1923

Events from the year **1923 in the United States**.

## Incumbents

### Federal Government

* President: Warren G. Harding (R-OH) (until August 2), Calvin Coolidge (R-MA) (starting August 2)
* Vice President: Calvin Coolidge (R-MA) (until August 2), *vacant* (starting August 2)
* Chief Justice: William Howard Taft (OH)
* Speaker of the House of Representatives: Frederick H. Gillett (R-MA)
* Senate Majority Leader: Henry Cabot Lodge (R-MA)
* Congress: 67th (until March 4), 68th (starting March 4)

Governors
* Governor of Alabama: Thomas Kilby (Democratic) (until January 15), William W. Brandon (Democratic) (starting January 15)
* Governor of Arizona: Thomas Edward Campbell (Republican) (until January 1), George W. P. Hunt (Democratic) (starting January 1)
* Governor of Arkansas: Thomas Chipman McRae (Democratic)
* Governor of California: William Stephens (Republican) (until January 9), Friend Richardson (Republican) (starting January 9)
* Governor of Colorado: Oliver Henry Shoup (Republican) (until January 9), William Ellery Sweet (Democratic) (starting January 9)
* Governor of Connecticut: Everett J. Lake (Republican) (until January 3), Charles A. Templeton (Republican) (starting January 3)
* Governor of Delaware: William D. Denney (Republican)
* Governor of Florida: Cary A. Hardee (Democratic)
* Governor of Georgia: Thomas W. Hardwick (Democratic) (until June 30), Clifford Walker (Democratic) (starting June 30)
* Governor of Idaho: D. W. Davis (Republican) (until January 1), Charles C. Moore (Republican) (starting January 1)
* Governor of Illinois: Len Small (Republican)
* Governor of Indiana: Warren T. McCray (Republican)
* Governor of Iowa: Nathan E. Kendall (Republican)
* Governor of Kansas: Henry Justin Allen (Republican) (until January 8), Jonathan M. Davis (Democratic) (starting January 8)
* Governor of Kentucky: Edwin P. Morrow (Republican) (until December 11), William J. Fields (Democratic) (starting December 11)
* Governor of Louisiana: John M. Parker (Democratic)
* Governor of Maine: Percival Proctor Baxter (Republican)
* Governor of Maryland: Albert C. Ritchie (Democratic)
* Governor of Massachusetts: Channing H. Cox (Republican)
* Governor of Michigan: Alex Groesbeck (Republican)
* Governor of Minnesota: J. A. O. Preus (Republican)
* Governor of Mississippi: Lee M. Russell (Democratic)
* Governor of Missouri: Arthur M. Hyde (Republican)
* Governor of Montana: Joseph M. Dixon (Republican)
* Governor of Nebraska: Samuel R. McKelvie (Republican) (until January 3), Charles W. Bryan (Democratic) (starting January 3)
* Governor of Nevada: Emmet D. Boyle (Democratic) (until January 1), James G. Scrugham (Democratic) (starting January 1)
* Governor of New Hampshire: Albert O. Brown (Republican) (until January 4), Fred H. Brown (Democratic) (starting January 4)
* Governor of New Jersey: Edward I. Edwards (Democratic) (until January 15), George Sebastian Silzer (Democratic) (starting January 15)
* Governor of New Mexico: Merritt C. Mechem (Republican) (until January 1), James F. Hinkle (Democratic) (starting January 1)
* Governor of New York: Al Smith (Democratic)
* Governor of North Carolina: Cameron A. Morrison (Democratic)
* Governor of North Dakota: Ragnvald A. Nestos (Republican)
* Governor of Ohio: Harry L. Davis (Republican) (until January 8), A. Victor Donahey (Democratic) (starting January 8)
* Governor of Oklahoma:
	+ until January 8: James B. A. Robertson (Democratic)
	+ January 8-November 19: Jack C. Walton (Democratic)
	+ starting November 19: Martin E. Trapp (Democratic)
* Governor of Oregon: Ben W. Olcott (Republican) (until January 8), Walter M. Pierce (Democratic) (starting January 8)
* Governor of Pennsylvania: William Cameron Sproul (Republican) (until January 16), Gifford Pinchot (Republican) (starting January 16)
* Governor of Rhode Island: Emery J. San Souci (Republican) (until January 2), William S. Flynn (Democratic) (starting January 2)
* Governor of South Carolina: Wilson Godfrey Harvey (Democratic) (until January 16), Thomas Gordon McLeod (Democratic) (starting January 16)
* Governor of South Dakota: William H. McMaster (Republican)
* Governor of Tennessee: Alfred A. Taylor (Republican) (until January 16), Austin Peay (Democratic) (starting January 16)
* Governor of Texas: Pat Morris Neff (Democratic)
* Governor of Utah: Charles R. Mabey (Republican)
* Governor of Vermont: James Hartness (Republican) (until January 4), Redfield Proctor Jr. (Republican) (starting January 4)
* Governor of Virginia: Elbert Lee Trinkle (Democratic)
* Governor of Washington: Louis Folwell Hart (Republican)
* Governor of West Virginia: Ephraim F. Morgan (Republican)
* Governor of Wisconsin: John J. Blaine (Republican)
* Governor of Wyoming: Robert D. Carey (Republican) (until January 1), William B. Ross (Democratic) (starting January 1)

Lieutenant Governors
* Lieutenant Governor of Alabama: Nathan Lee Miller (Democratic) (until January 15), Charles S. McDowell (Democratic) (starting January 15)
* Lieutenant Governor of California: Clement Calhoun Young (Republican)
* Lieutenant Governor of Colorado: Earl Cooley (Republican) (until January 9), Robert F. Rockwell (Republican) (starting January 9)
* Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut: Charles A. Templeton (Republican) (until January 3), Hiram Bingham (Republican) (starting January 3)
* Lieutenant Governor of Delaware: J. Danforth Bush (Republican)
* Lieutenant Governor of Idaho: Charles C. Moore (Republican) (until January 1), H. C. Baldridge (Republican) (starting January 1)
* Lieutenant Governor of Illinois: Fred E. Sterling (Republican)
* Lieutenant Governor of Indiana: Emmett Forrest Branch (Republican)
* Lieutenant Governor of Iowa: John Hammill (Republican)
* Lieutenant Governor of Kansas: Charles Solomon Huffman (Republican) (until January 9), Ben Sanford Paulen (Republican) (starting January 9)
* Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky: S. Thruston Ballard (Republican) (until December 11), Henry Denhardt (Democratic) (starting December 11)
* Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana: Hewitt Bouanchaud (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts: Alvan T. Fuller (Republican)
* Lieutenant Governor of Michigan: Thomas Read (Republican)
* Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota: Louis L. Collins (Republican)
* Lieutenant Governor of Mississippi: Homer H. Casteel (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Missouri: Hiram Lloyd (Republican)
* Lieutenant Governor of Montana: Nelson Story Jr. (political party unknown)
* Lieutenant Governor of Nebraska: Pelham A. Barrows (Republican) (until January 3), Fred Gustus Johnson (Republican) (starting January 3)
* Lieutenant Governor of Nevada: Maurice J. Sullivan (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of New Mexico: William H. Duckworth (Republican) (until January 1), Jose A. Baca (Democratic) (starting January 1)
* Lieutenant Governor of New York: George R. Lunn (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of North Carolina: William B. Cooper (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of North Dakota: Howard R. Wood (Republican) (until month and day unknown), Frank H. Hyland (Republican) (starting month and day unknown)
* Lieutenant Governor of Ohio: Clarence J. Brown Sr. (Republican) (until January 8), Earl D. Bloom (Democratic) (starting January 8)
* Lieutenant Governor of Oklahoma: Martin E. Trapp (Democratic) (until November 19), vacant (starting November 19)
* Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania: Edward E. Beidleman (Republican) (until January 20), David J. Davis (Republican) (starting January 20)
* Lieutenant Governor of Rhode Island: Harold Gross (Republican) (until month and day unknown), Felix A. Toupin (Republican) (starting month and day unknown)
* Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina: vacant (until January 16), E. B. Jackson (Democratic) (starting January 16)
* Lieutenant Governor of South Dakota: Carl Gunderson (Republican)
* Lieutenant Governor of Tennessee: William West Bond (Democratic) (until month and day unknown), Eugene J. Bryan (Democratic) (starting month and day unknown)
* Lieutenant Governor of Texas: Lynch Davidson (Democratic) (until January 16), Thomas Whitfield Davidson (Democratic) (starting January 16)
* Lieutenant Governor of Vermont: Abram W. Foote (Republican) (until January 4), Franklin S. Billings (Republican) (starting January 4)
* Lieutenant Governor of Virginia: Junius Edgar West (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Washington: William J. Coyle (Republican)
* Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin: George F. Comings (Republican)

## Events

### January - March

* January 1 – The Rosewood massacre begins, a racially motivated massacre of black people and the destruction of a black town, takes place in Rosewood, Florida.
* January 7 – The Rosewood massacre ends.
* January 18 – Elon College's campus in North Carolina is destroyed by a fire.
* February 5 – *United States v. Bhagat Singh Thind*: The Supreme Court decides that Bhagat Singh Thind cannot become a naturalized U.S. citizen because, as a Punjabi Sikh, he is not a "white person".
* February 23 – The American Law Institute is incorporated.
* March 1 – The USS *Connecticut* is decommissioned.
* March 2 – The first issue of *Time* magazine is published.
* March 23 – The governor of Oklahoma signs House Bill 197 with the Montgomery amendment outlawing the theory of evolution in public school textbooks purchased by the state, the first anti-Darwinian legislation passed in the U.S.

### April - June

* April 1 – *Safety Last!*, a silent romantic comedy film starring Harold Lloyd, is released.
* April 4 – Warner Bros. Film Studio is formally incorporated in the United States, as Warner Brothers Pictures, Inc., by Jack L. Warner, Harry Warner, Sam Warner and Albert Warner.
* April 6 – Louis Armstrong makes his first recording, "Chimes Blues", with King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band.
* April 18 – The first Yankee Stadium opens its doors in the Bronx, New York City.
* May 9 – Southeastern Michigan receives a record 6 inches (15 cm) of snow after temperatures plummeted from 62 °F (17 °C) to 34 °F (1 °C) degrees between 13:00-18:00 on the previous day.
* May 15 – Riegelmann Boardwalk at Coney Island officially opened.
* May 27 – The Ku Klux Klan defies a law requiring publication of its members.

### July - September

* July 13 – The Hollywood Sign is inaugurated in California (originally reading *Hollywoodland*).
* August 2 – Vice President Calvin Coolidge becomes the 30th President of the United States, upon the death of President Warren G. Harding.
* September 3 – *Illustrated Daily News* first published in Los Angeles by Cornelius Vanderbilt IV.
* September 4 – The United States Navy's first home-built rigid airship USS *Shenandoah* makes her first flight at Naval Air Station Lakehurst (New Jersey); she contains most of the world's extracted reserves of helium at this time (named and commissioned October 10).
* September 8 – Honda Point Disaster: Seven U.S. Navy destroyers run aground off the California coast.
* September 17 – 1923 Berkeley Fire: Billy bob joe, California erupts, consuming some 640 structures, including 584 homes in the densely built neighborhoods north of the campus of the University of California.
* September 18 – Newspaper printers strike in New York City.
* September 29 – First American Track & Field championships for women, in New Jersey

### October - December

* October 1, Mississippi something Road Signs Act came into effect.
* October 15 – The New York Yankees defeat the New York Giants, 4 games to 2, to win their first World Series Title.
* October 16 – Roy and Walt Disney found The Walt Disney Company.
* October 19 – War Resisters League organized by Jessie Wallace Hughan.
* December 10 – Sigma Alpha Kappa (the first social fraternity at a Jesuit college in the United States) is founded at Loyola University New Orleans, making it the first social fraternity at a Jesuit college in the U.S.
* December 20 – BEGGARS Fraternity (the second social fraternity at a Jesuit college in the United States) is founded by nine men, who have secured permission to do so from the Pope.

## Memoriam

* January 1 – Willie Keeler, baseball player (aged 50; Brooklyn, NY, USA)
* January 18 – Wallace Reid, actor (aged 31; Los Angeles, CA, USA)
* February 6 – Edward Emerson Barnard, astronomer (aged 65; Williams Bay, WI, USA)
* February 14 – Charles Henry Turner, African American entomologist (aged 56; Chicago, IL, USA)
* February 24 – Edward W. Morley, scientist (aged 85; West Hartford, CT, USA)
* February 26
	+ Walter B. Barrows, naturalist (aged 68; Lansing, MI, USA)
	+ George Clement Perkins, U.S. Senator from California from 1893 to 1915 (aged 83; Oakland, CA, USA)
* March 3 – Melancthon J. Briggs, lawyer and politician (aged 76; Dodgeville, WI, USA)
* March 6 – Joseph McDermott, actor (aged 44; Los Angeles, CA, USA)
* March 15 – Goat Anderson, baseball player (aged 43; South Bend, IN, USA)
* April 4 – Horace Boies, 14th Governor of Iowa (aged 95; Long Beach, CA, USA)
* April 6 – Alice Cunningham Fletcher, ethnologist and anthropologist (aged 85; Washington, DC, USA)
* April 28 – Knute Nelson, Governor of Minnesota from 1893 to 1895 and U.S. Senator from Minnesota from 1895 to 1923 (aged 80; Timonium, MD, USA)
* August 2 – Warren G. Harding, 29th President of the United States from 1921 to 1923 (aged 57; San Francisco, CA, USA)
* August 10 – Laura Redden Searing, deaf poet and journalist (aged 84; San Mateo County, CA, USA)
* October 19 – Eleanor Norcross, painter (aged 69; Fitchburg, MA, USA)
* October 23 – Hannah Johnston Bailey, temperance advocate and suffragist (aged 84; Portland, ME, USA)
* November 4 – Samuel W. McCall, 47th Governor of Massachusetts (aged 72; Winchester, MA, USA)
* November 8 – James R. Williams, politician (aged 72; Loma Linda, CA, USA)
* November 11 – Elizabeth Eggleston Seelye, biographer (aged 64; Philadelphia, PA, USA)
* December 28 – Frank Hayes, actor (aged 52; Hollywood, CA, USA)