Century-old Bryan postcards found
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BY DON WALTON / Lincoln Journal Star
One hundred years ago this September, William Jennings Bryan left his home in Lincoln to embark on a trip around the world. It would be a year's journey devoted to the quest for world peace, building the foundation for Bryan's third and final presidential bid.
Two years ago, Steve Larrick wandered into the Q Street Antique Market between 18th and 19th streets. Larrick drops in at antique shops occasionally to browse and see what's there. He's especially attracted to old postcards and the stories they tell.
"I recognized the handwriting instantly," Larrick said. "I knew it was him."
Sorting through a pile, Larrick discovered a postcard mailed to Lincoln from Japan with this message scrawled atop the painted picture: "Compliments of the Bryans."
And then he found another.
"The last of Europe," read the message on the card next to the photo of the Rock of Gibraltar. It was mailed on Aug. 20, 1906, and signed: "The Bryans."
By now, the adrenaline had kicked in, igniting Larrick's afterburner. He rushed through the stack, uncovering three more prizes mailed from Asia and Europe, with brief greetings written in ink by Bryan.
Even today, Larrick's eyes light up as he recalls the moment of discovery.
"I was emotionally distraught at the time," Larrick said, agonizing over the Bush administration's steady march to war in Iraq.
"Out of the blue," he said, "here were these cards from Bryan" mailed to Lincoln a century ago in the midst of a journey seeking peace around the globe.
Larrick was the Green Party's congressional nominee in the 1st District last November.
Through all the debates about health care, farm policy and Social Security reform, he made the case for peace and argued passionately against the war.
The cards were addressed to Miss Leah Westhafer at the Commoner in Lincoln, Nebraska. That's all. No street address. No post office box. No need for any of that 100 years ago.
The Commoner was a weekly newspaper published by Bryan, who already had won the Democratic Party's presidential nomination twice. He'd win it again in 1908.
Amazed by his good fortune, Larrick paid the going rate for postcards in the pile.
One dollar each.
And he walked out the door with a $5 chunk of history.
Bryan left Lincoln on Sept. 21, 1905, and sailed from San Francisco across the Pacific Ocean on Sept. 27. A year later, he returned across the Atlantic, arriving in New York on Aug. 29, 1906.
When he arrived back home in Lincoln on Sept. 5, the journey had taken 16 days short of a full year.
In New York, his ship was met by an array of prominent Democratic leaders. Among them was a contingent of Nebraskans, including Omaha's colorful mayor, Jim Dahlman, a former cowhand who literally lassoed Bryan with a lariat when he disembarked.
Bryan addressed a welcoming rally of 12,000 adoring supporters at Madison Square Garden, suggesting he had discovered plenty of evidence that negotiation and arbitration could work as a substitute for war.
Author of an 1899 book, "Republic or Empire," which argued against U.S. domination of the Philippines, Bryan told the crowd that "our nation has lost prestige rather than gained it by our experiment in colonialism."
Although he had been a longtime admirer of Bryan and his commitment to peace, Larrick said, he had not been aware of the trip.
After discovering the postcards, he purchased a well-worn copy of "The Old World and Its Ways," Bryan's book about his travels published in 1907.
Another Larrick bargain at $15.
Reach Don Walton at 473-7248 or at dwalton@journalstar.com.
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