Political drama dominates the front page as Congressman Black demands President Coolidge take a clear stand on Prohibition, calling it the "outstanding issue before us." The New York Democrat insists it's time for the Republican president to "straighten out his followers" on the liquor question. Meanwhile, Representative Berger reports he has "good reason to believe" Coolidge will restore citizenship rights to Eugene Debs, the socialist leader who served prison time for his World War I utterances. In Seattle, history is made as Mrs. Bertha K. Landes becomes the city's first woman mayor-elect, defeating incumbent Dr. Edwin J. Brown by almost 6,000 votes. The University of Washington professor's wife had previously served as acting mayor and made waves by dismissing Brown's police chief during his absence at the 1924 Democratic convention.

These stories capture America at a fascinating crossroads in 1926. Prohibition, six years old, was creating deep political rifts as enforcement proved nearly impossible and public support wavered. The question of Eugene Debs' citizenship reflected ongoing tensions over wartime dissent and free speech. Most significantly, Mrs. Landes' mayoral victory represented the growing political power of women, just six years after winning the vote. Her hands-on approach to cleaning up police corruption embodied the Progressive Era's reform spirit that continued into the 1920s, even as the country embraced business-friendly policies under Coolidge.

• Connecticut tobacco growers planned to slash their acreage by 40% because they couldn't get fertilizer on credit, showing how even agriculture felt the financial squeeze of the mid-1920s
• The liner America caught fire at Newport News while being refitted - this was the former German ship taken over during WWI, showing how war prizes were still being repurposed years later
• A Glasgow hair salon gave its 'shingled' female employees an ultimatum: grow your hair back out or resign, with a 12-month deadline to comply
• Bridgeport burglars showed remarkable taste, stealing $8,000-$10,000 worth of fine women's coats and furs while leaving the old stock untouched
• Hartford residents averaged $6,000 in personal wealth - double the national average of $3,200, with the city's wealth having grown 240% in just ten years

• Senator Couzens, fighting a $2 million tax bill over Ford stock sales, was actually one of Henry Ford's original partners who sold his stake in 1919 for $29 million - making him one of America's richest men and a thorn in Ford's side politically
• The proposed 'all American ship canal through New York state' mentioned in the protests was an ambitious plan to create a sea-level waterway to compete with the Panama Canal, which never materialized
• Eugene Debs, whose citizenship restoration was being discussed, had received nearly a million votes for president in 1920 while sitting in federal prison - making him the only incarcerated candidate to receive substantial electoral support
• The North Judd factory disaster that killed eight men was blamed on nature rather than negligence, reflecting 1920s attitudes toward workplace safety that would change dramatically after the New Deal
• Mrs. Landes' victory in Seattle made her one of only a handful of female mayors in major American cities during the 1920s, part of a quiet revolution in women's political participation