Appalachian History

Representative Joseph Crockett Shaffer(R-9th District, VA) had been a member of the 71st Congress for only 3 months when the De Priest incident made national news. It was June 1929, and First Lady Louann Hoover had refused to invite black Congressman Oscar De Priest’s wife, Jessie Williams De Priest, to the White House to have tea with the spouses of other Republican Congressmen. After De Priest (R-Chicago) publicized the snub, Mrs. Hoover invited Mrs. De Priest to the White House in a highly symbolic event that marked the first time an African American woman had ever been entertained by a First Lady in the official resident of the President.

Racist editorials in both Northern and Southern newspapers called the invitation a social scandal and vilified Mrs. Hoover and the De Priests, but a threatened boycott by Southern legislators’ wives collapsed. Some southern newspaper editors accused Mrs. Hoover of 'defiling' the White House. The Texas legislature went so far as to formally admonish her.

In late June, under the De Priest auspices, a musicale was given at Washington Auditorium to which were invited all Republican members of Congress. With Congress adjourned and Washington DC therefore 'empty,' white invitees had a good excuse to decline. In the crowd of 3,000 only a dozen white faces appeared, of which only one, that of Illinois Representative Richard Yates, belonged to a House colleague. Congressman De Priest announced that he would give another musicale the following winter to test the sincerity of his Republican friendships on the race issue.

Shaffer, refusing the De Priest musicale invitation, warned De Priest: "You are now embarking on a perilous course which will, if you continue, disturb relations which have long been amicably settled in the South."

President Hoover, in his memoirs, said that "the speeches of southern Senators and Congressmen… wounded [Mrs. Hoover] deeply."

Despite this, Hoover, when he left office in 1933, sent Shaffer a personal letter stating "Before leaving this office I wish to express to you the appreciation I have for the devoted public service you have given these past years..."

Virginia's 9th Congressional District

The De Priest incident and Shaffer's response to it may have irrevocably damaged his career: He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection the following year. He was reappointed United States Attorney for the Western District of Virginia in 1931, but resigned after only a year in office.


sources: www.whitehousehistory.org/04/subs/images_subs/primary_1929.pdf
www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,732570,00.html?iid=chix-sphere
www.blackpast.org/?q=aah/depriest-oscar-1871-1951
Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
educationforum.ipbhost.com/lofiversion/index.php/t3391.html


appalachia appalachian+history appalachian+mountains+history Herbert+Hoover Joseph+Crockett+Shaffer the+De+Priest+incident Wythe+County+VA

Baseball pitcher Charles Louis (“Deacon”) Phillippi, of Rural Retreat VA, was drafted into the National League by Louisville in 1898, and began his baseball career with that team on April 21, 1899. On May 29, 1899 he pitched a no-hitter against the Giants in only his seventh major league game. In 1900, he moved to the Pittsburgh Pirates, where he spent the rest of his baseball career, through his final game on August 13, 1911.

His claim to fame is that he won the first game of the first World Series in 1903 against Boston’s Cy Young. Deacon is considered one of the greatest control artists of all times, averaging just 1.25 walks per inning per nine innings over his career. This record that has stood for over a century, despite the likes of Sandy Koufax, Nolan Ryan and Walter Johnson.

Phillippi was born on May 23, 1872, a son of Andrew Jackson & Margaret Jane (Hackler) Phillippi. Sometime around March 1875, the family left Wythe County and moved to Spink County, SD, near the town of Athol, where young Charles grew to manhood. His friends called him Charlie, but he got the "Deacon" nickname due to his humility and easy demeanor.

In 1896, he headed to Minnesota to play semi-pro ball for a team in Mankato. The next year he hooked up with Minneapolis of the Western League, where he pitched for two seasons, in the second of which he posted a record of 21-19. Then he got his chance in 1898 when he was drafted by Louisville. Deacon left his wife Ella and 3 children right around this time. Ella claimed she threw him out when he informed her he was going to become a Pro baseball player, which in those days was akin to joining the circus.

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS: Phillippi was 186-108 lifetime with a 2.88 ERA. He had five seasons with 20 or more wins. He completed 242 of the 288 games he started over his career, while triking out 929. He had his best ERA year in 1902 when he posted a 2.05 mark and a 20-9 record. Over a 4 year period (1900-1903), he pitched 1136.1 innings. He is near the top of the team's ALL-TIME pitching list in Innings Pitched, Wins, Strikeouts, Shutouts, and Completed Games.

BEST YEAR: In 1903, he was 24-7 with a 2.43 ERA. He struck out 123, only walked 29, and gave up just 265 hits in 289 innings.

The World Series, as we know it today, was first played on October 1, 1903 between the National League Pittsburgh Pirates and the American League Boston Pilgrims at the old Huntington Avenue Ballpark in Boston. It was a 9 game series, which Boston won 5 games to 3. Star players in the series included Pittsburgh's Honus Wagner and Deacon Phillippi and Boston's Cy Young.

Phillippi pitched in five of Pittsburgh's eight World Series games against the Boston Pilgrims. He beat Cy Young in the first and third games. He beat Bill Dinneen in the fourth game. He lost to Bill Dinneen in the eight game, 3-0. Each player on the winning Boston Team received $ 1, 182.00. Because the Pirates owner willingly gave up his gate receipts, each player for the Pirates received $ 1,316.25. The price of a ticket was $ 1.50, and there were 16, 242 in attendance for the first game.

After the 1903 World Series, Deacon not only received his salary of $ 1,316.25, but he also received ten shares in the Pittsburgh Pirates.

In the old Federal League during 1912 & 1913, Deacon managed the Pittsburgh Team named the "Filipinos", named so after the Deacon himself. But the poorly organized and financed league collapsed, mainly because of the failure of the NY franchise to attract fans.


sources: www.serve.com/smythgen/Deacon/Deacon.htm
www.southdakotamagazine.com/editors_notebook.php?p=458
baseballcrank.com/archives2/2003/10/baseballpop_cul.php
www.baseball-reference.com/p/phillde01.shtml


Deacon+Phillippi Rural+Retreat+VA Wythe+County+VA minor+league+baseball appalachia appalachian+history appalachian+mountains+history