Washington Board of Trade: Document View

next document »

Title: The proposal and formation of the Washington Board of Trade
Author: The Washington Post
Date: 11/12/1889, 11/13/1889, 11/28/1889

Document Information

return to document view

Bibliographic Metadata

Author: The Washington Post
Title: The proposal and formation of the Washington Board of Trade
Date: 11/12/1889, 11/13/1889, 11/28/1889
Archive: Special Collections, Gelman Library, George Washington University
Collection name: The Greater Washington Board of Trade
Document location: Box 1, Folder 4 "Background Documents, 1800 to 1973"
Publication location: Washington, D.C.
Publisher: The Washington Post

Descriptive Metadata

Editorial notes:
Description: These are the first documents in the Greater Washington Board of Trade archives, four articles from The Washington Post regarding the proposal and organization of a board of trade. They are dated 11/12/1889, 11/13/1889, 11/28/1889, and 11/28/1889 respectively.

The first article is an editorial dated November 12, 1889. The conversation had started among the business leaders of Washington in the prior weeks and this editorial contributes to this ongoing conversation. The editorialist argues that although Washington, D.C. is not an industrial center of manufacturing or distribution, a board of trade is still vitally needed because commerce is enlarging and will continue to expand over time. The largest reason offered for the necessity of a board of trade is "our peculiar system of government." A board of trade would be highly effective in lobbying and communicating the needs of the District to the appropriate committees of the House and Senate. The case is being made from the start that the Board will operate as a quasi-form of city governance and advocacy.

The second article from November 13, 1889 provides a litany of business leaders going on the public record as highly favoring such a board of trade for the District in reaction to the editorial published the previous day. Given the high and immediate response, it is easy to conclude that a Post editorial wielded great influence in the community during this era. It is assuming to note this article takes every opportunity to note the previous day's Post originated the idea of a board of trade, though not an accurate characterization. The leaders on record in this article include represent varied business industries such as cartography, insurance, clothing, banking, grocery, and even crockery.

The third article from November 28, 1889 is a short column reporting the Washington Board of Trade was organized the previous evening at the Ebbitt House, an upscale hotel built in 1872 and demolished in 1926.

The fourth article was also published on November 28, 1889, probably in the evening edition of the paper. It is a fuller article than the previous column, reporting the names involved with more detail of the events.
Subjects: Greater Washington Board of Trade;; Washington, D.C. Government;; Board of Trade for the District of Columbia;; 19th Century Washington, D.C.;; The Washington Post

Technical Metadata

Date scanned: 02/27/2006
Person scanning: Craig Clarke
Date converted: 02/27/2006
Person converting: Craig Clarke
Scanner used: Fujitsu FI-4220C
OCR program: PixEdit 7 Rev. 7.3.6
Technical notes: The third article was clipped too closely along the left margin by the person who saved the article in the 1880s