Happy Lefthanders Day. Perhaps this isn’t quite in the spirit of the holiday, but a historical curiosity related to left-handedness…there was once an exhibition — with more than 1,000 mid-19th-c. dollars in prizes — of lefthanded penmanship by vets who lost right arms in the Civil War. For more info, see the Library of Congress’ American Time Capsule: Three Centuries of Broadsides and Other Printed Ephemera collection.
Opening History features other curious historical resources on left-handedness, including the photo below (see more info) from the Jack L. Demmons / Bonner School Photographs collection of the Archives & Special Collections, Mansfield Library, at the University of Montana-Missoula.
Three students and two superintendents look on as a fourth student, Dick Johnson, writes left-handed at a desk with jar of ink by him.
