Seconds after shooting President William McKinley in the Temple of Music at the Pan-American Exposition, Leon Czolgosz cried out, "I done my duty!" He had little time to elaborate on what he meant. James B. Parker, an African-American in line behind Czolgosz, sprang upon him and wrested him quickly to the floor. His fingers were pried open and the nickel-plated Iver Johnson revolver snatched from his grip. Then his face was bashed, over and over, against the floor until his nose spurted blood.
To read more of Barbara Soper's story, see page 8 of the Fall 2001 Heritage Magazine. Subscribe now!
Aside from the medical question of the sanity of
Leon Czolgosz and whether his belief that he was an anarchist was part of
a 
mental
delusion, the information about his fascination with Edward Bellamy's Looking
Backward: 2000 - 1887 can clarify some of the puzzling aspects of his
statements and motivation. Today the public is less familiar with the futuristic
novel than it was 100 years ago, although the book has probably never been
out of print since its first appearance in 1888. Czolgosz' copy of the novel,
found in January 1901 stashed under the eaves in the little attic apartment
in Cleveland, was purchased by the investigator, Dr. Vernon Briggs. Waldek
Czolgosz said his brother had studied the powerful book for seven or eight
years, approximately the time a change had been noticed in the brother's behavior.
To read more of Jerome Szara's story, see page 14 of the Fall 2001 Heritage Magazine. Subscribe now!
The twentieth century rang in on a sour note for Mark Twain. He was homesick, physically ailing, and suffering from a turn-of-the-century malaise. By 1901, though, Twain's spirit had been restored and his writing energies refueled, partly due to renewed ties to Buffalo.
To read more of Tom Reigstad's story, see page 20 of the Fall 2001 Heritage Magazine. Subscribe now!
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