New York Times, Jan. 7, 1929, 11. Crane’s popularity was a writer for the World-Herald made this sarcastic also recognized by critics like H. L. Mencken and Sinclair Lewis. suggestion: “[a] man who knows so much about For specific criticism of Crane, see below. newspaper work as Rev. Frank Crane is wasting his 5 Frank Crane, “Personal—And Indiscreet,” The American valuable time in talking to a few hundred twice a Magazine (May 1922): 96. week when he might talk to 150,000 every day.”113 By 6 Crane, “Personal—And Indiscreet,” 19. Crane was most 1922 it was clear that the World-Herald’s estimates famous for his syndicated newspaper columns, but he also wrote a few books and had pieces published in numerous were far too low: Crane’s editorials appeared in fifty magazines. His columns often received a second run since they newspapers, reaching fifteen million readers. When were usually compiled into book form every year or two. Crane died in 1928, Clinton Brainard, an executive in 7 To my knowledge Frank Crane has never been the subject of the publishing industry, hailed him as the most-read critical scholarly inquiry, although his newspaper columns are author in all of history.114 often cited as examples of popular American thought in the 1920s. There is more that can be said about Crane’s 8 Lawrence H. Larsen and Barbara J. Cottrell, The Gate City: A History of Omaha (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, place in American religion and culture as he 1997), 80. became a prominent figure in the 1910s and 1920s. 9 “Rev. Frank Crane Leaves,” Omaha World-Herald Jan. In particular, Crane’s transition from the pulpit to 20, 1896, 1. For a brief account of the initial planning and the press highlights the role that early-twentieth- construction of the church, see James Haynes, History of the century daily newspapers played in disseminating Methodist Episcopal Church in Omaha and Suburbs (Omaha Printing Co., 1895), 26-29. and popularizing “sacred” ideas and sentiments 10 Haynes, History of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 26. associated with liberal Protestantism in “secular” 11 realms outside of church control.115 Crane also An excellent recent book that discusses this impulse in detail in the setting of New York City is Matthew Bowman, serves as an entry point through which one could The Urban Pulpit: New York City and the Fate of Liberal analyze the religious aspects of the development Evangelicalism (New York: Oxford University Press, 2014). See of middlebrow culture in the early twentieth also Paul Boyer, Urban Masses and Moral Order in America, 1820-1920 (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1992); 116 century. And Crane would be an excellent Margaret Lamberts Bendroth, Fundamentalists in the City: representative figure to examine the way that the Conflict and Division in Boston’s Churches, 1885-1950 (New “business principles” of mass consumer capitalism York: Oxford University Press, 2005); Thekla Ellen Joiner, Sin in the City: Chicago and Revivalism, 1880-1920 (Columbia: 117 came to be sacralized in the 1920s United States. University of Missouri Press), 2007. Those questions lie beyond the scope of this paper, 12 “Omaha Methodist’s Pride,” Omaha World-Herald, Oct. 9, however. It is enough to note that Crane’s prolific 1892, 7. Of course, there were some Methodists who preferred future was forged, at least in part, in Omaha during to attempt to “shout and amen themselves into the kingdom,” including some in Omaha. Many of these old-time Methodists the tumultuous 1890s. Crane may not have made a identified with the holiness movement. In the 1890s they began lasting impact on Omaha—the anti-vice campaigns breaking away from the Methodist church due to its increasing continued long after he departed—but Omaha sense of prestige, respectability, and resistance to the more expressive holiness worship and devotional styles. For an certainly transformed Crane.  example related to Omaha, see Paul Putz, ‘‘A Church for the

148 • Nebraska history People and a Priest for the Common Man’: Charles W. Savidge, contributed occasional editorials to the Omaha Christian Omaha’s Eccentric Reformer,” Nebraska History 94 (Summer Advocate, the official Methodist periodical in Omaha. 2013): 54-73. 25 For a brief summary of scholarship related to notion of 13 Haynes, History of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 96. the “woman’s sphere” in the nineteenth century, see Anthony Haynes also wrote that at the new place of worship, “the pews Michael Petro, “Religion, Gender and Sexuality,” in The Columbia might and should have been kept filled on the Lord’s day,” and Guide to Religion in American History, Paul Harvey and Edward that “the mission of this central sanctuary is not fulfilled except J. Blum, ed. (New York: Columbia University Press, 2012): 189- it shall induce a house full of attendants at the regular and 191. Classic works on this subject include Barbara Welter, “The ordinary Sabbath services,” (94). Cult of True Womanhood: 1820-1860,” American Quarterly 18 (Summer 1966), 151-74; Nancy F. Cott, The Bonds of Womanhood: 14 The 1890 U.S. Census put Methodists in the lead in Omaha “Woman’s Sphere” in New England, 1780-1835 (New Haven, CT: with 1,858 communicants. The Presbyterians were a close Yale University Press, 1977); Carroll Smith-Rosenberg, Disorderly second at 1,708. Both were dwarfed by the Catholic population, Conduct: Visions of Gender in Victorian America (New York: which totaled 7,675 communicants. See Larsen and Cottrell, The Oxford University Press, 1996). For an important recent book Gate City, 114; H. K. Carroll, The Religious Forces of the United that highlights the possibilities for women in the Progressive Era States (New York: The Christian Literature Co., 1896), 415. to take on religious leadership roles, see Priscilla Pop-Levison, 15 “Omaha Methodists Pride,” Omaha World-Herald, Building the Old Time Religion: Women Evangelists in the Oct. 9, 1892, 7. Progressive Era (New York University Press, 2014). 16 “Bicycles, Not Slippers,” Omaha World-Herald, Oct. 11, 1892, 26 “Department of Women’s Work,” The Guidon, Nov. 3, 3; “Frank Crane,” Omaha World-Herald, Sept. 4, 1893, 2. 1894, 6. 17 Minutes of the Twelfth Annual Session of the North Nebraska 27 Description of the department’s organization from The Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church (1893), 41. Guidon, Nov. 3, 1894, 6. Nearly every week, The Guidon included details about the work being done by each division. For other 18 Minutes of the Thirteenth Annual Session of the North church-wide activities in which women took the lead, see Nebraska Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church (1894), “Woman’s Fund,” The Guidon, Nov. 17, 1894, 5; “The Semi-Annual 33; Minutes of the Fifteenth Annual Session of the North Nebraska Banquet,” The Guidon, Mar. 30, 1895. Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church (1896), 43; “Rev. Frank Crane’s Proposed Lecture,” Omaha Daily Bee, Oct. 31, 28 “The Church College,” The Guidon, Aug. 10, 1893, 5; “Is 1893, 5. My Name Written There,” The Guidon, Oct. 20, 1894, 5; “The Chautauqua College,” Omaha World-Herald, Oct. 6, 1893, 2; “Local 19 Minutes of the Thirteenth Annual Session of the North Brevities,” Omaha Daily Bee, Nov. 15, 1893, 2. For an excellent Nebraska Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church analysis of the rise and fall of the Chautauqua movement, see (1894), 62-63. Andrew Chamberlin Rieser, The Chautauqua Moment: Protestants, 20 “Frank Crane,” The Guidon, Feb. 29, 1896, 6. Progressives, and the Culture of Modern Liberalism, 1874-1920 (New York: Columbia University Press, 2003). 21 For example, Crane instituted a formal Christmas service at First Methodist. He explained this decision by arguing that 29 James P. Eckman, “Promoting an Ideology of Culture: The First Methodist “should stand for whatever is distinctive and Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circles in Nebraska, 1878- progressive in our denomination.” See “The Christmas Festival,” 1900,” Nebraska History 73 (1992): 18, 20. The Guidon, Dec. 22, 1894, 3. Crane also began holding monthly 30 Ibid. communion services. See “Communion,” The Guidon, Feb. 2, 1895, 3. His sermons printed in The Guidon also reveal that 31 “The Chautauqua College,” The Guidon, Oct. 13, 1894, 4. he incorporated modernist theological ideas, including de- The Chautauquan reading programs were an early precursor in emphasizing a literal hell and supporting a moderate form of the the development of what Matthew Hedstrom called a “religious social gospel. middlebrow” reading culture in the 1920s. See Hedstrom, The Rise of Liberal Religion (New York: Oxford University 22 Brief mentions and descriptions of Breckenridge and Press, 2012), 3-21. Benson can be found in the following early histories of Omaha: Ed. F. Morearty, Omaha Memories: Recollections of Events, Men 32 “The Chautauqua College,” The Guidon, Oct. 13, 1894, and Affairs in Omaha, Nebraska, from 1879 to 1917 (Omaha: 4. Crane did manage to bring in local rabbi Leo Franklin. Swartz Printing Co. 1917), 104-106, 201, 239; Alfred Sorenson, Sometimes the Protestant speakers were more controversial The Story of Omaha: From The Pioneer Days To The Present than the non-Protestants. For example, George Herron, a fiery Time (Omaha: National Printing Co., 1923), 531, 632; Arthur early advocate of what became known as the social gospel, C. Wakely, ed. Omaha: The Gate City and Douglas County gave a lecture in January 1895. After Herron’s lecture, Crane Nebraska: A Record of Settlement, Organization, Progress and described his views about the gospel as “peculiar,” noting that Achievement Volume I (Chicago: S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., his ideas were “very stimulative to thought, and perhaps to 1917), 150, 153; James W. Savage and John T. Bell, History of the controversy.” See “The Chautauqua College,” The Guidon, City of Omaha Nebraska and South Omaha (New York: Munsell Jan. 12, 1895, 5. & Co., 1894), 203, 430. 33 Before the beginning of the college’s second year, the 23 “People Talked About,” San Francisco Call, Sept. 30, Omaha World-Herald deemed it a “success” and asked Crane 1893, 6. Halford was instrumental in securing for Harrison to discuss the college. By 1895 two other CLSC societies had the Republican nomination in 1888. On his early career as a been launched in Methodist Churches. J. B. Maxfield also listed newspaper editor in Chicago and Indianapolis, see John H. B. the college as one of the positive developments brought about Nowland, Sketches of Prominent Citizens of 1876 (Indianapolis, during Crane’s tenure. See “Chance to Get Knowledge,” Omaha IN: Tilford & Carlson, 1877): 511-52. On his selection as World-Herald, Oct. 15, 1894, 8; “The Church Chautauquas,” Harrison’s secretary, see W. W. Price, “Secretaries to the Omaha World-Herald, Oct. 20, 1895, 5; “Frank Crane,” The President,” The Cosmopolitan (March 1901): 491; Charles W. Guidon, Feb. 29, 1896, 7. Calhoun, Benjamin Harrison (New York: Times Books, 2005), 68. 34 “If You Read Nothing Else,” The Guidon Oct. 7, 1893, 3; 24 “Personals,” Chicago Tribune, Sept. 25, 1893, 4; “Major “Victory!” The Guidon Nov. 11, 1893, 3. Halford’s Class,” The Guidon, Aug. 24, 1893, 4. Halford also

Fall 2015 • 149 35 “Omaha,” Omaha Christian Advocate, May 10, 1894, 10. Broatch gained a reputation as a self-interested reformer, “Frank Crane,” The Guidon, Feb. 29, 1896, 7. occasionally cracking down on some violators of the Slocumb Law. See Savage and Bell, History of the City of Omaha, 532; 36 I am indebted to Diane and Donna, the archivists at First Larsen and Cottrell, The Gate City, 96-97. United Methodist Church in Omaha, for allowing me to explore their archives, which resulted in discovering The Guidon. 53 One of the most heated anti-vice campaigns in Omaha In fact, it was by examining the pages of The Guidon that I occurred in 1890, when Nebraska held a statewide vote for became intrigued with Frank Crane, which eventually led to my prohibition. Most of Omaha’s Protestant clergy mobilized investigation into what happened after he left Omaha. in support of prohibition, but they were soundly defeated. See Patricia C. Gaster, “Bad Grammar and Sensational Style: 37 The first issue was published on January 22, 1893. It was The Daily Bumble Bee and the Fight for Prohibition in 1890,” published weekly for the rest of 1893, followed by a hiatus Nebraska History 88 (2007): 28-41. from January 1894 until October 1894. From there, it continued regular publication for the rest of Crane’s pastorate. After Crane 54 For more on this, see Warren Sloat, A Battle for the Soul left, The Guidon continued publication, but it was reduced of New York: Tammany Hall, Police Corruption, Vice, and from eight to four pages and no longer offered the unique Reverend Charles Parkhurst’s Crusade against Them, 1892-1895 commentary, opinion, and fundraising tactics provided during (New York: Cooper Square Press, 2002); Joseph O. Baylen, “A Crane’s tenure. After continuing as a glorified weekly bulletin Victorian’s Crusade in Chicago, 1893-94,” Journal of American for a few years, The Guidon appears to have ceased publication History 51 (December 1964): 418-34. around 1900. 55 Journalist Elia Peattie gave a glowing description of 38 “Salutary,” The Guidon, Jan. 22, 1893, 3; “The Guidon,” The Mills and his revival. It was reprinted with contextual notes Guidon, Oct. 6, 1894, 3. in Susanne George Bloomfield, ed.Impertinences: Selected Writings of Elia Peattie, a Journalist in the Gilded Age (Lincoln: 39 “The Tenth Is The Lord’s,” The Guidon, Oct. 27, 1894, 3; “The University of Nebraska Press, 2005), 141-48. Tenth List,” The Guidon, Jan. 19, 1895, 5. 56 For recollections of Mills’s comments, see “Discussing 40 “The Tenth List,” The Guidon, Jan. 19, 1895, 5. Social Sores,” Omaha Daily Bee, Mar. 7, 1893, 2; “Bemis and 41 “One Issue,” The Guidon, Oct. 20, 1894, 3. the Gamblers,” Omaha World-Herald, Jan. 1, 1894, 3. For a description of Mills’s methods, see William G. McLoughlin, Jr., 42 “The Price of Liberty,” The Guidon, Jan. 12, 1895, 3. Modern Revivalism: Charles Grandison Finney to Billy Graham 43 “How Shall We Escape,” The Guidon, March 20, 1895, 3. (New York: Ronald Press Co., 1959), 329-46. 44 Crane’s parody ran in two parts. See “Coin’s Financial 57 “Chief Seavey At The Bat,” Omaha Daily Bee, Feb. 21, School,” The Guidon, Mar. 16, 1895, 3-4; “Coin’s Financial Church 1893, 2. School,” The Guidon, Mar. 23, 1895, 5-10. 58 “Anti-Vice Forces,” Omaha Daily Bee, Jan. 27, 1893, 6; 45 “Rev. Frank Crane Leaves,” Omaha World-Herald, “Drunkenness a Disease,” Omaha World-Herald, Nov. 6, 1893, 8; Jan. 20, 1896, 1. “A Huge Anti-Vice Petition,” Omaha World-Herald, Feb. 17, 1893, 5. 46 During his time in Omaha, Crane displayed a consistent 59 “A Huge Anti-Vice Petition,” Omaha World-Herald, anti-Catholic streak, one that he would repudiate later in his life. Feb. 17, 1893, 5. For example, he refused to completely denounce the American 60 Ibid. Protective Association, a notorious nativist, anti-Catholic group that was prominent in Omaha in the 1890s, arguing that 61 “Discussing Social Sores,” Omaha Daily Bee, Mar. 7, 1893, “Romanism” was a legitimate problem. See “The A.P.A.,” Omaha 2; “The Anti-Vice Petition Police Commissioners and Petitioners Christian Advocate, Apr. 14, 1894, 8-9; “A.P.A.ism Vs. Romanism,” Exchange Views on it,” Omaha World-Herald, Mar. 7, 1893, 2. Omaha World-Herald, Nov. 26, 1894, 1; “The Public Pulse,” 62 “Mayor Sparring For Wind,” Omaha Daily Bee, Mar. 14, Omaha World-Herald, Dec. 1, 1894, 4. 1893, 1. Bemis cast the deciding vote against a resolution that 47 Untitled Editorial, Omaha Daily Bee, Nov. 21, 1895, 4. would have recognized the validity of the anti-vice petition. The day after the vote, Bemis issued a public order to Chief of 48 For a brief description of Rosewater, see Larsen and Police Webb Seavey, directing him to regulate gambling houses, Cottrell, The Gate City, 98-99. enforce Sunday saloon closings, and confine prostitution to the 49 See, for example, David Bristow, A Dirty, Wicked Town: burnt district. See “Moral House Cleaning,” Omaha Daily Bee, Tales of 19th Century Omaha (Caldwell, ID: Caxton Press, 2006), Mar. 15, 1893, 8. 199-213; John Kyle Davis, “The Gray Wolf: Tom Dennison of 63 Bemis’s strategy also involved comparing Omaha’s vice Omaha,” Nebraska History 58 (1977): 26-27. to that of other cities to show that Omaha was not as bad as 50 For a description of the third ward’s boundaries, see Orville others. For another example of Bemis’s focus on claiming D. Menard, River City Empire: Tom Dennison’s Omaha (Lincoln: the mantle of true Christianity from the clergy-led reformers, University of Nebraska Press, 2013): Kindle location 1013; W. see “Charity’s Cry,” Omaha Daily Bee, Mar. 20, 1893, 8. In the J. Connell, ed. The Revised Ordinances of the City of Omaha, article, the Bee printed a letter from the Associated Charities Nebraska (Omaha: Gibson, Miller & Richardson, 1890), 570. For asking for money to continue their work among the needy. a description of the boundaries of the “burnt district’ see “Chief Bemis had his response published in the Bee right alongside Seavey At The Bat,” Omaha Daily Bee, Feb. 21, 1893, 2; Bristow, A the request. He took the opportunity to highlight his own Dirty, Wicked Town, 203-4. charitable work, informing the Bee’s readers that he was going to increase his giving to the Associated Charities from $5 a year 51 Savage and Bell, History of the City of Omaha, 176. See also to $5 a month. He also took the chance to lambast the anti- Sorensen, The Story of Omaha, 482-83. vice reformers, writing, “It is my belief that poverty is a fruitful 52 Savage and Bell, History of the City of Omaha, 368-69; W. source of crime and immorality and that it is the prime cause J. Connell, ed. The Revised Ordinances of the City of Omaha, of a large percentage of the vice which a recent movement was Nebraska (Omaha: Gibson, Miller & Richardson, 1890), 130-32. inaugurated to stamp out.” Also in 1887, Omaha received a new charter giving the mayor 64 “Talks on the Social Evil,” Omaha World-Herald, (at the time William Broatch) more power and responsibility. Apr. 4, 1893, 1.

150 • Nebraska history 65 “An Appeal To The Christ,” Omaha World-Herald, Apr. 6, 83 “Impeach Mayor Bemis,” Omaha World-Herald, July 3, 1894, 1893, 8. See also “An Anti-Anti-Vice Petition,” Omaha World- 8; “Cinching Him,” Omaha World-Herald, Sept. 21, 1894, 5. Per Herald, Apr. 29, 1893, 2. On John Williams’s long career in Omaha law, impeachment proceedings had to be launched by Omaha, see D. G. Paz, “‘For Zion’s Sake, Will I Not Hold My two members of the city council before being turned over to the Peace’: John Williams, Radical Omaha Priest, 1877-1914,” decision of a panel of judges. Nebraska History 63 (1982): 87-108. 84 “Mayor Bemis is Acquitted,” Omaha World-Herald, 66 “Strong Plea With Ben Bolt,” Omaha World-Herald, Sept. 29, 1894, 8. Apr. 10, 1893, 1. 85 “Bemis And The Gamblers,” Omaha World-Herald, Sept. 27, 67 Rosewater, Bemis’s most prominent backer, was very 1894, 8; “Mayor Bemis On The Stand,” Omaha Daily Bee, concerned about the possibility that the anti-vice petitioners Sept. 27, 1894, 8. would damage Bemis’s election chances. See, for example, 86 “Crane Talks About Labor,” Omaha World-Herald, Sept. “Bemis, Hascall and Bedford,” Omaha Daily Bee, Nov. 3, 1893, 4; 4, 1893, 2. Thanks to this sermon, J. W. Edgarton wrote to the “Bemis and the Anti-Vice Protest,” Omaha Daily Bee, World-Herald declaring his support for Crane because Crane Nov. 6, 1893, 4. was a friend of the laborer and held the “advanced positions” of 68 “Lecturing On White Chips,” Omaha Daily Bee, Dec. 24, applied Christianity. See “Politics and Religion,” Omaha World- 1893, 14; “Judge Scott on Gambling,” Omaha World-Herald, Dec. Herald, Oct. 12, 1893, 4. 23, 1893, 8; On Dennison’s connection to Pierson, see Menard, 87 Crane believed that Richard Ely (who theologian and River City Empire, Kindle location 421-432; 1208; Davis, “The scholar Gary Dorrien described as “the founding economist of Gray Wolf,” 27-29. the social gospel”) was a “healthful antidote” to Herron’s more 69 “Judge Scott on Gambling,” Omaha World-Herald, radical collectivist impulse. See Omaha Christian Advocate, Dec. 23, 1893, 8. June 28, 1894, 8-9. For the Dorrien quote see The Making of American Liberal Theology: Idealism, Realism, & Modernity, 70 “Says Bad Things Of Bemis,” Omaha World-Herald, Dec. 24, 1900-1950 (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2003), 82. 1893, 14; The World-Herald offered cautious support for Scott’s On the social gospel, see Ronald C. White, Jr. and C. Howard stance, arguing that “some action be taken” in the wake of Scott’s Hopkins, Social Gospel: Religion and Reform in Changing comments. See “To Impeach The Mayor,” Omaha World-Herald, America (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1976); Ralph Dec. 24, 1893, 12. The Omaha Bee, with Rosewater as a well- E. Luker, The Social Gospel in Black and White: American known supporter of Bemis (some even thought of Rosewater as Racial Reform, 1885-1912 (Chapel Hill: University of North Bemis’s puppet master) was firmly behind the mayor. Carolina Press, 1991); Susan Curtis, A Consuming Faith: The 71 “Attitude Toward Gambling,” Omaha World-Herald, Jan. 1, Social Gospel and Modern American Culture, (Baltimore: Johns 1894, 3. Another Omaha pastor, Asa Leard of Knox Presbyterian, Hopkins University Press, 1991); Wendy J. Deichmann Edwards also denounced Bemis with a sermon that night, but his sermon and Carolyn de Swarte Gifford, eds., Gender and the Social did not receive as much coverage as Crane’s. Gospel (Champaign: University of Illinois Press, 2003); Matthew Bowman, “Sin, Spirituality and Primitivism: The Theologies of 72 “Attitude Toward Gambling,” Omaha World-Herald, the American Social Gospel, 1885-1917,” Religion and American Jan. 1, 1894, 3. Culture 17.1 (Winter 2007): 95-126; Heath W. Carter, Union Made: 73 Ibid. Working People and the Rise of Social Christianity in Chicago (New York: Oxford University Press, 2015). 74 “The Mayor’s Message,” Omaha World-Herald, Jan. 3, 1894, 5; “Mayor’s Annual Message,” Omaha Daily Bee, Jan. 3, 1894, 8. 88 Frank Crane, “The Industrial Disturbance,” Omaha Christian Advocate, May 3, 1894, 8-9. 75 “Ring Out The False,” Omaha Daily Bee, Jan. 3, 1894, 3. See also “A Puerile Plot,” Omaha Daily Bee, Jan. 5, 1894, 4. 89 Frank Crane, Omaha Christian Advocate, Apr. 28, 1894, 8-9. 76 Untitled Editorial, Omaha World-Herald, Jan. 7, 1894, 4. See 90 “No Sympathy For It,” Omaha World-Herald, Apr. 23, 1894, also “Some Interesting Comparisons,” Omaha World-Herald, 2; “Crane’s Reply to the Union,” Omaha World-Herald, Apr. 30, Jan. 5, 1894, 4. 1894, 5; “Before Courts Alone,” Omaha Daily Bee, July 2, 1894, 8; “Crane on the Strike,” Omaha Daily Bee, July 9, 1894, 8; “He 77 “Crime Has Justice In Irons,” Omaha World-Herald, Talks of the Strike,” Omaha World-Herald, Jan. 28, 1895, 2. Jan. 8, 1894, 8. 91 Frank Crane “The Era of the Blatherskite,” Omaha Christian 78 Ibid. Advocate, Apr. 14, 1894, 8. The Omaha Christian Advocate was 79 “After Bemis With A Stick,” Omaha World-Herald, Jan. 15, an official Methodist periodical. For six months in 1894 (from 1894, 5; For the Bee’s account of this sermon, see “Frank Crane February through July), Crane served as its editor. to Men Only,” Omaha Daily Bee, Jan. 15, 1894, 2. 92 “Given to Strong Language,” Omaha World-Herald, Apr. 80 See, for example: “Relief For Unemployed,” Omaha Daily 26, 1894, 1. See Jill M. Jozwiak, “Cross-Class Unity in the Gilded Bee, Jan. 8, 1894, 8; “Sensational Pulpit Oratory,” Omaha Daily Age: Kelly’s Army in Omaha and Council Bluffs,” (master’s Bee, Jan. 9, 1894, 4; “The Plot Thickens,” Omaha Daily Bee, thesis, University of Nebraska-Omaha, 2011) for an excellent Jan.12, 1894, 4; “Public Morality,” Omaha World-Herald, Jan. 16, overview of Omaha’s response to Kelly’s Army. See also 33-37 for 1894, 4; “He Puts On The Gloves,” Omaha World-Herald, Jan. 29, a discussion of the Crane-Bemis January 1894 public battle over 1894, 2; “Love Not an Element,” Omaha Daily Bee, Jan. 29, 1894, gambling and prostitution. 4; “Discretion of Executives,” Omaha Daily Bee, Feb. 10, 1894, 5. 93 “Crane’s Reply to the Union,” Omaha World-Herald, 81 “Oracles of Oral Science,” Omaha Daily Bee, May 2, 1894, 8; Apr. 30, 1894, 5. “League Opens The Season,” Omaha World-Herald, 94 Jozwiak, “Cross-Class Unity in the Gilded Age,” 121-123. May 4, 1894, 1. 95 “Notes,” The Guidon June 15, 1895, 3. Crane originally 82 “He Took His Halo and Harp,” Omaha World-Herald, May 17, called the Pulpit Editorials “Pulpit Views of Current News.” 1895, 8; See also “For Homeless Boys and Girls,” Omaha Daily Bee, May 17, 1895, 2. 96 The titles for these pulpit editorials can be found in the

Fall 2015 • 151 weekly editions of The Guidon from July 1895 until February 110 Richard Lingeman, Sinclair Lewis: Rebel from Main Street 1896. Occasionally, the text of the pulpit editorials was reprinted (New York: Random House, 2005), 176; See also James M. in The Guidon as well. Hutchisson, Rise of Sinclair Lewis, 1920-1930 (University Park, PA: Penn State University Press, 2001), 53. Hutchisson notes that 97 See, for example, “Wants A Religious Day,” Omaha World- Lewis combined Eddie Guest, Walt Mason, Frank Crane, Bruce Herald, June 17, 1895, 5; “New Woman A Necessity,” Omaha Barton, and Herb Kaufman to create his Chum Fink character. World-Herald, July 1, 1895, 5; “Two Men Of Local Interest,” See also Percy H. Boynton, “American Authors of Today: VI. Omaha World-Herald, July 8, 1895, 5. James Haynes commented Booth Tarkington,” The English Journal 12.2 (Feb. 1923), 121-22; in History of the Methodist Episcopal Church that Crane’s pulpit George Jean Nathan and H. L. Mencken, The American Credo: A editorials have “enough of the sensational to attract large Contribution Toward the Interpretation of the National Mind (New congregations” (p. 98). York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1921), 170. 98 “Church And The Newspaper,” Omaha World-Herald, 111 H. L. Mencken, Prejudices: First Series (New York: Alfred A. Sept. 16, 1895, 2. Knopf, 1919), 46; H. L. Mencken, American Language: An Inquiry 99 Frank Crane, “The Industrial Disturbances,” Omaha into the Development of English in the United States, 2nd edition Christian Advocate, May 3, 1894, 8-9. (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1921), 422-24. 100 Frank Crane, “How We Learn,” Omaha Christian Advocate, 112 “Personal—And Indiscreet,” The American Magazine May 17, 1894, 1. (May 1922): 98. 101 For a summary of this episode and of the broader debate 113 Untitled Editorial, Omaha World-Herald, June 15, 1897, 4. about the need to “Christianize” the press, see Ron Rodgers, 114 “Personal—And Indiscreet,” The American Magazine (May “‘Goodness Isn’t News’: The Sheldon Edition and the National 1922): 18; “Memorial for Dr. Crane,” New York Times, Jan. 7, Conversation Defining Journalism’s Responsibility to Society,” 1929, 11. Journalism History 34.4 (Winter 2009): 204-15. 115 On the development of the daily press in the early 102 For example, his opinions were reprinted in the San twentieth century and its connection with religious influences, Francisco Call and the Washington (DC) Times. See “Thoughts see Doug Underwood, From Yahweh to Yahoo! The Religious From Pulpits,” Washington Times, Apr. 20, 1896, 6; “Religion Roots of the Secular Press (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, Thoughts and Progress,” San Francisco Call, Apr. 18, 1896, 8. 2002), 61-114. See also Rodgers, “‘Goodness Isn’t News,’” 204-15. 103 Untitled Editorial, Omaha World-Herald, Sept. 20, 1896, 4; 116 On the development of middlebrow culture, see Joan “A Minister of the Gospel,” Omaha World-Herald, Sept. 23, 1896, Shelley Rubin, The Making of Middlebrow Culture (Chapel Hill: 4. University of North Carolina Press, 1992). Rubin mentions Crane 104 “Dr. Frank Crane’s Invocation,” Chicago Tribune, Oct. 20, in passing as an example of a person who provided “expert 1898, 2; “What Manner of Man?” Omaha World-Herald, testimonial” to legitimize certain books for a middlebrow Nov. 21, 1898, 4. audience (p. 215). Recent scholarship has begun to probe more deeply into the connection between religion and middlebrow 105 See, for example, “Souls Of Men Will People The Stars,” culture. See, for example, Matthew Hedstrom, The Rise of Chicago Sunday Tribune, Feb. 28, 1897, 41. Crane had recently Liberal Religion: Book Culture and American Spirituality in the given a controversial lecture, and he explained that his purpose Twentieth Century (New York: Oxford University Press, 2012). was merely to give food for thought and spur discussion with his Crane seems to fit in with the liberal “religious middlebrow” ideas, not make them dogmatic. culture described by Hedstrom that emerged in the 1920s and 106 For an explanation from Crane on how he moved from the was shaped by “mysticism, mind cure, and psychology” (p. 15). pulpit to professional editorializing, see Frank Crane, Adventures While Hedstrom focused attention on the creation of book- in Common Sense (New York: William H. Wise & Co., 1916), 13- reading programs in the 1920s, Crane points to the possibility of 21. religious middlebrow impulses found within the pages of daily newspapers. 107 “Personal—And Indiscreet,” The American Magazine (May 1922): 98. 117 Bruce Barton, author of The Man Nobody Knows (1925), a book that depicted Jesus as a proponent of modern business 108 Frank Crane, The Business of Living (New York: William H. principles, is often viewed as the primary example of this Wise & Co., 1920), 31. The quote came from a piece titled “The development. See Richard M. Fried, The Man Everybody Knew: Ten Commandments of Success.” Bruce Barton and the Making of Modern America (Chicago: 109 Titles included: Human Confessions (1911), Lame and Ivan R. Dee, 2005). However, Crane often emphasized the same Lovely (1912), War and World Government (1915), Just Human themes as Barton. In fact, in a book published a year before (1915), Adventures in Common Sense (1916), Christmas and Barton’s bestseller, Crane described Jesus as “my spiritual the Year Round (1917), Looking Glass (1917), Lighted Windows executive” and heavily emphasized Christianity’s compatibility (1918), Four Minute Essays (1919), The Business of Living (1920), with modern business practices and principles. See Frank Crane, and Footnotes to Life (1920). Why I Am a Christian (New York, William H. Wise & Co., 1924).

152 • Nebraska history