Beyond Chevy Chase

Beyond Chevy Chase:
Exploring the World with the Young Reporters

Children love to explore, be it their own backyard, or a faraway land. Many neighbors in Chevy Chase in the 1930s and 1970s gave the young reporters plenty of opportunity to learn about new places and cultures. These Neighbors embraced the same opportunity to share their own stories and cultures in the newspapers, encouraging openness and diversity within the community. Whether a news story was about travel or world events, the editors of these newspapers displayed an awareness and appreciation for other cultures and global events.

Travel

Reports of vacations and business trips provided a good deal of content for the newspapers. With many of the residents working for government or non-profit organizations, business travel to many different parts of the world occurred often and enabled families to take vacations to destinations around the United States and abroad.

Although such trips were often listed as announcements, the editors would sometimes enlist neighbors as "foreign correspondents", giving detailed reports of their journey in stories that would be featured over the course of several issues.

The world also came to Chevy Chase. Friends and family members visiting Chevy Chase households were new sources of information, and often were portrayed as ambassadors from the world beyond Chevy Chase.
 

World Events

The 1930s and 1970s were periods of change for the United States. The young reporters’ proximity to Washington D.C., coupled with the presence of international residents in the neighborhood may have made them more aware of national and global events.

That said, no one could have escaped an awareness of the impacts of the Great Depression, or the growing hostilities in Europe and Asia in the decade before World War Two. From the beginning of its production, The Thornapple Street News placed its "World News" section on the front page.

Visiting dignitaries also produced a lot of excitement for The Thornapple Street News. Several of the early issues covered Mahatma Gandhi's trip to London in 1931, which was at the height of his fight for India's independence.
 

The Shepherd Street News and the Leland Street Sunday News were produced in a time of political and international tension as well, although the editors generally focused on lighter topics.
 

Still, some events could not avoided, such as the ending of a war and the beginning of the Watergate scandal.

The world can be a scary place. How did the parents of The Thornapple Street News editors explain what was happening in China or why Gandhi was an important figure? Did the parents on Shepherd Street discuss Vietnam with their children? The presence of international residents and their willingness to share their traditions and perspectives was essential to building understanding and awareness of others, to look beyond what was in the newspapers and know that the actions of the few did not define entire countries or groups. The stories of fun vacations and traveling also provided food for the imagination, teaching the young reporters to appreciate the beauty of the world.

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