50+ Lifestyles

Hotel Blackhawk. A Century of Elegance!

By Mary Schricker Gemberling

“Ensconced in these walls are the whispered promises of newlyweds,
the laughter of friends and families, the sweet music of entertainers,
and the insightful words of politicians.”

In last April’s issue of this magazine I wrote about the 100th year celebration of the Hotel Blackhawk and the soon to be published book celebrating the anniversary. We enlisted your help by asking you to send in your favorite memory of the hotel, and we received nearly 200 responses. Many of you wrote about the family dinners you had in the hotel dining room, the Teddy Bear Teas and Father-Daughter dances, and the galas and formals you attended at holidays and on prom night. Former servers, cooks, doormen, and even a pin setter in the bowling alley recounted fond memories of working at the hotel. You shared stories of your weddings and anniversaries and other family milestones all celebrated at the Blackhawk. You came from down the street and neighboring states, making Davenport, Iowa a destination of notable importance.

I sometimes write about my personal travels, but I have found that researching and writing often becomes a journey in itself. As we compiled your memories and gathered information for the book, I truly felt I had embarked on a remarkable journey through the pages of history.  From the bustling city streets of the early 1900s, through multiple wars, demolition and reconstruction, changes in management, and economic ups and downs, your stories, combined with the many photos, painted a more personal persona of the role the hotel played in the lives of the people of the Quad Cities. The final page of my journey shows the image of the ‘Grande Dame,’ a beautiful and majestic structure that looms proudly over a revitalized downtown Davenport!

The completed book, Hotel Blackhawk, A Century of Elegance is now available in the hotel gift shop. I hope you will purchase the book and take your own literary and historical journey!

We want to thank all of you for submitting your stories and many of them, like the one which follows, are retold in the book.

December 1967….

I belonged to a group of women whose husbands were all in Viet Nam at the time. We were called the “Waiting Wives Club” out of the Arsenal….  We would meet at each other’s homes for support. At Christmas that year, we splurged and had a party at the Blackhawk. We all dressed up and some of us rented rooms for the evening. It was such a treat, giving us a little break from the constant worry and waiting for our husbands to return…I always remember the Blackhawk with fondness after that night..

-Linda Lingard

Mary, a former educator and Seniors Real Estate Specialist, is the author of three books, The West End Kid, Labor of Love; My Personal Journey through the World of Caregiving, and Hotel Blackhawk; A Century of Elegance.