Jim Kershner’s This day in history

From our archives, 75 years ago

“Spokane Enjoys Record Easter,” trumpeted a 1937 headline, followed by a story that said “record congregations gathered in virtually all of the churches of the city on a sunlit Easter morning.”

The story provides no actual documentation of this record – churches don’t exactly compile attendance statistics – but the anecdotal evidence seemed to point to a healthy turnout. At First Presbyterian Church, attendance was “swelled” by members of the “Cataract commandery of the Knights Templar in their resplendent blue full dress uniforms with white plumed casques and dangling sabres.”

The knights “marched in military formation” from the Masonic Temple to the church.

At Grace Baptist Church, 300 children took part in a Sunday school pageant.

The gorgeous spring weather also made for excellent Easter parading.

“Not only were stylish new Easter bonnets bathed in flattering roseate sunlight, but even the slightest disturbing breeze that could wreck some of the more extreme spring creations was absent,” wrote a correspondent.

Also on this date

(From the Associated Press)

1951: Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were convicted of conspiracy to commit espionage. They were executed in June 1953.