Thanksgiving in a Time of Trouble
As Seattle grapples with the financial instability of 1893, local missions and churches organize a massive effort to ensure no one goes hungry.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Thanksgiving day was universally observed in the city yesterday. Business was suspended and attention was centered on doing justice to the good things of the day, giving thanks in the churches and ensuring that none felt the lack of them. The Salvation Army, having opened a 5-cent restaurant in the basement of its barracks, fed hundreds of the hungry. The Seamen's Bethel, or City Mission, gave a free turkey dinner to all comers, even forcing them to come in and eat their fill. At the First Presbyterian Church, Rev. Brevard D. Sinclair spoke on the 'brotherhood of man' as a remedy for current financial troubles, and noted that the church must do its duty or face failure. Similar charitable efforts were organized at the Orphan's Home and Providence Hospital, where those in affliction were provided with a feast.
“The church must come up to the work required from it, or it would fail. The church was not doing its duty, or there would not be a Salvation Army or a benevolent society in the city.”
This article highlights Seattle during the Panic of 1893, a severe economic depression. The rhetoric of 'Christian socialism' and the focus on collective food security during a crisis resonates strongly with contemporary debates regarding Seattle’s social safety net and the role of religious and private organizations in managing urban poverty.
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