flying down to rio

Louis and Dizzy

2007-01-23T09:06:00.000-08:00

Here they perform "Umbrella Man" on the Timex All Star Show - The Golden Age of Jazz recorded January 7, 1959.

Although Gillespie had criticized Armstrong as "the plantation character that so many of us resent" in a Down Beat article published in 1949, he later lived near the Armstrongs and apparently visited them frequently at their home in Corona. In his autobiography, Gillespie wrote:

I began to recognize that that what I had considered Pops's grinning in the face of racism was his absolute refusal to let anything, even anger about racism, steal the joy from his life and erase his fantastic smile.

Gillespie was an honorary pallbearer at Armstrong's funeral.

Struttin with some Barbecue

2007-01-23T07:42:00.000-08:00

This is a piece that Armstrong wrote - perhaps together with his second wife, Lil Hardin. Here's a bit of a performance apparently from 1951. Armstrong recorded this piece forty two times!

Here's a brief clip evidently from the Murrow piece on Armstrong - Satchmo the Great. By the way, Sidney Bechet frequently performed at Le Vieux Colombier with Claude Luter:

Actually, Louis probably got his first horn from the Karnofsky family before going to the Colored Waifs Home. They were junk and coal dealers that Louis worked for as a child. According to his memoirs, Louis played a tin horn to attract customers for them and they later helped him buy his first cornet. To close, here's a performance by the Marsalis family:

The Strip

2007-01-23T05:22:00.000-08:00

Here are a couple of clips from a film Armstrong made together with Mickey Rooney in 1950 - "The Strip." Rooney later described the film as "a low budget musical with a low budget story." Here's a performance of Shadrack:

"Shadrack" was first recorded by Armstrong in June 1938. The film documents one of the earliest incarnations of the All-Stars: Cozy Cole, Barney Bigard, Jack Teagarden and Earl Hines. Hines first worked with Armstrong in 1926 and was included on several of the Hot Five recordings.

According to Rooney, the film cost $885,000 to make and earned back just a bit more. Here's another scene featuring Rooney on drums - who is dubbed by Cozy Cole:

Before joing the All Stars, Cole played in the late 1930s and early 40s with the Cab Calloway band.

The big hit song from the film was "Kiss to Build a Dream On" which is performed three times in the film, including once by Armstrong. The song was written by Bert Kalmar, Harry Ruby and Oscar Hammersten II for the Marx Brothers film "A Night at the Opera." It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Song after its use in "The Strip." It then became a staple of Armstrong and the All Stars. Here's a clip of a performance of the song by the All Stars in 1959 in Denmark:

This line up of the All Stars includes Trummy Young on trombone, Danny Barcelona on drums and Billy Kyle on piano. Armstrong also recorded "Ain't Misbehavin'" for the film - but the performance was not included in the finished picture. This was a song that had vaulted Armstrong into popular acclaim in the late 1920s when he performed it as part of the revue "Connie's Hot Chocolates." If you want to get a sense of the genius of Armstrong as a jazz vocalist, compare Armstrong's early version of this song with Fats' own. Here's Fats performing the number in "Stormy Weather." The drummer is Zutty Singleton who played with Armstrong on Fate Marable's riverboat band and recorded with Armstrong on several of the Hot Five numbers:

Savion Glover Redux

2007-01-15T14:20:00.000-08:00

I posted about Savion's performance at Celebrate Brooklyn previously. Now I find someone recorded it!

Here's a bit of what I said in my earlier post about this performance:

Bill Robinson made a "B" movie called Harlem Is Heaven in which he does his stair dance in a nightclub. The dance sequence is available on a DVD entitled At the Jazz Band Ball. Glover's performance reminded me of this dance. Robinson performs to the tune "Swanee River." Like Glover, he does not look frequently at the audience. (There are a couple of breakaway shots of the audience in the sequence - and they seem oblivious of Robinson). Like Glover, Robinson does very little with his upper body and his movement is pretty much limited to climbing and descending the stairs. Unlike Glover, Robinson is not portrayed as a member of a musical ensemble - he is accompanied only by piano.

Here's the dance by Robinson I mentioned in my post:

What do you think? By the way, Eleanor Powell (in blackface) does an homage to Robinson's stair dance in the film Honolulu - which is occasionally shown on TCM.

PS - recently Glover has been touring in a show in which he performs to classical music. Take a look:

Paris Blues

2007-01-15T13:33:00.000-08:00

Here's a video of Louis Armstrong from the film "Paris Blues". Armstrong did this scene in the middle of his 1960 trip to Africa for the State Department. For more about the trip, check out the fascinating new book Satchmo Blows Up the World.

I love the look Armstrong gives to Sidney Poitier about 1:40 into the video. The score for the film is by Duke Ellington. Armstrong and Ellington were also paired in "Cabin in the Sky" but Armstrong's scene from that film was cut and is apparently lost. I don't know who the saxophone and trombone players are who played for Poitier and Newman. Vanity said this about the film:

The film is notable for Duke Ellington's moody, stimulating jazz score. There are scenes when the drama itself actually takes a back seat to the music, with unsatisfactory results insofar as dialog is concerned. Along the way there are several full-fledged passages of superior Ellingtonia such as 'Mood Indigo' and 'Sophisticated Lady', and Louis Armstrong is on hand for one flamboyant interlude of hot jazz.

As a bonus, here's some of Ellington from "Cabin in the Sky"

Josephine Baker

2007-01-15T11:05:00.000-08:00

The National Portrait Gallery has an exhibit regarding Baker's life which I recently visited. Baker is a fascinating figure whose career raises numerous questions about issues of race, gender and identity. But she was also, according to contemporaries, a compelling dancer who brought the dance idioms of black Broadway to Europe. She opened in the Revue Negre in Paris in 1925 as part of a company which included Sidney Bechet, Claude Hopkins and the tap dancer Louis Douglas. Baker did a Danse Sauvage which was an enormous sensation. This was emphatically not tap dance. The French apparently didn't much care for tap dancing in the mid-twenties and the producers apparently thought the show as originally conceived featured too much tap.

Instead of tap, Baker's dance drew from popular American dances of the time such as the Charleston and the Black Bottom and a step called "Through the Trenches" which, according to Baker's biographer Phyllis Rose "mimicked the way soldiers moved in a crouch to avoid sniper fire."

Baker's dance played into French stereotypes of "African" dance as openly lascivious and created an enormous sensation. Of course, rather than emanating from an African jungle, Baker's dance reflected the idiom of black Broadway - Baker had danced in Sissle and Blake's Shuffle Along - and its roots in the newly emerging music called jazz. The French critic Andre Levinson wrote of Baker's performance:

There seemed to emanate from her violently shuddering body, her bold dislocations, her springing movements, a gushing stream of rhythm. . . . It was as though the jazz, catching on the wing the vibrations of this body, was interpreting word by word its fantastic monologue.

I've posted a video of Baker dancing which I should guess dates from 1926-27. Here she's not doing a "savage" dance but a "plantation" bit which of course perpetuated another set of sterotypes about African Americans. At about 1:45 in the video you can see the Through the Trenches step.

Baker published a memoir in 1927 which deeply offended French war veterans. In the book, Baker stated:

I've heard a lot of talk about the war. What a funny story! I swear I don't understand it at all but it disgusts me. I have such a horror of men with only one arm, one leg, one eye.

Of course, in the mid twenties there were probably millions of disabled war veterans in France and their protests forced Baker to disavow these comments and she later staged a benefit for them.

But this didn't end Baker's problems. In 1928 she left Paris for a tour of central Europe. In Vienna, The New York Times reported that Baker required a police escort because of protests by students "who declared their intention of preventing colored artists from playing in Vienna." The next day, the Times reported that the Nationalist Party had petitioned Austria's chancellor to ban Baker's performance. According to the article:

the deputation [to the Chancellor] said the party is receiving thousands of letters daily protesting against "brazen-faced heathen dances and scenes" which, if permitted, are likely to provoke riots.

Baker's performances were allowed to proceed however, and the Times reported that they were opposed not only by right-wing parties but by the Catholic church which held three days of "atonement" services at a church adjoining the Johann Strauss Theater where Baker performed.

To give some idea of the performances which provoked such outrage, here's another clip of Baker performing.

In both of these videos, you get the sense that Baker's facial expressions were an important part of her performance. She was particularly noted for crossing her eyes. Her biographer, Phyllis Rose, thinks this was a way of deflecting attention from her sexual attractiveness. But it's also reminiscent of the kind of "mugging" that Louis Armstrong incorporated into his act. Also, in the second video particularly, I think you can get the sense of how important Baker's rear end was to her dancing. Rose quotes one hostile French critic as saying that he "was willing to bet that she had never thought of founding a new aesthetic on the mobility of her rear end."

Been Rich All My Life

2006-07-22T13:43:00.000-07:00

This documentary opened this weekend at the Quad Cinema in New York. I saw the film last night and four of the "Silver Belles" and the film maker were available after the screening to answer questions. The "Silver Belles" are former Apollo ballroom chorus dancers who formed a troupe about ten years ago and continue to dance well into their eighth and even ninth decades. Their stories are fascinating. All started at the very bottom of the ladder and forged careers dancing and performing with some of the greatest artists of our age - e.g., Duke Ellington, Bill Robinson and Louis Armstrong.

But while I expected to be educated and entertained - and I was - I didn't expect to be as moved as I was by the poignancy of their resurrected dance careers and the strength and dignity that these women display in the film. The film was made over a two year period and two of the Belles suffered serious falls during the period of its filming. The way the group handled these events is a major part of the film's story. It's a story of perseverance and how the human spirit can transcend the frailty of our bodies and the physical decay that accompany old age. It makes you realize that there are heroes right here in our midst.

Run (or dance) - but don't walk - to see this film. It'll be one of the best you see this year.

Here are some other reviews of the film.

UPDATE: Here's the trailer for the film which is now available on DVD:

Tap Forward

2006-07-16T09:34:00.000-07:00

I had the good fortune to attend the Tap Future performance last night (7/15) - part of the Tap City Festival. All of the performances were fascinating but I'll comment on my three favorites. First, David Rider danced to Gershwin's "I Can't Be Bothered Now." Rider, who is just 20 years old, danced elegantly and featured a remarkable series of spins. According this article, Rider considered giving up dance in order to join the Legionaries of Christ - a traditionalist Catholic religious order. Perhaps he has decided to stick with dance (the program describes him as a student at Fordham). If so, I'd say he made the right choice.

Of course, Astaire - who is apparently one of Rider's dance idols(?) danced to this number in Damsel in Distress. I'd say Rider very nearly outdid the master last night!

Omar Edwards did a number titled "Mr. Nicholas" - a tribute to the Nicholas Brothers. (Fayard's widow was in the audience). Edwards - according to the program notes he's Savion Golver's cousin - did the splits which were the specialty of the Brothers. But most remarkably he danced the last part of his routine in his bare feet - including what looked to me like toe jabs. That's amazing! Edwards has great polish and wonderful stage presence - he 's a great entertainer as well as a graceful dancer.

Finally, I enjoyed the performance of Linda Sohl-Ellison and Monti Ellison in a number entitled "Espiritu." Monti performed on an instrument which I had never seen before called a berimbau. This is a Brazilian instrument of apparently African origin and it produces a sound which has a percussive or rhythmic element as the bow (or vaqueta) is attached to a rattle (or caxixi). The sound of the caxixi produced an interesting counterpoint to Sohl-Ellison's fluent taps. Sohl-Ellison apparently has made a specialty of dancing to what might be called "world music." Her performance last night was a fascinating example of the possibilities in this field.

The Nicholas Brothers and the Jacksons

2006-06-26T04:46:00.000-07:00

Here they are together:

Bill Robinson on YouTube

2006-06-26T04:27:00.000-07:00

A number of videos featuring Bill "Bojangles" Robinson have been posted on YouTube including a deleted scene (very short) from the film Cafe Metropole and footage of his funeral. They can be found here, here, here (Stormy Weather), here (more Stormy Weather), here (from Harlem Is Heaven), here (from The Little Colonel), and here (from The Littlest Rebel).

Savion Glover

2006-06-25T15:50:00.000-07:00

I went to see Savion Glover perform last night at the Prospect Park bandshell. I was going to title this post "Not Your Father's Tap Dance" - but after thinking it over, I think Glover's dance has many precedents. They may not be from my father's generation, though. More like my grandfather - and his father.

Glover really is one - clearly the leading - member of a quintet. The bassist came on and after a short while Glover appeared - to appreciative applause. He dances on a relatively small raised platform. He wears what look like boots with a relatively high heel with metal taps. He is one of two percussive performers in the quintet which includes piano, bass, drums, reeds - plus Glover. In fact, there were at times three percussion players as the bassist occasionally used his instrument like a drum.

The music reminded me of Coltrane. In fact, the program notes refer to a project with Glover entitled "IF TRANE WUZ HERE." Glover's looks at the audience. In fact, the dance is clearly about sound rather than appearance. But it is fascinating to hear. He uses a series of rolls, stomps and toe jabs to produce sound of considerable rhythmic complexity. The kind of music which his quintet performs is not "dance" music - although it did have a swinging propulsion to it. And the audience loved it! dancing is not visually interesting. He wears ordinary street clothes and rarely uses his upper body. He infrequently

Bill Robinson made a "B" movie called Harlem Is Heaven in which he does his stair dance in a nightclub. The dance sequence is available on a DVD entitled At the Jazz Band Ball and here on YouTube. Glover's performance reminded of this dance. Robinson performs to the tune "Swanee River." Like Glover, he does not look frequently at the audience. (There are a couple of breakaway shots of the audience in the sequence - and they seem oblivious of Robinson). Like Glover, Robinson does very little with his upper body and his movement is pretty much limited to climbing and descending the stairs. Unlike Glover, Robinson is not portrayed as a member of a musical ensemble - he is accompanied only by piano.

Robinson recorded his taps on several occasions. He performed "Doin' the New Lowdown" with the Don Redman band in December 1932; "Ain't Misbehavin'" with Irving Mills and His Hotsy Totsy Gang in September 1929 and "Living in a Great Big Way" with Fats Waller in 1935.

And radio performances of tap dance must have been fairly common in the 1930s. In the film Big Broadcast of 1936, Robinson is shown reclining in a barber's chair while listening to the Nicholas Brothers dance over the radio. In The Black Network, the Nicholas Brothers again perform over the radio. (This short subject is available on the DVD Hallelujah). So the percussive, aural experience of tap has always been integral to the form - although no one could ever accuse the Nicholas Brothers of being indifferent to their visual presentation.

And Glover is not the first tapper to dance with bop jazz accompaniment. In 1945, the Nicholas Brothers toured with the Dizzy Gillespie big band - which included Charlie Parker, Fats Navarro and Max Roach. The tour was called Hepstations 1945 and travelled through southern states including the Carolinas, Mississippi and Alabama. Audience reaction was unfavorable but Constance Valis Hills quotes Harold Nicholas as saying: "Down South, they wanna hear the blues, get with it. . . . But we understood it, the musicians understood it, and so we were having a ball."

In 1946, a tap dancer named Ralph Brown appeared in a TV segment entitled "Jivin' in Bebop" with Gillespie's orchestra and sextet - and danced to the Charlie Parker tune "Ornithology." Brown was a huge fan of Bill Robinson. (Although in the book Tap!, Brown calls himself an "eccentric" dancer. "I also got around and did a lot of movements, spins and stuff, all that sort of thing." In that respect, he was clearly a different type of dancer than Robinson)

So, as the Good Book says, there's nothing new under the sun - although in this case it was under the moon and around 9:30 pm, this writer - who is not a night owl - headed home. In part that was because I'd been up late earlier in the week at a couple of other JVC Jazz Festival events. Of particular note was a concert called Clarinet Marmalade. It featured a clarinetist named Evan Christopher who really blew me away. If you see this guy's CDs - buy them!!! He's fantastic.

Tap Dance History Yahoo Group

2006-06-22T03:50:00.000-07:00

I have created a Yahoo group for discussion of the history of tap dance. I'm a real novice in this area but I hope it can serve as a forum for those with more knowledge and experience (and other novices) to discuss this field. Topics might include new publications in the field, films featuring tap dance and upcoming tap events. If you are interested, please check it out here.

Happy Birthday

2006-04-26T17:08:00.000-07:00

Today, if he were still alive, John James Audubon would be 221 years old! He was born on this date in 1785 in what is now Haiti. He died in 1851 and is buried in Trinity cemetery near the Episcopal Church of the Intercession at 155th and Broadway here in New York City.

I'll take the opportunity of his birthday to shamelessly plagiarize the following list of pleasures of birdwatching from Marie Winn's wonderful website and Chris Cooper:

1. The beauty of the birds
2. The beauty of being in a natural setting
3. The joys of hunting, without the bloodshed
4. The joy of collecting (in that the practice of keeping lists -- life lists, day lists, etc.-- appeals to the same impulse as, say, stamp collecting)
5. The joy of puzzle-solving (in making those tough identifications)
6. The pleasure of scientific discovery (new observations about behavior, etc.)and saving the best for last,
7. The Unicorn Effect--After you've been birding for even a little while, there are birds you've heard of or seen in books that capture your imagination, but you've never seen for yourself...and then one day, there it is in front of you, as if some mythical creature has stepped out of a storybook and come to life. There's no thrill quite like it.

Happy Birthday and Good Birding!

Bourbons Got the Blues

2006-04-05T16:10:00.000-07:00

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The recent Vaudeville Nation exhibit at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts displayed a program for a revue called" The Bourbons Got the Blues" in which Duke Ellington participated. This was a revue staged by the Negro Cultural Committee as a benefit for the National Negro Congress on May 8, 1938. The National Negro Congress - according to the Schomburg Center - was created in 1935:

In May 1935 a conference on the economic status of the Negro was held at Howard University in Washington, D.C., out of which emerged a major civil rights coalition that was active in the late 1930s and 1940s. The National Negro Congress—whose sponsors included Ralph J. Bunche and Alain Locke of Howard University, A. Philip Randolph of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, James Ford of the Communist Party, John P. Davis of the Joint Committee on National Recovery, Lester Granger and Elmer Carter of the Urban League, and Charles Houston of the NAACP—was truly significant in two respects.

It represented one of the first sincere efforts of the 20th century to bring together under one umbrella black secular leaders, preachers, labor organizers, workers, businessmen, radicals, and professional politicians, with the assumption that the common denominator of race was enough to weld together such divergent segments of black society. It also signalled the Communist Party’s movement into the mainstream of black protest activity. In particular, the evolution of the National Negro Congress dramatized the growing convergence of outlook between Communists and activist black intellectuals that had taken shape in the protests of the early Depression years and reached full fruition during the years of the Popular Front.

According to Harvey Klehr, the goals of the Congress were "not very radical." They included support for higher wages, unemployment compensation, aid to Ethiopia and assistance to black sharecroppers. The Congress also supported anti-lynching legislation.

The performance took place at the Mecca Auditorium -now City Center. The first half of the program featured sections titled "Uncle Tom is Dead" and "From the Life of Denmark Vesey". The revue was written and staged by Carlton Moss. It also included a reading of Frederick Douglass's address of July 4, 1852. This is the address that concludes:

"What to the American slave is your Fourth of July? I answer, a day that reveals to him more than all otherdays of the year, the gross injustice and cruelty towhich he is the constant victim. To him yourcelebration is a sham; your boasted liberty an unholylicense; your national greatness, swelling vanity; your sounds of rejoicing are empty and heartless; your shouts of liberty and equality, hollow mock."
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Ellington wrote a composition for the revue -"There'll Come a Day". It was performed by Ellington on the piano with the Juanita Hall choir. I have not been able to find any record that Ellington recorded this piece.

The second half of the revue was a ballet titled"Filibuster - a Satiric Ballet". The music was composed by Paul Denniker with choreography by Anna Sokolow. I have to confess I was unfamiliar with both these names. Sokolow was a radical choreographer who was responsible for a number of political dance pieces including Anti-War Trilogy. She also did choregraphy for the Federal Theater Project's Sing for Your Supper and Bernstein's Candide.

The ballet also featured readings of speeches by Senators Ellender and Bilbo who filibustered anti-lynching legislation in the US Senate in January 1938. Theodore Bilbo was a particularly vicious racist who served as governor and later senator from Mississippi. He introduced legislation to deport black Americans to Liberia and authored a book entitled "Take Your Choice: Separation or Mongrelization."

Other notable black actors including Rex Ingram and Canada Lee also took part in the "Bourbons" revue. Ingram got his start in a Tarzan movie made in 1918. He later appeared in "Cabin in the Sky" both on Broadway and on film. However, his reputation was tarnished by his conviction in the late 1940s for a violation of the Mann Act.

Canada Lee was a fascinating figure who was at various times in his career a jockey, a prizefighter, an actor and a civil rights pioneer. In her biography of Lee, Mona Smith writes that "Bourbons" was the "actor's first brush with overt political activism." As Smith notes

The show's mix of monologues, music, and dance proved, according to the New Masses that "Uncle Tom is dead, that the Negro remembers his heroes, working-class heroes, that the Negro is organizing for his freedom."

I had not thought of Ellington as a particularly political person. But in his biography of Ellington, A.H. Lawrence writes that the FBI began surveillance of Ellington in 1938 and regarded him as a Communist sympathizer. I imagine Bourbons Got the Blues played a role in that. What a trip it must have been to see that revue!!

Soviet News

2006-03-12T10:36:00.000-08:00

In his excellent book, Stalin and His Hangmen, Donald Rayfield comments acerbically on the silence of the Western press and intelligentsia regarding the slaughter that accompanied the Soviet collectivization of the early 1930s.

Nazi persecution of the Jews began as Stalin completed his genocide of the Russian peasant. We are still shocked today by Europe's connivance at Nazi racism but, compared with Europe's indifference to the introduction of slave labor in Russia and to the eradication of the Russian peasant, its murmurs about Nazi atrocities seem like an outcry.

Rayfield holds journalists partly responsible for this indifference. In particular, he singles out Walter Duranty of the New York Times. Rayfield accuses Duranty of being "suborned by [Genrikh] Iagoda" - head of the Soviet secret police (OGPU).

In the Columbia Journalism Review, Douglas McCollam reaches a more measured conclusion regarding Duranty, noting the difficulties that he faced coping with Soviet censorship. Nonetheless, McCollam concludes that Duranty, in the face of accurate reporting by others, sought to downplay the extent of the famine caused by Stalin's collectivization:

Duranty did not simply write watered-down stories about the famine. Others, including later critics like William Henry Chamberlain of The Christian Science Monitor and Eugene Lyons of UP, filed similarly bland reports, correcting the record only after they were out of the country. No one, it appears, both reported the depths of the famine and managed to stay inside the Soviet Union. But Duranty did more than equivocate; he repeatedly cast doubt on whether the famine was taking place, relying on scarcely more than official Soviet press reports. In so doing he allowed himself to become a vehicle of Soviet propaganda. When he was finally allowed to tour the region in September of 1933, Duranty played up the big harvest that was by then under way, and wrote that "the populace, from the babies to the old folks, looks healthy and well nourished."

In fact, according to The Black Book of Communism, more than six million people died as a result of the famine and, as Rayfield describes in detail, the horrific brutality that accompanied the collectivization.

So what did press coverage in late 1935 disclose about life in the Soviet Union? The December 16, 1935 issue of Time featured Stakhanov on the cover. According to the accompanying story:

Last week the Soviet Union was busy winding up 1935 with Russia's most recent and most sweeping innovation since the so-called "liquidation of the kulaks" and "fulfillment of the First Five-Year Plan." The great new addition to vocabularies: Stakhanovism. To liquidate the kulaks was a bloody, brutal process in which Russia's more prosperous small farmers were shot by the thousands and deported to Siberia by the hundreds of thousands for opposing Dictator Joseph Stalin's will to force every last Russian peasant into a collective farm (TIME. Nov. 26. 1928 et seq.). Today a fresh battle has opened over Stakhanovism and thus far enraged workers have done most of the shooting.

Aleksei Stakhanov was a miner and later mine director who was reported by the Soviet regime to have mined 227 tons of coal in a single shift. Not surprisingly, his feat was used as an example for other workers and the term Stakhanovite was applied to those workers who exceeded work quotas by extraordinary amounts. According to this site:

Day by day throughout the autumn of 1935, the campaign intensified, culminating in an All-Union Conference of Stakhanovites in industry and transportation which met in the Kremlin in late November. At the conference, outstanding Stakhanovites mounted the podium to recount how, defying their quotas and often the skepticism of their workmates and bosses, they applied new techniques of production to achieve stupendous results. They called for the general adoption of these techniques via socialist competition and, to bursts of applause, thanked Comrade Stalin for, as Stakhanov put it, "the happy life of our country, the happiness and glory of our magnificent fatherland."

Not surprisingly, Stakhanovites were not always popular with their fellow workers. As Time reported:

In coal mines, factories, railways and even on the Dictator's favorite collective farms in recent weeks desperate Russian workers have slain Stakhanovites.

A different view of Soviet reality was provided by Louis Fischer in The Nation. In an article in the issue of October 23, 1935 entitled "The Russian Giant in 1935", Fischer reported:

I have just completed another Soviet journey of 5,000 miles from Leningrad down to Armenia and back to Moscow. Everywhere there is change and progress; nowhere stagnation or retrogession.

According to Fischer, Soviet peasants were no longer tempted by the city as their village lifestyle had enormously improved since collectivization. "The peasantry is talking and thinking in Bolshevik terms." This was on account of improved education available in villages - as well as significant improvements in health care. In fact, "[t]he village cinema and even theater are becoming customary."

In fact, as Rayfield concedes:

By 1934 the main slaughter was over, and a relatively good harvest provided enough grain for the surviving peasants and the townspeople.

The irony, of course, is that Time more accurately reflected the reality of Soviet society in its reporting - although its domestic coverage often reeked of racism. The Nation frequently exposed racism and reaction in the U.S. but was willing to overlook the crimes of Soviet leaders.

George White's Scandals

2006-03-05T11:54:00.000-08:00

Perhaps the most notable new stage musical of January 1936 was Ziegfeld Follies of 1936 which we discussed below. On Christmas Day 1935, George White's Scandals of 1935 opened at the New Amsterdam theater and ran for 110 performances. A similarly named film - George White's 1935 Scandals - had been released in March 1935. It featured the first major film appearance for Eleanor Powell. The film starred Alice Faye and Lyda Roberti. (Roberti had appeared in the stage version of Roberta). Three songs written for the film - including "I Like It with Music" and "Sweet and Lowdown" were cut from the film at the insistence of censor Joseph Breen.

On Broadway, Bert Lahr appeared in the show as did a dance team known as Sam, Ted and Ray. who were praised for their "excellent tap dancing" by The Nation. They apparently performed a number called "Selassie and His Army." Time heartily approved of their act:

High point of the performance: three Negroes called Sam, Ted and Ray, two of whom wear neat Ethiopian regimentals, while the third affects the sun helmet, black cape, gold-braided tunic and umbrella of Man-of-the-Year Haile Selassie, clogging for dear life atop a small dais.

Robert Benchley in The New Yorker had a similar reaction. He noted that the show features a "remarkable team of colored dancers known as Sam, Ted, and Ray, who, representing a suspiciously nimble Haile Selassie and his army, stop the show with smiling ease."

Sam, Ted and Ray were Samuel Green, Ted Fraser and Ray Winfield. They also danced under the sobriquet "Tip, Tap and Toe" and in 1937 appeared in the film You Can't Have Everything with Don Ameche and Alice Faye. Their performance in that film is said to "anticipate" those of the Nicholas Brothers.

The songs for the show were written by Ray Henderson. Henderson had been writing for Broadway since he did the music for George White's Scandals of 1925. Henderson was born in Buffalo and attended conservatory in Chicago. According to the Songwriters Hall of Fame, into which Henderson was inducted in 1970, Henderson is best known as the composer of such standards as "Life Is a Bowl of Cherries", "Bye Bye Blackbird" and "You're the Cream in My Coffee."

In the same issue in which it reviewed Scandals, Time named Haile Selassie "Man of the Year." Consistent with its overall tone of condescending racism, Time commented as follows regarding the Emperor of Ethiopia:

Above all, Haile Selassie has created a general, warm and blind sympathy for uncivilized Ethiopia throughout civilized Christendom. In the wake of the world's grandiose Depression, with millions of white men uncertain as to the benefits of civilization, 1935 produced a peculiar Spirit of the Year in which it was felt to be a crying shame that the Machine Age seemed about to intrude upon Africa's last free, unscathed and simple people. They were ipso facto Noble Savages, and the noblest Ethiopian of them all naturally emerged as Man of the Year.

In the arts and entertainment field, Time noted that "independent exhibitors" named Shirley Temple as the greatest box office draw of 1935. Clark Gable was third and Astaire and Rogers fifth on the exhibitors list. Later in January 1936, Time announced that film critics had chosen David Copperfield as the top film of 1935. Top Hat was seventh on the list followed by Broadway Melody of 1936 (which featured the Nicholas Brothers) and Roberta. Clearly, dancers and dance films enjoyed a popularity and critical acclaim in the 1930s which, sadly, has dissipated in the years since.

Benny Goodman 1936

2006-02-12T11:23:00.000-08:00

Benny Goodman and his orchestra recorded four numbers - including "Stompin' at the Savoy" in an arrangement by Edgar Sampson (who had gotten his start in the Chick Webb band and was best known for writing "Savoy" and "Don't Be That Way")- on January 24, 1936 in Chicago, Illinois. This was a breakout period for Goodman. He had arrived in Los Angeles on August 21, 1935 to perform at the Palomar Ballroom after a long and disappointing national tour. When the band ditched its "sweet" numbers to play some hot arrangements by Fletcher Henderson, the reaction was electric.

As Goodman later recalled: "that was the moment that decided things for me. After travelling three thousand miles, we finally found people who were up on what we were trying to do, prepared to take our music the way we wanted to play it."

Stompin' at the Savoy, of course, memorialized the famous Savoy ballroom where Chick Webb's band frequently performed and the lindy hop was born.

In addition to his success at the Palomar, Goodman recorded his first trio sessions in July 1935 with Teddy Wilson and Gene Krupa. The numbers included "After You've Gone" and "Body and Soul".

Goodman's success brought him to the attention of Time. The magazine reported on what it characterized as a revival of jazz after its first heyday in the 1920s. This revival, Time noted, was centered on Goodman.

About two years ago, jazz suddenly became salable again in the U. S. The Jazz Revival occurred almost simultaneously with a series of Columbia records which spectacled Clarinetist Benny Goodman & band made in the winter of 1933, including such latterday masterpieces as Ain't Cha' Glad?, Riffin' the Scotch, Georgia Jubilee. While the big hotel and ballroom jobs still go to the big conventional organizations, small "hot" bands have lately been springing up in saloons all over Manhattan and Chicago.

In addition, the magazine noted that Goodman's appeal extended beyond the young lindy-hoppers who thronged the Palomar and other dance halls.

In Chicago, his home town, Benny Goodman was making a sensational stay at the Congress Hotel, was somewhat ambiguously lauded in a full-page advertisement on the back page of Variety as the possessor of an "individual hot-sweet 'swing' style, " had just played a Sunday afternoon recital to 800 Chicago jazz academicians who would no more have thought of dancing than they would of gavotting at a symphony concert. Clearly, Goodman, who played his first professional date in short pants on an excursion boat, was the Man Of The Hour to thousands of jazz fans.

Of course, as Goodman was in Chicago, New Yorkers had to look to other bands to fill their nights. In February 1936, Hal Kemp was at the Madhattan Room in the Pennsylvania hotel. His was a "sweet" band. Goodman had this to say to American Heritage magazine in later years about playing the Madhattan Room:

Playing a job at a place like the Madhattan Room of the Pennsylvania Hotel, where we were then, or most anyplace, we’d usually start kind of quietly. Play dinner music, so to speak. Warm up a little bit. It wouldn’t be until later that the band really got rocking. But in a concert you had to hit right from the top, bang! Then, too, in Carnegie Hall the acoustics are special. The Madhattan Room, for instance, was very dead. You’d just blow like hell in there all the time. Carnegie, as you know, is very live, so I insisted we go in about two or three days in advance to rehearse there, just to get used to it. By the time I gave the downbeat on “Don’t Be That Way,” we were pretty confident.

Ozzie Nelson was at the Lexington. Nelson, who went on to great TV fame in the "Ozzie and Harriet Show", had married Harriet Hilliard in October 1935. She starred later in 1936 with Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers in Follow the Fleet.

For those with more adventurous tastes, Connie's Inn was hosting Louis Armstrong and his band in what The New Yorker called an "elaborate black and tan show." Armstrong, of course, was one of the creators of jazz music - the genre that Time believed Goodman was reviving.

Blackbirds

2006-02-12T06:48:00.000-08:00

More on the Nicholas Brothers. The recently released DVD of Hallelujah contains the short "Pie, Pie Blackbird" featuring the Nicholas Brothers and Nina Mae McKinney. McKinney was the Halle Berry of her day. According to the linked website (which is wonderful and well worth exploring) she was known as the Black Garbo. Donald Bogle in Bright Boulevards, Bold Dreams notes she was also referred to as a "dusky Clara Bow."

Both McKinney and Eubie Blake, whose band appears in the short, have "Blackbird" antecedents. Blake, together with Noble Sissle, created the show "Shuffle Along" which opened on Broadway in 1921. This was a pioneering all-black Broadway show. According to the linked website:

Shuffle Along was so original and successful that it inspired the creation of countless other African-American musicals to showcase African-American dancing. In 1923, Miller and Lyle starred in Runnin' Wild, which introduced the Charleston to the stage and turned it into a national and international fad. In Sissle and Blake's 1924 production of The Chocolate Dandies, which made a star of Josephine Baker, the chorus line performed tap and danced closely together with a swinging rhythm.

Gerald Bordman praises Blake's "foot-stomping score" and says the show's "rhythms provoked an orgy of giddy dancing that had audiences shouting for more tap routines, soft shoes, buck and wing, and precision numbers."

The score included such hits as "I'm Just Wild About Harry", "Love Will Find a Way" and "Bandana Days". It also launched several great black performers on their stage careers - including Josephine Baker and Florence Mills. Nonetheless as this site notes, the show had its limitations:

Judged by contemporary standards, much of Shuffle Along would seem offensive. The African American actors darkened their skin with blackface make-up, and most of the comedy relied on old minstrel show stereotypes. Each of the leading male characters was out to swindle the other, and the show closed with one character explaining that the lighter the skin, the more desirable a Negro woman was.

The show also inspired the promoter Lew Leslie to launch a series of revues at the Plantation Club which featured performers including Mills, Baker and Paul Robeson. Eventually Leslie launched a series of "Blackbird" revues on Broadway which reached their pinnacle in "Blackbirds of 1928" which opened on May 9, 1928.

"Blackbirds" followed another black show onto the 1928 Broadway stage - "Keep Shufflin'". Time's review of Keep Shufflin is redolent of the pervasive racism of the age:

Keep Shufflin' is for those who like capering, singing, cuckoo coons.

There are also more strenuous Bedlamites from Harlem who break into loud melodious ululations; there is a skilful and frantically energetic black and blues orchestra and marty lively tappers and prancers of whom one, name unspecified, brandishes her mahogany limbs with incredibly vicious abandon.

By the way, Eubie Blake was no longer with the franchise. He had been replaced by Fats Waller. I'll just note that Blake and Waller are now lionized as among our greatest composers and musicians. The guy who wrote that Time review has been consigned to the dustbin of history.

Blackbirds was, unlike "Keep Shufflin'", an "all-white creation for an all-black cast" as Gerald Bordman put it. The music and lyrics were by Jimmy McHugh and Dorothy Fields (who did the lyrics for several numbers in Roberta and other Astaire films). The show's numbers included "I Can't Give You Anything But Love", "Diga, Diga Do" and the crowd favorite - "Doin' the New Low Down". This last was performed by Bill Robinson in his Broadway debut.

According to Jim Haskins in his book Mr. Bojangles

the first-act finale [of Blackbirds], a tribute to the DuBose Heyward novel Porgy, featured a huge black screen on which were reflected the magnified shadows of the performers. The first production of the George Gershwin opera Porgy and Bess several years later featured a similar stage effect, though it is not known whether director Rouben Mamoulian consciously copied the Blackbirds segment.

But the best was yet to come, as the second act featured Bill Robinson who, according to Haskins, "from the moment he came on the stage seemed to electrify it." That was certainly the view of Time which rhapsodized:

the finest tap dancer in the world is Bill Robinson, long a spot of interest on Keith's tours. His feet are as quick as a snare drummer's hands; in Blackbirds he has a double flight of five stairs which, when he trots up and down it, produces a rapid tuneless and delicious music. Bill Robinson makes the show; if he were on the stage more of the time he would make the show a lot better.

Keith, by the way, was a vaudeville touring circuit founded by Benjamin Franklin Keith. It later became the "K" in RKO.

The New Yorker appeared to agree with Time that Robinson's dancing was the best thing in the show - albeit in a less enthusiastic way. Of "Blackbirds", they said: "Darky revue. For tap-dancing fans only."

Well, in fairness, Blackbirds did have solid competition in the 1928 theater season. Also showing was "Funny Face" with Fred and Adele Astaire, "Showboat" with Paul Robeson and others, "A Connecticut Yankee" with words and music by Rodgers and Hart, "Rosalie" - a Ziegfeld production - and the aforementioned "Keep Shufflin'".

Apparently King Vidor attended "Blackbirds" and spotted Nina Mae McKinney in the chorus line. That led to her casting in Hallelujah. And eight years after "Blackbirds of 1928", the Nicholas Brothers would star with Bill Robinson in "Big Broadcast of 1936" and then travel to London to star in a Lew Leslie production entitled "Blackbirds of 1936." And so, we're back to "Pie, Pie Blackbird".

Down Argentine Way

2006-02-12T02:16:00.000-08:00

This film features the Nicholas brothers so I watched it again recently. It has an interesting history. Originally titled The South American Way, it was among the first leading roles for Betty Grable. Grable had appeared in two Astaire/Rogers films - The Gay Divorcee (at the age of 18) and Follow the Fleet. Grable had starred in The Day the Bookies Wept in 1939. She was the female lead to Joe Penner in this picture. According to IMDB

Joe Penner was an extremely untalented and physically unappetising man who starred in a few low-budget comedies. Basically, Joe Penner was Lou Costello without the sex appeal.

The Hungarian-born Penner started out in American burlesque as a baggy-pants stooge, but he failed to get any laughs. He developed the gimmick of walking out on stage carrying a random prop, and interrupting the straight man to ask him: 'Wanna buy a (whatever object Penner was carrying)?' Time after time, this business got no laughs. Eventually, Penner came out onstage clutching a wooden hunting decoy, and he asked the straight man: 'Wanna buy a duck?' This got a huge laugh, and a star was born ... very briefly. Penner parlayed one gag question into a brief career as a radio and film comedian. On the radio, Penner developed one other catchphrase that was briefly popular: 'You nassssssty man!' Penner merits a footnote in animation history, as his vocal schtick was the inspiration for Warner Brothers' early cartoon character Egghead, who eventually evolved into Elmer Fudd.

So playing opposite the Nicholas Brothers and Don Ameche must have been a big step up for Grable. In fact, Grable was not originally slated for the role. She replaced an ailing Alice Faye. Faye had starred opposite Don Ameche in Hollywood Cavalcade in 1939 and had a series of starring roles to her credit opposite such stars as Tyrone Power in the late 1930s. But Faye had won renown chiefly as a singing actress - which may explain why Grable's dancing in Down Argentine Way was so limited.

The film was set in Argentina for commercial reasons. The fall of France in June 1940 (Down Argentine Way was released in October 1940) had severely limited the European market for Hollywood films. In addition, the rumba was the latest dance craze sweeping the country in 1940. And, of course, the other actress whose Hollywood film career was propelled by Down Argentine Way was Carmen Miranda. The film was her first Hollywood role. By 1945, Miranda was the highest paid woman (apparently in any profession) in the United States. But of course, as this source notes, there was a price to be paid.

A key part of her legend was fixed during her first success here in headlines reading, "Carmen Miranda Conquers America." But, as so often happens with the absorption of the "exotic" — i.e., ethnic — by American culture, it was the other way around. Carmen's luminous, upbeat personality was smashed under the mask. Hollywood twisted her unique personal style, her sense of humor, and her dazzling use of black styles into grim, gaudy excess and then discarded her. The "Brazilian Bombshell" collapsed onstage during a live Jimmy Durante show and died of a heart attack that night at age 46.

In 1941, Miranda went on to star, with Don Ameche and an apparently recovered Alice Faye in That Night in Rio. That film featured the songs "Chica Chica Boom Chic" and "Mama Yo Quiero".

According to IMDB:

John Hay Whitney, head of the motion picture section of the Office of the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs [and a pioneer in the development of Technicolor], convinced 20th Century Fox to spend $40,000 for re-shooting scenes [in Down Argentine Way]that described native customs in an slightly unfavourable light.

Apparently, this wasn't enough to satisfy Latin American audiences. The "official" website of Carmen Miranda indicates that the film was severely criticized in Brazil and banned in Argentina. According to Boom and Bust by Thomas Schatz:

By 1941, various Hollywood studios were designing major productions for the Latin American market - and for domestic audiences as well, in hopes of improving America's interest in its neighbors to the south. . . . But in fact, Hollywood's cultivation of the Latin American market was an economic disappointment and something of a political and cultural debacle. In May 1941, ARGENTINE NIGHTS (1940) [which features the song "Brooklynonga"], a Ritz Brothers - Andrews Sisters musical comedy from Universal, was banned in Buenos Aires after opening-night demonstrations against the picture. The chairman of the U.S. Cultural Relations Committee, Jock Whitney, blamed the problem on "anti-american and anti-free forces, " but actually such protests were not uncommon, nor were they confined to films designed specifically for the Latin American market. That same month, Mexico banned a seemingly innocuous Western, KIT CARSON (1940), for its offensive portrayal of Mexicans. [Note: The plot of Kit Carson involves the taking of California from the Mexican government by the U.S. - which may have contributed to its unpopularity in Mexico.]

Well, what about the reception of Down Argentine Way in the States? I was unable to locate a review in Time or The New Yorker for the film. In the New York Times, Bosley Crowther appears to have misjudged the likely reaction to the film in Latin America:

Offhand, we can't think of anyone more abundantly qualified to serve as a ministress plenipotentiary to the Latin American lands than Betty Grable. So it is altogether likely that Twentieth Century-Fox's "Down Argentine Way," in which Miss Grable appears and which opened yesterday at the Roxy, will excite a powerful lot of good neighborliness in the countries south of us. "Yessir, we can just imagine how the boys down in Rio and B. A. will bubble with amity when they see Miss Grable up there on the screen. But why confine it to the boys down in Rio and B. A.? There are plenty of home-town fellows who will feel very neighborily towards her, too.

And that's a very good thing—for Twentieth Century-Fox, anyhow. For, except for the beauteous Miss Grable and a couple of peppery songs from Carmen Miranda, "Down Argentine Way" hasn't much to lend it an air of distinction. Observed without either of those ladies within the camera's range, it is just a sprawling Technicolored musical picture concocted out of some flashy production numbers and a few specialty acts.

The "specialty acts",i.e., the Nicholas Brothers, received no explicit mention in Crowther's review. He did, however, opine that Carmen Miranda sang "scorchily" and that "we don't see enough of her."

In her outstanding book, Brotherhood in Rhythm, Constance Valis Hill gives a detailed and illuminating description of the Nicholas Brothers dance number in the film (but you still have to see it) and describes the audience reaction to the scene - which the director Irving Cummings wanted to cut from the film and which was just over three minutes long:

Audiences watching the scene would not stop whistling, clapping, and stomping their feet. Some even shouted up to the operator in the projection booth to stop the film, rewind it, and show the scene again. In the South, where it was the custom to censor segments of a film that contained scenes with black actors, Down Argentine Way was shown uncut, and both black and white audiences in their segregated movie houses screamed in excitement over the tap dancing of the Nicholas Brothers.

In fact, in some places, including Brooklyn, the Nicholas Brothers, who appeared in just one short scene, received top billing. As Hill relates:

Even on Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles, the starring names of Betty Grable and Don Ameche were dropped from the marquee of the Hollywood Theatre which instead announced "Nicholas Brothers in Down Argentine Way."

Once again, they had stolen the show.

Virginia is for Loving

2006-01-28T14:28:00.001-08:00

This article reporting that Virginia is likely to amend its Bill of Rights (originally drafted by George Mason) to include a ban on gay marriage immediately prompts the thought - what do you expect from the state (excuse me, commonwealth) that gave us massive resistance and Loving v. Virginia? It might be best to begin with a few quotes from the Washington Post article:

The state Senate all but guaranteed on Wednesday that Virginia will hold a November referendum on whether to amend its 230-year-old Bill of Rights to bar same-sex marriages.

"The family is the foundation of our society, and it's been based on a union of a man and a woman since the inception of marriage," said Del. John A. Cosgrove (R-Chesapeake). "A constitutional amendment . . . will protect that."

The Bill of Rights was written by George Mason, a founding father of Virginia and the United States. "It's essentially the same document it was in 1776 in body and spirit," said A.E. Dick Howard, a professor of constitutional law at the University of Virginia, who led a commission responsible for writing the state's current constitution.

The amendment barring same-sex marriage would be added to Section 15, which begins by saying, "That no free government, nor the blessings of liberty, can be preserved to any people, but by a firm adherence to justice, moderation, temperance, frugality, and virtue . . . "
The Virginia Bill of Rights served as a model for other states and for the first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution.

The marriage amendment would say in part, "That only a union between one man and one woman may be a marriage valid in or recognized by this Commonwealth and its political subdivisions."

According to a column published in the Post in June 2004, Virginia has already outlawed not only gay marriage but civil unions:

When gay marriage came up, Virginia was among the first states to preemptively ban it, in 1997. Moreover, Virginia is the only state to forbid even private companies, unless self-insured, from extending health insurance benefits to unmarried couples. That provision affects cohabiting straights but works a far greater hardship on gay couples, who cannot marry.

Opponents of the gay marriage ban have, of course, drawn a parallel to the commonwealth's statutes barring interracial marriage which were struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court in Loving v. Virginia. Advocates of the proposed constitutional ban on gay marriage decry the analogy. This is from a Baptist website:

The interracial marriage ban was clearly built on a history of preserving the idea of racial purity and racial superiority of one race over another,” she told BP. “The requirement that a man and a woman be the applicants for a marriage license is not built on a history that men are superior to women or that women are superior to men.”Instead, Collett said, the traditional definition of marriage is “built on the history” that when a man and a woman come together in marriage, they do something that is “unique throughout all human activities” -- creating new life.

The same website contains the following arguments against gay marriage:

Evangelicals say that homosexual relationships will never bring satisfaction because, at the core, they involve rebellion against God.

The arguments against gay marriage appear to be as follows - gay marriage violates the traditional notion of marriage and is either profoundly unnatural or violates God's commandments as they relate to sexual activity and marriage. Because the traditional limitation on marriage to heterosexual unions has been accepted without question over the generations by lawmakers and courts, only activist judges who usurp the role of the legislature can declare these limitations unconstitutional.

To what extent are these views similar to those advanced by the supporters of Virginia's ban on interracial marriage in 1967?

The trial judge in the Loving case clearly viewed interracial marriage as unnatural and contrary to God's commandments. He stated;

"Almighty God created the races white, black, yellow, malay and red, and he placed them on separate continents. And but for the interference with his arrangement there would be no cause for such marriages. The fact that he separated the races shows that he did not intend for the races to mix."

The commonwealth argued the issue in a more restrained way before the Supreme Court. It merely contended that the Virginia legislature could reasonably conclude that sound public policy supported a ban on interracial marriage. Its brief argued that the Supreme Court should not inquire into the desirability of a ban on interracial marriage but if it did so:

it would quickly find itself mired in a veritable Serbonian bog of conflicting scientific opinion upon the effects of interracial marriage, and the desirability of preventing such alliances, from the physical, biological, genetic, anthropological, cultural, psychological and sociological point of view.

The brief went on to cite "scientific" authority for the proposition that interracial "breeding" would lead to undesirable consequences and would tend to extinguish the inherent "qualities" of each race:

Prof. U. G. Weatherly writes: 'It is an unquestionable fact that the yellow, as well as the negroid peoples possess many desirable qualities in which the whites are deficient. From this it has been argued that it would be advantageous if all races were blended into a universal type embodying the excellencies of each. But scientific breeders have long ago demonstrated that the most desirable results are secured by specializing types rather than by merging them. "'The color line is evidence of an attempt, based on instinctive choice, to preserve those distinctive values which a racial group has come to regard as of the highest moment to itself.'

However, in its decision in the Naim case, decided in 1955 just twelve years before Loving, the Virginia Supreme Court had been considerably less abashed in defending the commonwealth's ban on interracial marriage:

'Marriage, while from its very nature a sacred obligation, is, nevertheless, in most civilized nations, a civil contract, and usually regulated by law. Upon it society may be said to be built, and out of its fruits spring social relations and social obligations and duties, with which government is necessarily required to deal.'

In this State marriage is treated as a civil contract, but it is more than a mere civil contract. It is a public institution established by God himself, is recognized in all Christian and civilized nations, and is essential to the peace, happiness, and well-being of society. * * * The right, in the states, to regulate and control, to guard, protect, and preserve this God-given, civilizing, and Christianizing institution is of inestimable importance, and cannot be surrendered, nor can the states suffer or permit any interference therewith. If the federal government can determine who may marry in a state, there is no limit to its power. It was said . . . that the question was one of difference between the races, not of superiority or inferiority, and that the natural law which forbids their intermarriage and the social amalgamation which leads to a corruption of races is as clearly divine as that which imparted to them different natures.

However, by 1967, the Commonwealth brief's chief argument before the Supreme Court was simply that the Fourteenth Amendment's legislative history clearly indicated that its drafters had no intention to strike down "anti-miscegenation" statutes:

an analysis of the legislative history of the Fourteenth Amendment conclusively establishes the clear understanding--both of the legislators who framed and adopted the Amendment and the legislatures which ratified it--that the Fourteenth Amendment had no application whatever to the anti-miscegenation statutes of the various States and did not interfere in any way with the power of the States to adopt such statutes. The precise question was specifically considered by the framers of the Amendment, and a clear intent to exclude such statutes from the scope of the Fourteenth Amendment was repeatedly made manifest.

Therefore, it followed inexorably that only "activist" judges could overturn the Virginia statute barring interracial marriage:

Such arguments [in favor of interracial marriage on "policy" grounds] are properly addressable to the legislature, which enacted the law in the first place, and not to this court, whose prescribed role in the separated powers of government is to adjudicate, and not to legislate.

The commonwealth may well have had the best of this argument. The Supreme Court itself acknowledged that:

As for the various statements directly concerning the Fourteenth Amendment, we have said in connection with a related problem, that although these historical sources "cast some light" they are not sufficient to resolve the problem; "[at] best, they are inconclusive.["]

In fact, the Loving case seems to me to illuminate the essential problem with an originalist view of constitutional interpretation that relies heavily on the intentions of the founders or the drafters of the Fourteenth Amendment. That Amendment and the Bill of Rights articulate fundamental principles of human rights and republican government in sweeping terms but their authors clearly intended their application to be limited in ways we now find offensive and untenable. Take, for example, Virginia's own Declaration of Rights, which is widely acknowledged as the model for the Bill of Rights. Article One of the Declaration reads as follows:

That all men are by nature equally free and independent, and have certain inherent rights, of which, when they enter into a state of society, they cannot, by any compact, deprive or divest their posterity; namely, the enjoyment of life and liberty, with the means of acquiring and possessing property, and pursuing and obtaining happiness and safety

This principle strikes us as utterly incompatible with chattel, race-based slavery. But its authors, in accord with their self-interest and racial views, did not regard it as emancipating slaves (or women). Today, many would regard these same principles as incompatible with efforts to deny gays the full scope of civil rights. The Virginia legislature apparently disagrees.

Perhaps it is best to close with an excerpt from a friend of the court brief courageously filed by the Catholic Bishop of Richmond, Virginia in the Loving case:

It should be emphasized that we are concerned here with personal liberty, personal rights. It is the individual's free exercise of religion that is safeguarded by the United States Constitution. Meyer v. Nebraska, 262 U.S. 390, 399 (1923), in describing the area of personal liberty protected by the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, speaks of the "right of the individual . . . to marry, establish a home and bring up children, to worship God according to the dictates of his own conscience. . . ."

Fayard Nicholas

2006-01-26T16:11:00.000-08:00

Fayard Nicholas died on Tuesday. Seventy years ago, the Nicholas brothers were among the stars of the Ziegfeld Follies of 1936 which opened on January 30, 1936 at the Winter Garden theater. The show featured what can only be considered an all-star cast including Fanny Brice, Josephine Baker, Bob Hope (his Broadway debut had occurred in 1933 when he starred in Roberta), and Eve Arden.

Time gave the show a lukewarm review which failed to mention the Nicholas brothers.

None of its comedy is funny enough to make anyone wear himself out laughing. On the other hand, Vincente Minnelli's diverting surrealist decor, the arts of a half-dozen stars and the blandishments of 48 show girls are likely to keep most spectators from going to sleep.

The magazine saved its harshest comments for the performance (and character) of Josephine Baker. The criticism is typical of the casual racism which characterized Time in this period.

Josephine Baker is a St. Louis wash woman's daughter who stepped out of a Negro burlesque show into a life of adulation and luxury in Paris during the booming 1920's. In sex appeal to jaded Europeans of the jazz-loving type, a Negro wench always has a head start. The particular tawny tint of tall and stringy Josephine Baker's bare skin stirred French pulses. But to Manhattan theatre-goers last week she was just a slightly buck-toothed young Negro woman whose figure might be matched in any night club show, whose dancing & singing could be topped practically anywhere outside France.

According to Josephine Baker's "official" web site, Time's criticism was typical of the reception Baker received for her performance:

A 1936 return to the United States to star in the Ziegfield Follies proved disastrous, despite the fact that she was a major celebrity in Europe. American audiences rejected the idea of a black woman with so much sophistication and power, newspaper reviews were equally cruel (The New York Times called her a "Negro wench"), and Josephine returned to Europe heartbroken.

Vernon Duke and Ira Gershwin collaborated on the songs for the show which included "I Can't Get Started" - sung by Bob Hope to Eve Arden - and "He Hasn't a Thing Except Me."

The New Yorker (Robert Benchley) was considerably kinder to Ms. Baker and the show:

There is no sense in listing the good and bad things here, although the Surrealist Ballet, arranged by [George] Balanchine and danced by Harriet Hoctor [remember her from Show Girl], is something to see twice, as is the "Maharanee" number, in which Josephine Baker is featured. There is also Gertrude Niesen's singing and the dancing of the Nicholas Brothers . . ..

According to Constance Valis Hill's Brotherhood in Rhythm, the "Maharanee" number featured the Nicholas Brothers:

Baker strutted and sang in French . . .. Then she danced a one-step tango and waltz with the Varsity Eight, an all-male chorus dressed in top hats and tails. As Baker danced, one glimpsed the small and sleek figures of Fayard and Harold Nicholas moving swiftly and smoothly around and behind her, shifting the panels of her sari.

This was followed by Harold Nicholas performing an imitation of Josephine Baker, followed by the Brothers dancing "their own tap dance specialty." Hill quotes Brooks Atkinson (writing in the New York Times) as praising the Nicholas Brothers dance virtuosity:

After her cylonic career abroad, Miss Baker has become a celebrity who offers her presence instead of her talent . . . When the two Nicholas Brothers follow her with some excellent Harlem hoofing out of the Bill [Bojangles] Robinson curriculum, they restore your faith in dusky revelry.

In short, the Nicholas Brothers stole the show.

Show Girl

2006-01-22T15:04:00.000-08:00

This show night have been fun to see. It was produced by Florenz Ziegfeld, the score was by Gershwin, the Duke Ellington band played the music (it had beaten out Louis Armstrong's band for the honor) and it starred Ruby Keeler, Jimmy Durante and Harriet Hoctor. (Hoctor dances with Fred Astaire in Shall We Dance). The score featured the song "Liza" and Hoctor danced in a ballet sequence featuring music from An American in Paris which was choreographed by Albertina Rasch. Gershwin was given just two weeks to write the score so he evidently decided to recycle this piece. On several nights, Al Jolson sang "Liza" from the audience in an effort to calm down Ruby Keeler - whom he had recently married.

Nonetheless, according to Gerald Bordman , the show was "heavy and slow" and closed after 111 performances. In its review Time liked several aspects of the show. It praised Keeler and Durante:

Dixie Dugan is played by pert, agile Ruby Keeler ("Mrs. Al") Jolson, whose reedy little voice blends naturally with familiar Broadway trebles. . . .

[W]ith happy frequency there does reappear a property man, impersonated by Jimmie Durante (pronounce the final e), who is one of the funniest things that ever happened in Manhattan. Night-club experts have been Durante-conscious for many a season. He is a tousled, electric fellow whose frothing utterances combine lunacy with bad grammar. His nose ("Schnoz-zola") puts Cyrano's to shame. His history includes private entertaining in his father's barber shop and at East Side parties and weddings; public appearances in Harlem, at Coney Island, circuit vaudeville.

Among the numbers Durante performed were "Who Will Be with You When I'm Far Away (Far Out in Far Rockaway)". Time even liked (at least in part) the Hoctor ballet:

Best of the new Gershwiniana are "Liza" and "So Are You"; most ambitious is the new Gershwin ballet, "An American in Paris." [Gershwin had composed the piece in 1928 and performed it at Lewisohn stadium in the summer of 1929 with the New York Philharmonic. It was his debut as a conductor]. The latter, embellished by the grace of Danseuse Harriet Hoctor, is marred by patriotic excitement at the finish in which a picture of President Hoover is momentarily expected to appear. Chief motif of the music is the shrill bark of Paris taxicab horns.

However, Time conceded that the show "inclines at intervals to be burdensome." The New Yorker called it "an uninspired stage-Cinderella story." But the magazine conceded that audiences would probably enjoy it because of Keeler, Jolson and the "Ziegfeld trimmings."

Despite its flaws, the show well illustrates the magnitude of talent at work in New York in 1929: Gershwin, Ellington, Keeler, Durante and Rasch. Remember this was a show with so much talent at its disposal that it could afford to turn Louis Armstrong down! Who knows, though, maybe Louis would have provided the spark the show clearly needed.

Great Horned Owl

2006-01-22T13:27:00.000-08:00

The great horned owl that's been hanging around the Ramble in Central Park may have moved away - either to the north of the park or to seek a mate. There are great pictures of the bird here, here and here.

Every winter Central Park seems to produce one or more birding specials. Last year a boreal owl showed up on the Christmas bird count - as did the great horned owl this year. That small owl was a true rarity - some of the park's long-time veteran birders had never seen one. The boreal showed up shortly after a yellow breasted chat hung around for a week or so near Strawberry Fields. (In Prospect Park, we had a ring-necked pheasant that hung around most of the winter).

The wonderful thing about this great horned owl was that instead of hiding in the top of a dense conifer where you could just about barely see it, the bird roosted right out in the open - on the bare branches of lindens, oaks and other deciduous trees. As a result, it attracted the attention of squirrels, crows (which have almost disappeared from Central Park apparently due to west nile virus) and even red tailed hawks (note the crow in the background of this photo).

When I first saw this owl, I could not believe its size. The great horned owl is 22 inches long - a red tail hawk is just 19 inches long. (The red tail has a longer wingspan - 49 inches to 44 inches - but weighs much less. A great horned owl weighs just over three pounds. A red tail weighs less than 2.5 pounds).

About two weeks ago, I went to the Ramble to see the owl "fly out" at dusk. It was an awesome experience - the first time I had ever seen a great horned owl fly. It eventually headed off for the Lake - where it's rumored to have fed on mallards. In fact, it's apparently a threat to the park's beloved red tails as well.

In any event, I have to confess that I was a little sad when I didn't see the great horned owl today in the Ramble. Later, I took a walk in Prospect Park and I did see a long eared owl there - it was high up in a pine, carefully concealed, and you could just about barely see it. As a final tribute to the great horned - here's some of Audubon's characteristically vivid account of this bird:

Early in February the Great Horned Owls are seen to pair. The curious evolutions of the male in the air, or his motions when he has alighted near his beloved, it is impossible to describe. His bowings, and the snappings of his bill, are extremely ludicrous; and no sooner is the female assured that the attentions paid her by the beau are the result of a sincere affection, than she joins in the motions of her future mate.

This species is very powerful, and equally spirited. It attacks Wild Turkeys when half grown, and often masters them. Mallards, Guinea-fowls, and common barn fowls, prove an easy prey, and on seizing them it carries them off in its talons from the farm-yards to the interior of the woods. When wounded, it exhibits a revengeful tenacity of spirit, scarcely surpassed by any of the noblest of the Eagle tribe, disdaining to scramble away like the Barred Owl but facing its enemy with undaunted courage, protruding its powerful talons, and snapping its bill, as long as he continues in its presence. On these occasions, its large goggle eyes are seen to open and close in quick succession, and the feathers of its body, being raised, swell out its apparent bulk to nearly double the natural size.

By the way, I've linked to quite a few sites about this owl. The sites created and maintained by Marie Winn and Bruce Yolton's new site are particularly wonderful.

Georgetown 87, Duke 84

2006-01-22T13:24:00.000-08:00

The yell of all the yells . . . The yell that saves the day . . . Is the Hoya, Hoya Saxa . . . Of the dear old Blue and Gray!!!!!

Muslim Christian Understanding

2006-01-05T11:28:00.000-08:00

My alma mater - Georgetown University - recently announced receipt of a large grant for its Center for Christian Muslim Understanding from a Saudi Prince named Alwaleed Bin Talal. Here's a bit of the official press release:

Georgetown University has received a $20 million dollar gift from HRH Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal, an internationally renowned businessman and global investor, to support and expand its Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding.

The Center will be renamed The HRH Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding. This endowed fund is the second largest single gift in Georgetown University history.

"I am pleased to support the Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding. It is vital for the monotheistic religions to reach a common ground of understanding and to gain knowledge about what unites our civilizations," said Prince Alwaleed. "We are determined to build a bridge between Islam and Christianity for tolerance that transcends cultural and geographical boundaries."

This donation has already drawn criticism from the right. Prince Alwaleed is best known for his rejected gift to New York City in the immediate aftermath of 9/11. Former Mayor Giuliani sent back the Prince's check for $10 million after the Prince commented that the United States

"should re-examine its policies in the Middle East and adopt a more balanced stand toward the Palestinian cause. While the U.N. passed clear resolutions numbered 242 and 338 calling for the Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank and Gaza Strip decades ago, our Palestinian brethren continue to be slaughtered at the hands of Israelis while the world turns the other cheek."

Georgetown describes the mission of the Prince Alwaleed Center as follows:

The Center plays a pivotal role in working to erase stereotypes and fears that lead to predictions of Islam as the next global threat or of a clash of civilizations between the Muslim world and the West.

I am not qualified to assess how competently the Center performs its task. But it does seem to me that at the center of "understanding" between Christians and Muslims is mutual respect for the right to practice one's faith. While this right is not universally honored in the United States and Europe, there is little official repression of the right of Muslims to practice their faith. For example, the U.S. government does not routinely close mosques or sanction Muslims for their religious expression.

What is the situation in the homeland of Prince Alawalad Bin Talal? According to the U.S. Department of State:

The [Saudi] Government does not provide legal protection for freedom of religion, and such protection does not exist in practice. The public practice of non-Muslim religions is prohibited. The Government recognizes the right of non-Muslims to worship in private; however, it does not always respect this right in practice and does not define this right in law.

The Government prohibits public non-Muslim religious activities. Non-Muslim worshippers risk arrest, imprisonment, lashing, deportation, and sometimes torture for engaging in religious activity that attracts official attention. The Government continues to state publicly that its policy is to allow non-Muslim foreigners to worship privately. However, the Government does not provide explicit guidelines--such as the number of persons permitted to attend private services and acceptable locations--for determining what constitutes private worship, thereby leaving the distinction between public and private worship unclear. This lack of clarity and instances of inconsistent enforcement led many non-Muslims to worship in fear of harassment and in such a way as to avoid discovery by police or Mutawwa'in. The Government often deported those detained for visible non-Muslim worship, sometimes after lengthy periods of arrest during investigation. In some cases, those convicted were also sentenced to receive lashes prior to deportation. In contrast to previous years, there was a decrease in both long-term detentions and deportations of non-Muslims for religious reasons; however, there was a marked increase in harassment by Mutawwa'in and in overall arrests and short-term detentions of non-Muslims. Some former detainees reported occasional government harassment and surveillance following their release.

In other words, a Christian who practices her faith in Saudi Arabia risks arrest, deportation and lashing.

The policies of the Saudi government are not unique in this regard. In Iran, where Islam is the official religion, the government "restricts the freedom of religion," according to the U.S. Department of State. The State Department's Report on International Religious Freedom notes that:

The [Iranian] Government vigilantly enforces its prohibition on proselytizing activities by evangelical Christians by closing their churches and arresting Christian converts. Members of evangelical congregations have been required to carry membership cards, photocopies of which must be provided to the authorities. Worshippers are subject to identity checks by authorities posted outside congregation centers. The Government has restricted meetings for evangelical services to Sundays, and church officials have been ordered to inform the Ministry of Information and Islamic Guidance before admitting new members to their congregations.

Conversion of a Muslim to a non-Muslim religion is considered apostasy under the law and is punishable by the death penalty, although it is unclear whether this punishment has been enforced in recent years. Similarly, non-Muslims may not proselytize Muslims without putting their own lives at risk. Evangelical church leaders are subject to pressure from authorities to sign pledges that they will not evangelize Muslims or allow Muslims to attend church services.
Georgetown is a Catholic university. According to its official website:

Georgetown University began with the vision of John Carroll, an American-born, European-educated Jesuit priest who returned to the United States in 1773 with the goal of securing the future of American Catholicism through education -- in particular, through the establishment of a preeminent Catholic place of higher learning.

The vision of John Carroll continues to be realized today in a distinctive educational institution -- a national University rooted in the Catholic faith and Jesuit tradition, committed to spiritual inquiry, engaged in the public sphere, and invigorated by religious and cultural pluralism.

Georgetown University is a product of our country's long tradition of religious tolerance. American Catholics can attend Mass each Sunday without any fear of official sanction. Our co-religionists in Saudi Arabia and Iran can not do the same. So this is my point of view. The "dialogue" about Christian-Muslim understanding should begin with an unequivocal demand by American Catholics that our co-religionists - our brothers and sisters in faith - be given the same freedom to worship that we enjoy. And by the way, the same freedom of worship that Muslims enjoy in this country. Unceasing advocacy for respect of religious freedom would be the best use for Prince Alwaleed's $20 million.

Christmas rant

2005-12-20T14:48:00.000-08:00

I don't know if you caught this story which recently appeared in the Washington Post. I'll quote just a bit of it here:

St. Louis Archbishop Raymond Burke has excommunicated a priest and the board of directors of a traditionally Polish parish that resisted his efforts to put the parish's property and assets under his control.

Unlike most other Roman Catholic parishes around the country, St. Stanislaus Kostka's board -- not the archbishop -- has governed the parish's finances, according to an arrangement dating to the late 19th century.

Since Burke began serving as archbishop in January 2004, he had increased pressure on the parish to conform to current church structure and hand over control of its assets.

It seems that the event which precipitated the excommunication of this parish board was its decision to hire a pastor - Rev. Marek Bozek - without permission of the archbishop and that priest's decision to celebrate Mass on Christmas Eve. As the Post notes:

He [Archbishop Burke] said it [excommunication] was necessary, however, because [Rev.]Bozek planned to celebrate Christmas Eve Mass. Mass has not been celebrated since Easter at the parish, which saw its priests removed last year.

So Archbishop Burke (who last year threatened to withhold communion from John Kerry because of his position on abortion) is excommunicating Catholics for celebrating Midnight Mass! Is this a part of the "War on Christmas" which Fox News frequently denounces?

There is a more serious side to this dispute which I think goes to the heart of the recent scandals in the church. First, one must ask if this penalty is truly proportional to the "offense." I am not a canon lawyer but excommunication - according to this online Catholic encyclopedia - is

the principal and severest censure, is a medicinal, spiritual penalty that deprives the guilty Christian of all participation in the common blessings of ecclesiastical society. Being a penalty, it supposes guilt; and being the most serious penalty that the Church can inflict, it naturally supposes a very grave offence.

It is also one that has been brought into disrepute by its use for trivial offenses. Therefore, the Council of Trent urged that

it is to be used with sobriety and great circumspection; seeing that experience teaches that if it be wielded rashly or for slight causes, it is more despised than feared, and works more evil than good.

In the case of St. Stanislaus Kostka parish, the offense involved is the unwillingness of a parish to turn over to the archbishop control of its property and the hiring of a pastor without the approval of the ordinary. These may indeed be serious offenses, as they tend to undermine the discipline and authority of the bishop.

On the other hand, it is instructive to compare the "offenses" of this parish with those of the leadership of the Philadelphia diocese. According to an article in The Philadelphia Inquirer:

A Philadelphia grand jury this morning issued a scathing critique of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, saying its former archbishops and other leaders concealed and facilitated clergy sex abuse of children for decades.

The grand jury, which investigated the archdiocese for more than three years, concluded that at least 63 priests - and probably many more - sexually abused hundreds of minors over the past several decades.

But even more disturbing, the jurors found, was the coverup by the two previous archbishops, Cardinals John Krol and Anthony J. Bevilacqua who, they concluded, "excused and enabled the abuse" and put the legal and financial interests and moral reputation of the archdiocese ahead of protecting the children entrusted to its care.

"...The behavior of Archdiocese officials was perhaps not so lurid as that of the individual priest sex abusers. But in its callous, calculating manner, the Archdiocese's "handling" of the abuse scandal was at least as immoral as the abuse itself."

Which is the graver offense - the unauthorized hiring of a priest and his celebration of Mass on Christmas Eve or actions which "excused and enabled" the sexual abuse of children?

But has the Church taken steps to excommunicate Cardinal Bevilacqua - or to sanction him in any way? Quite the contrary. Again, according to the Inquirer:

In a blistering 70-page response, the church rejected virtually the entire report, calling it "a vile, mean-spirited diatribe" - comparable to the "rampant Know-Nothingisms of the 1840s," a notorious period of anti-Catholic prejudice.

While condemning priests that abused, the church response vigorously defends Cardinal Krol and Bevilacqua. It says the DA's report is "rife with mistakes, unsupported inferences and misguided conclusions."

And the situation of Cardinal Bevilacqua is not unique. No Catholic prelate has been sanctioned, to my knowledge, in connection with the recent scandals involving sexual abuse of children. In this context of indulgence of serious abuse by church leaders, it can be argued that the actions of Archbishop Burke in excommunicating the leadership of a parish in a dispute over church property and clergy appointments is for a "slight cause" and therefore "works more evil than good."

The St. Louis dispute appears to be an artifact of the lay trustee system which flourished in the early American Catholic church. Under this system, according to Jay Dolan in The American Catholic Experience:

lay trustees, elected annually by those people in the parish who rented pews, presided over the government of the parish in the area of temporal affairs.

In fairness, early bishops, including John Carroll, did not accept the extension of lay authority to the selection of parish priests. Nonetheless, there was something undeniably American and democratic about the lay trusteeship system. Dolan calls it part of an effort "to adapt the European Catholic Church to American culture by identifying that Church with American republicanism."

When the bishops took steps to dismantle the lay trustee system, some congregations turned to the civil authorities for protection of the concept. Generally, they were unsuccessful. However, in 1855 the New York legislature enacted the Putnam Bill which, according to John Tracy Ellis, "would compel lay ownership of all church property and forbid a clergyman to hold property in hisn own name." Ellis calls it "a Know-Nothing triumph."

So we're back to the Know-Nothings - also accused by the Philadelphia archdiocese of inspiring the grand jury report. But think about it - would a system in which lay trustees owned church property and played a role in the selection of parish priests have been as susceptible to the clergy abuse scandal as the one we have now? Wasn't the hierarchy's unreviewable power to transfer priests the source of many of the abuses detailed by the Philadelphia grand jury?

One of the grand jury's recommendations was that the civil statute of limitations be eliminated in order to allow what it called a "travesty of justice" to be fully remedied. The dean of the Villanova law school has opposed the lifting of the statute of limitations on the ground, among others, that the additional liability created by such a change would impair the Church's ability to carry on its important charitable and educational work. In his interview with NPR, he noted that church members are not like stockholders in a corporation.

But isn't this precisely the problem? American corporations have greater accountability and transparency than the American Catholic Church. If corporate executives had committed the same transgressions as members of the episcopate, they could be removed from office by disgusted shareholders. In fact, those shareholders and their elected directors would properly share some of the blame for failing to exercise proper oversight.

The response of the U.S. Catholic Church to the sex abuse scandals has not involved any significant introduction of the concepts of accountability or transparency into church operations. So civil authorities may feel that the only way to hold church leadership accountable is by the extraordinary means of lifting the statute of limitations. A better solution might be a return to the principles of "American republicanism" that informed the lay trustee system.

Christmas 1935

2005-12-18T14:21:00.000-08:00

So it's the week before Christmas 1935 and you're living in New York City. You've got a little vacation and are looking for a way to spend this hard earned leisure time. Of course, you were most likely to have a "vacation" in 1935 due to job loss. The unemployment rate in 1935 was over twenty per cent. Paid vacations were common but not universal. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics:

In 1937, a BLS survey of 90,000 firms found that approximately 95 percent of the 700,000 salaried workers received annual vacations with pay, compared with 36.7 percent of the 9.5 million wage earners.

For salaried workers, most paid vacation plans were initiated between 1920 and 1930. Vacations were practically all for either a 1- or 2-week period, with 2 weeks reported for 57 percent and 1-week plans for 37 percent of salaried workers. The usual length of service to be eligible for a vacation was 1 year, reported for 80 percent of the plans. . ..

For wage earners, survey results indicated approximately 70 percent of plants reported initiating a paid vacation plan during the 1930-37 period; and about 40 percent gave vacations for the first time in 1937. Wage earners were typically eligible for a vacation after 1 year of service, although 40 percent required 2 years’; and 20 percent required 5 years’ or more service.

And hourly wages appear modest by our standards. According to the BLS, a survey in the fall of 1936 found that the average hourly wage in the construction industry was $.91. However, this translates to $12.74 per hour in 2005 dollars. Of course, construction work was often seasonal or occasional.

Another source gives the average weekly wage in manufacturing as $16.89. This works out to $.42 an hour. In 2005 dollars this comes to $240 per week or $12,480 a year.

Well, we got off track a bit. Back to Christmas. You buy the December 21st issue of the New Yorker ($.15 then/$2.13 today). The cover features a Christmas tree salesman working the sidewalk in front of poultry and vegetable stores.

If you're interested in a film, A Night at the Opera is playing at the Capitol. Admission is $.25 (about $3.50 in 2005 dollars) before 1 pm. In fact, Night was showing on four screens in Manhattan. The Capitol was located at Broadway and 51st. It was the largest cinema in the world when it opened in 1919.

Among its most striking features were a glorious white marble staircase that connected the mahogany-paneled lobby to the mezzanine and 16 dazzling rock-crystal chandeliers that were salvaged from the legendary Sherry's Fifth Avenue restaurant before its demolition. With Major Edward Bowes as its managing director and Samuel "Roxy" Rothapfel as producer of the stage shows, the Capitol set standards for all the big "presentation" houses that followed.

Bowes started an amateur radio show as a promotion for the theater. By 1934 it had evolved into the Original Amateur Hour - a concept later transferred to television by Ted Mack.

If you want to see a musical, Jubilee! is playing at the Imperial. The show had opened on October 12th. It was a gentle spoof of royalty and was written and composed - during a world cruise - by Moss Hart and Cole Porter. According to American Musical Theatre, the show was "lighthearted, escapist fun."

When a left-wing outbreak led by a rebellious nephew prompts their advisers to order them into seclusion [the royal family] decide to have a fling as commoners instead. The Queen flirts briefly with Charles Rausmiller, the ape man Mowgli of the movies . . . while the Prince takes the famous dancer Karen O'Kane to the Cafe Martinique where they "Begin the Beguine."

In addition to the "Beguine," the score included "Just One of Those Things" and "Why Shouldn't I?"

Theater tickets ran from $1 to $3 - depending on whether you attended a matinee or evening performance or sat in the balcony or orchestra.

What are you doing New Year's Eve? The Hotel Pierre promised "the happiest New Year's since 1928 . . . happiest in the optimism that is once again stirring in America." Taking part in this festival of optimism would set you back $10 ($142 in 2005 dollars)

At the Savoy-Plaza the same ten bucks would treat you to entertainment by a "galaxy of stars" including Medrano & Donna - the "world's greatest exponents of Spanish dancing."

A less expensive alternative was the Waldorf-Astoria where you could get dinner and listen to Xavier Cugat "and his tango band" for just two dollars.

What about Christmas gifts? If the ads in The New Yorker are any guide, liquor and candy were popular choices. A box of candy - like a Whitman's Sampler - would run you a dollar or two.

What about a book as a gift for your literate friends. The New Yorker seemed taken with The Asiatics which it described as a "brilliant and poetic first novel" which "will introduce you to a host of queer people and a fine new writer." In non-fiction it liked George Seldes' Sawdust Caesar which does "an energetic job of removing the Blackshirt whitewash" of Mussolini. The magazine also liked Walter Duranty's I Write as I Please - which whitewashed Stalin.

Finally, a few verses from Frank Sullivan's annual "Greetings, Friends" may serve to show one of the chief differences between then and now:

The Frog hates the Heinie; the Heinie, the Jew;
The world's in a hell of a hulaballoo.
Things must be come to a pretty odd fix
When the only peaceable folk are the Micks.

November 1935

2005-12-17T12:31:00.000-08:00

Looking at the cinematic and stage offerings this month, it's interesting how many had political themes. For instance, in its November 4th issue, Time reviewed the Soviet film The New Gulliver. The movie was notable because it featured a cast of three thousand puppets. According to the Time review:

Made of clay, rubber, metal, wood and cloth, specially designed to act for the camera, they are operated not by strings like ordinary marionettes but by invisible human hands which change the puppets' positions and expressions between each film exposure. It took 25 separate shots, for example, to show a puppet raising his arm. This process gives their activities the staccato quality of a Walt Disney cartoon but it is by no means their principal claim to distinction.

The hero of the film was a young Pioneer named Petia who falls asleep and dreams that he is Gulliver in a Lilliputia wracked with struggle between workers and the king. The conflict is sharpened by Petia's "egalitarian" speeches. As this website reports:

Believing Petia to be dead, the king's soldiers, tanks, and fleet begin their attack on the workers, intending to annihilate them. Petia joins the fray. As the workers ambush and blow up the tanks, Petia wades into the ocean and incapacitates the armada. His victory celebration with the workers is cut short by the laughter of the other Pioneers, who have been listening to Petia talking in his sleep.

The film was admired by Chaplin and acclaimed by the New York Times for its "sly assault on bourgeois institutions." The New Yorker (John Mosher) was also impressed. It described the film as "unlike any other Soviet picture as anything you can see." Most Soviet cinema, Mosher noted "stuff the Cameo and the Acme with Muscovite exiles and recently returned tourists." The New Gulliver, by contrast, was "crisp, graceful and witty." The Cameo, which was located on 42d street, was showing The New Gulliver. The Acme, at Union Square, had Eisenstein's Ten Days that Shook the World - undoubtedly well-attended by Muscovite exiles. Evidently, however, there just weren't enough exiles to turn the profit the capitalist system required. The theater closed in 1936.

On the stage, the play "Dead End" was reviewed by Time in its November 11th issue. Written by Sidney Kingsley, the play moved to the screen in 1937. It gave us the expression"dead end kid" and helped launch the "urban renewal" movement.

Time was particularly taken by the sets - designed by Norman Bel Geddes:

Designer Geddes has given the U. S. Theatre new dimensions in the realm of naturalism. Displayed on the stage where David Belasco used to draw plaudits for showing real roses in real vases is apparently the east end of Manhattan's 53rd Street. To the left stands the rear entrance of a swank apartment not unlike River House. In the centre squats a row of verminous flats. To the right rises a grimy coal chute. And all across the front stretches a pier-end from which urchins dive with a splash into what normally would be the orchestra pit, but which gives every illusion of being the fetid East River.

In the New Yorker, Robert Benchley praised Bel Geddes for "a great piece of showmanship." He described the play as "an honest and forceful plea for the kids who live along the east ends of New York streets, where gangsters are bred and limousines parked, all in the same block."

Eleanor Roosevelt saw the play three times and requested a command performance at the White House. Some credit the play with helping to create a national outcry over slum housing and crime which ultimately led to passage of the Wagner Housing bill.

Of less social significance was the long delayed opening of "Jumbo" - which Time reviewed in its November 25th issue. Staged at the Hippodrome, the show was a combination of the musical and the circus. Indeed it was advertised as "Bigger than a show, Better than a circus." Jimmy Durante starred and according to Time, his

big moment comes when he leads out the show's one elephant, points to the pachyderm's snout and then to his own, exclaims, "Me and him's related!" then suddenly finds that his relative has rolled over on him.

The score was by Rodgers and Hart and included "My Romance", "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World" and "Little Girl Blue." According to Gerald Bordman's American Musical Theatre the production cost $340,000. This would translate to about $4.8 million today. According to Bordman, the show ran for seven months but earned back just half of its investment.

Benchley gave the show a favorable review. He commented on the delay in its opening - it had originally been scheduled to open around Labor Day - noting that "[n]ow all that remains is to complete the Triborough Bridge and enforce the sanctions against Italy, and we can all sit back and finish reading 'Europa'". (Europa was among the best-selling novels of 1935. Time described it as an "awkwardly written . . .exhaustive 500-page picture of upper-class Europe in the decades before the War.")

This show must have been worth seeing, if only for the sight of, as Benchley related, "Paul Whiteman, ravishing in baby-blue raiment, astride a white charger at the head of his musical myrmidons."

Speaking of jazz greats, Benny Goodman and his band released seven sides on November 22d. The numbers included "Basin Street Blues" and "When Buddha Smiles" - arranged by Fletcher Henderson - and "Yankee Doodle Never Went to Town" sung by Helen Ward. Bits of these numbers can be heard here.

On November 18th, Time reviewed A Night at the Opera. The magazine noted that the film marked the shift of the team of Groucho, Harpo and Chico from Paramount to MGM.

Irving Thalberg, giving them their present contract, pointed out that he was offering as much for three brothers as they had received before the fourth Marx turned agent. Yelled Groucho Marx: "What do you mean? The same dough? Without Zeppo, we're worth twice as much."

Time did not seem overwhelmed. It called Night "one of the most complicated feature comedies ever photographed" and added that "[t]o U. S. audiences which once split their sides at the Marxes, but now find them dullish, it will be good news that the brothers have some new routines."

The New Yorker echoed this theme. It noted "[t]his is a good Marx brothers film . . .but of course their antics are familiar, their badinage and their general behavior without surprises for most of us."

This contemporary criticism is at odds with received wisdom today - which is that Night represents a striking departure from the more anarchic Paramount films.

1935 World Series

2005-10-28T14:45:00.000-07:00

The Series began on October 2d. The Cubs jumped out to an early lead when Lon Warneke shut out the Tigers, 3-0. The Cubs collected two runs in the first inning and added the third on Frank Demaree's solo home run in the top of the ninth. Both Warneke and Schoolboy Rowe pitched complete games and Warneke limited the Tigers to just four hits. The game was played before over 47,000 fans in Detroit's Navin Field.

The Tigers evened the series in game two played on October 3d. The final score was 8-3 but the Tigers suffered the loss of Hank Greenberg who had hit a home run in the first inning and ended the day with two rbis. Greenberg broke his wrist when trying to score from first on a single. Greenberg had hit .328 for the Tigers in 1935 with 36 home runs and 170 rbis - so his loss was potentially fatal to the Tigers' Series hopes. Tommy Bridges pitched a complete game for the Tigers but Cubs' starter Charlie Root was knocked out in the first inning (without recording an out) and was charged with four earned runs. Root was the pitcher who surrendered Babe Ruth's "called shot" in game three of the 1932 Series. Roy Henshaw and Fabian Kowalik completed the game for the Cubs.

Game three was played in Wrigley Field before 45,532 fans. Marv Owen replaced Greenberg at first base for the Tigers and Flea Clifton replaced Owen at third base. Chicago held a 3-1 lead going into the eighth inning when the Tigers exploded for four runs. The Cubs, however, recovered by scoring two runs to tie the game in the bottom of the ninth. In the top of the eleventh, the Tigers managed to go ahead on an rbi single by Jo-Jo White. Schoolboy Rowe, who had entered the game in the eighth inning, held the lead and the Tigers went up 2 games to 1.

Over 49,000 fans crammed into Wrigley for game four. Gabby Hartnett led off the second inning with a home run to give the Cubs the early lead. The Tigers, however, evened the score in the top of the third and gained a 2-1 edge in the sixth inning. Alvin Crowder held the Cubs scoreless from there on and finished with a complete game five hitter. The Tigers were now just one game away from their first World Series victory.

Game five featured a return engagement between Warneke and Rowe. Chuck Klein gave the Cubs an early lead with a two run homer in the bottom of the third inning. The Cubs tacked on another run in the seventh and held a 3-0 edge going into the ninth. The Tigers scored on an rbi single by Pete Fox that brought home Charlie Gehringer. However, Chicago hurler Bill Lee - who had come on in the seventh inning when Warneke developed a sore shoulder - retired the side. Rowe pitched another complete game but again came up short despite allowing just eight hits.

The Cubs victory sent the Series back to Detroit where Larry French matched up with Tommy Bridges in game six. The Tigers scored a run in the first inning but the Cubs grabbed a 3-2 lead on Billy Herman's two out, one-on homer in the fifth inning. The Tigers managed a run in the sixth to knot the score. In the top of the ninth, Stan Hack led off with a triple but was stranded on third when Tigers' hurler Tom Bridges struck out Bill Jurges, induced a ground out from pitcher Larry French and got Augie Galan to fly out to end the inning.

In the bottom half of the ninth, Mickey Cochrane singled, moved to second on a ground out by Charlie Gehringer and scored on a single by Goose Goslin.

Cochrane ended the Series with a .292 postseason average and one Series rbi. Hartnett, his Cubs counterpart, also hit .292 for the Series and collected two rbis.

According to Time magazine, the Cubs blamed their defeat on AL umpire George Moriarty. who

called the National League Cubs' First Baseman Phil Cavarretta out in a close play at second base. When the Cubs protested. Umpire Moriarty retaliated by roundly abusing the whole team, ordering Manager Charles Grimm off the field. After the game Manager Grimm made the remark that came closest to being the 1935 World Series classic: "If a manager can't go out and make a decent kick, what the hell is the game coming to? I didn't swear at him but he swore at us." Said Coach John Corriden: ''He was guilty of antagonizing and demoralizing our ball club. . . ." Coach Roy Johnson accused Umpire Moriarty of making improper reflections on the Cubs' ancestry. Said the National League's President Ford Frick: "Moriarty used blasphemous language. . . ." Next day, baseball's Tsar Kenesaw Mountain Landis held a conference with all principals involved, announced he might do something when the Series ended.

Brown creepers

2005-10-23T17:55:00.000-07:00

Today was a red-letter day for one of my favorite birds - the brown creeper. I saw four in Prospect and Central Park. This small tree climber does not breed in New York City but has been recorded as nesting in every other county in the state except Niagara, according to Bull's Birds of New York State. As recently as the 1960s, it was a rare breeder outside of the Catskills and Adirondacks although a nest was found in 1926 in the Bronx. Bull's theorizes that its expansion is due to "reforestation and the maturation of the eastern forests . . .."

Audubon has this to say about the brown creeper's nesting habits:

This bird breeds in the hole of a tree, giving a marked preference to such as are small and rounded at the entrance. For this reason, perhaps, it often takes possession of the old and abandoned nests of our smaller Woodpeckers and Squirrels; but it is careless as to the height of the situation above the ground, for I have found its nest in a hole in a broken stump which I could reach with my hand, although I could not examine it on account of the hardness of the wood. All the nests which I have seen were loosely formed of grasses and lichens of various sorts, and warmly lined with feathers . . .

Creepers nest not only in holes but in "hammocks" created by loose bark. The brown creeper is an elegant bird. It has a long tail which assists it in methodically "creeping" up the trunks of trees and its curved bill helps it glean insects from crevices in the bark of trees.

I've always been a big fan of woodpeckers and I think that's the reason I'm attracted to the brown creeper. As Sibley notes, this bird is more like a woodpecker than any other passerine, both in the way it forages for food and in the way it molts its feathers. Like woodpeckers, the brown creeper retains its central tail feathers while molting as it needs these for support while climbing (over and over again) the trunks of the trees in our parks and forests.

Swing Time Again

2005-10-16T17:56:00.000-07:00

TCM has shown Swing Time the last two nights. Just thought you might be interested in a PG Wodehouse connection to this film. Victor Moore - who plays Pops in the film - had a long film and stage career. Just before filming Swing Time, Moore had starred in Anything Goes with Ethel Merman. The New York Times raved over Moore's performance:

Do you remember a pathetic, unsteady little man who answers to the name of Alexander Throttlebottom? Masquerading in the program as Victor Moore, he is the first clown of this festival, and he is tremendously funny. For it has occurred to the wastrels who wrote the book to represent him as a gangster disguised as a parson and to place him on a liner bound for Europe. Among the other passengers are a night-club enchantress, who sings with the swaggering authority of Ethel Merman, and a roistering man about town who enjoys the infectious exuberance of William Gaxton.

And who wrote the book for Anything Goes? I'll let the Times answer that one:

By keeping their sense of humor uppermost, they have made a thundering good musical show out of "Anything Goes," which was put on at the Alvin last evening. They are Guy Bolton and P. G. Wodehouse, whose humor is completely unhackneyed; Cole Porter, who has written a dashing score with impish lyrics, and Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse, who have been revising the jokes in person. After all, these supermen must have had a good deal to do with the skylarking that makes "Anything Goes" such hilarious and dynamic entertainment. But when a show is off the top shelf of the pantry cupboard it is hard to remember that the comics have not written all those jokes and the singers have not composed all those exultant tunes.

By the way, Alexander Throttlebottom was the role played by Moore in the Gershwins' Of Thee I Sing. Throttlebottom was Vice President of the United States serving under President Wintergreen (played by William Gaxton). Earlier, Moore had appeared in the Gershwins' Oh Kay. In Anything Goes, he starred as Moonface Martin.

PG Day

2005-10-15T10:25:00.000-07:00

Today(October 15th) is the birthday of P.G. Wodehouse. He was born on this date in 1881 which would make him 124 years old today. In 1935 -at the age of 54- Wodehouse published two books - Blandings Castle and Luck of the Bodkins. I've just completed Blandings Castle. It consists of several Blandings stories featuring the hapless Lord Emsworth and his prize-winning pumpkin and pig. According to Richard Usborne's Plum Sauce, these stories first appeared between 1924 and 1931. The stories also feature the marriage of Lord Emsworth's feckless son, Freddie Threepwood, to the daughter of an American millionaire who markets dog biscuits. Freddie's efforts to bring "Donaldson's Dog-Joy" to England and promote the product with a help of a bag of rats are featured in the stories.

Wodehouse's best known work, of course, involves Jeeves and Wooster. But the universes of Lord Emsworth and Bertie Wooster intersect. In the story "Company for Gertrude", we learn of the romance of the Rev. Rupert "Beefy" Bingham. Beefy Bingham's clean, bright entertainment forms the background for Bertie and Tuppy Glossop's misadventures in "Jeeves and the Song of Songs." In its September 21, 1935 issue, The New Yorker called Blandings Castle "[s]tray odds and ends for the faithful."

The balance of Blandings Castle consists of a Bobbie Wickham story (another character from the universe of Bertie Wooster) and several Mulliner stories which are set in Hollywood. "The Castways" -like the others in this group - is set at the Perfecto-Zizzbaum studio where the characters are bamboozled into working on the script of Scented Sinners. Wodehouse himself had worked at MGM as a screenwriter in the early 1930s. The description given in "Castaways" of the predicament of Bulstrode Mulliner appears to accurately summarize Wodehouse's exprerience of Hollywood:

He was not unhappy. A good deal has been written about the hardships of life in motion-picture studios, but most of it, I am glad to say, is greatly exaggerated. The truth is that there is little or no actual ill-treatment of the writing staff, and the only thing that irked Bulstrode was the loneliness of the life.

Happy Birthday, PG!!!!!

New York Night

2005-10-05T04:53:00.000-07:00

I've just completed New York Night by Mark Caldwell. A history of night in New York might conceivably cover many topics; a history of artificial illumination, of New York nightlife - itself a many-headed theme, of the covert activity (sexual and otherwise) that night so often enables, etc. Of course a book of four hundred plus pages is unlikely to be encyclopedic (or even thorough) on all of these topics. And, in fact, Caldwell gives us a little bit about each of the above.

His style is engaging but much of the material is sordid and, at times, morbid and so there were moments when my interest began to flag. On the other hand, Caldwell's account of New York night riots and recent developments in night life was illuminating. Of particular interest was his detailed description of the Stonewall riot of June 1969. Although the event had its frightening and momentous side, it did not lack for comedic flair. When riot police arrived to quell the disturbance, according to Caldwell, they were met by "an opposing formation: a line of men, arms linked, and advancing on them in a chorus-girl kick line and singing,

We are the Stonewall girls,
We wear our hair in curls.
We wear no underwear;
We show our pubic hair!"

Only in the city of Sophie Tucker, Ethel Merman and Tex Guinan!!!

1935 World Series Preview

2005-10-02T17:17:00.000-07:00

Cubs versus Tigers. Let's start with the Cubbies.

This was a team, according to Time, which was picked to finish fourth in the NL. However, by dint of a twenty-one game winning streak, they snatched the pennant from the Cardinals. The Cubs went into the lead on September 14th and never looked back - eventually winning the NL flag by four games. According to Time, they were led by their catcher:

Catcher Gabby Hartnett, their heaviest hitter is a huge, red-faced Irishman who has been with the Cubs since 1922. Lon Warneke a lanky, hay-pitching, coon-hunting 26-year-old from Arkansas, is the right-handed ace of the pitching staff (Warneke, French, Root, Lee), which rotated with rhythmic brilliance through their winning streak.

But another catcher, Mickey Cochrane, graced the Time cover of October 7, 1935. Cochrane was the Tigers' player-manager. In fact, this series featured a matchup between two of the greatest catchers of all time. Bill James in his Historical Baseball Abstract ranks Cochrane as the fourth greatest catcher of all time and Hartnett as the ninth. James calculates that Hartnett would have won the Gold Glove as catcher in 1935 and eight overall in his career.

In 1935, Cochrane batted .319 but with just five home runs and 47 RBIs in over 400 at bats. He was an All-Star with the third best on-base percentage in the AL. Hartnett hit .344 with 13 home runs and 91 RBIs. Hartnett would win the NL MVP and was among the top five in the NL in batting average, slugging average and on-base percentage.

The Tigers had fallen to fifth place in the AL after a loss to the Yankees on May 27th. A ten game winning streak brought them to second place on July 7th. On July 24th they defeated the Yankees, 4-0 and moved into first place. They never relinquished the lead and finished the season with 93 wins.

The Tigers had never won a World Series crown. They lost in 1934 to the Cardinals after taking a 3 games to 2 lead. In 1907 and 1908, the Tigers had lost the Series to the Cubs. Time speculated about "a long-standing Chicago jinx."

Nonetheless, excitement was high in Detroit. As Time reported:

The Tigers have a super-star Hank Greenberg, on first base. Their pitching ace, Schoolboy Rowe a lanky Arkansan like Lon Warneke last year won 16 games in a row. Until Aug 3 this year he won only half his games then took nine out of his next eleven. Furthermore, in Mickey Cochrane the Tigers possess not only the best catcher in either league but one who is apparently on his way to proving himself the ablest major-league manager since the late John McGraw. In keeping with his disbelief in the baseball taboo against mentioning a pennant before winning it, Cochrane made his speech in August: "Last year we had the jitters because only two of us—Goose Goslin and I ... had ever played in a World Series before. This year it will be a different story. ..."

September 30, 1935

2005-09-30T04:56:00.000-07:00

The Archbishop of New York, Cardinal Hayes, graced the cover of Time magazine this week. The cover story begins like this:

Chicago's brisk, businesslike George William Cardinal Mundelein, 63, spent his days last week between his office, his residence, his cathedral, his villa at Mundelein, where on a nine-hole course he golfs in the high 40's. Boston's stocky, rugged William Henry Cardinal O'Connell, 75 and in the best of health, attended to routine business, looked in on a priests' retreat at St. John's Seminary. Philadelphia's austere Denis Cardinal Dougherty, 70, who lately bought a $215,000 house at Overbrook, was traveling quietly in Europe. The fourth U. S. Prince of the Roman Catholic Church, Patrick Joseph Cardinal Hayes of New York, had extraordinary priestly duties to perform. Clothed with vast and holy power, attended in proud dignity by a princely retinue, the Archbishop of New York set forth on an errand imposed upon him last month by His Holiness Pope Pius XI. Symbolically dispatched from the Pope's side and armed with all that Pontiff's authority and precedence. Cardinal Hayes was Legatus a latere to the Seventh National Eucharistic Congress, held this week in Cleveland.

According to Time, Hayes was the first "native-born" archbishop of New York. He apparently had interesting vacation experiences upstate:

Cardinal Hayes spends his summers in a rustic snuggery in the Catskills maintained by Dominican nuns. Once, roaming alone through nearby woods, he encountered a band of hooded Ku-Kluxers. The Cardinal muttered a prayer to his namesake St. Patrick. When a Ku-Kluxer lifted his hood it was to say that they were lost, and would he please tell them the way out of the woods. Out of this incident the amiable Cardinal made a little homily to the effect that just so does the True Church lead unbelievers from the woods.

In international news, the crisis over Italian aims to annex Ethiopia continued. A Committe of Five created by the League of Nations struggled to find a compromise solution to the crisis:

At first inclined to recommend that Italy be given a status over Ethiopia similar to that which Britain holds over the nominally independent Kingdom of Irak, the Committee finally decided to recommend for Ethiopia the status recommended by the League two years ago for Liberia and indignantly refused by that Negro Republic.

In effect this scheme was for Ethiopia's Emperor to consent to receive in Addis Ababa a League High Commissioner who would reorganize the Ethiopian police, finances, jurisprudence, education and health services. Numerous Europeans, nominated by the League, would be needed to put through these reforms. Depending on whether the reforming Europeans were predominantly Italian—and the Committee of Five omitted the vital question of their nationality completely last week—this plan might offer something or nothing to Il Duce.

Italy, however, rejected compromise:

Rome was first to reply. The Italian Government had just taken four steps: 1) announced a 5% war loan so huge that it shook down Rome's stock market several points; 2) obtained from King Vittorio Emanuele III a decree making Benito Mussolini the sole Italian arbiter of Peace or War; 3) set up a board of Italian fighting service commanders to co-ordinate army, air force and fleet move ments; 4) placed 10.000,000 Italians of both sexes on call for a "practice mobilization"—really a nationwide Fascist pep rally—liable to be announced at any hour this week. In Rome it was supposed to be highly significant that Il Papa, previously lukewarm toward Il Duce in the present crisis, gave his permission as Supreme Pontiff last week that the signal for Fascist mobilization shall be the ringing of Catholic church bells.

Happier news from New York City. There, Gershwin's Porgy and Bess was being prepared for its premiere. Time referred to the composition as "what may prove to be the finest attempt yet at a real U.S. opera." The work had been commissioned by the Theatre Guild. According to Time:

Production difficulties for the Gershwin opera have been to teach the Harlem Negroes a Southern accent, to drill by ear those who were unable to read a note, to help some members of the cast decide on names which will look imposing in the program. Great advantage has been the fact that none of the singers was handicapped at the start by having real grand opera ways. The principals, Porgy and Bess, have never sung on the stage before. Bess is one Anne Browne, a product of the Juilliard School of Music. Porgy is Todd Duncan, a Gershwin discovery from Howard University in Washington, D.C.

Ken Knisely

2005-09-29T04:48:00.000-07:00

This is a personal post. My friend Ken Knisely died Sunday. Ken was a teacher and philosopher. He believed in philosophy not as an academic discipline but as the search for truth and wisdom and the right way to live. Another college friend of mine - Greg Kitsock - recently wrote a great appreciation of Ken which you can see here. And this is Ken's own website - No Dogs or Philosophers Allowed.

Over the years, I saw less of Ken because I moved around and because - well - just because. We all make our compromises with power and the material demands of life and the inertia that comes with age but Ken did so less than almost any other person I know. The quote on his website from Socrates reads like this:

You are a citizen of a great and powerful nation. Are you not ashamed that you give so much time to the pursuit of money, and reputation, and honors, and care so little for truth and wisdom and the improvement of your soul?

By that standard, Ken had very little to be ashamed of.

September 27, 1935

2005-09-27T04:24:00.000-07:00

The Cubs swept a doubleheader from the Cardinals, 6-2 and 5-3 to clinch the NL pennant. The victories extended the Cubs winning streak to twenty-one games. This tied a franchise mark set in 1880. The Cubs had last lost an outing back on September 2d when they dropped the second half of a doubeleheader to the Reds at Wrigley.

With the regular season scheduled to end on September 29th and the World Series between the Cubs and the Tigers to begin October 2d, we'll have a Series preview shortly.

George Gershwin

2005-09-26T05:22:00.000-07:00

Today is the 107th birthday of George Gershwin. Of course, the careers of the Gershwins and Fred Astaire are closely linked. Fred and his sister Adele appeared in three Gershwin musicals on Broadway, including Lady Be Good and Funny Face. Ginger Rogers starred in the Gershwin musical Girl Crazy and Fred helped coach her for the dancing in the show.

The Gershwins also wrote music for two films in which Astaire starred - Shall We Dance and A Damsel in Distress. "Damsel" is one of my favorite films. It has dancing by Astaire, comedy by Burns and Allen, and is based on a book by Wodehouse. What more could you ask!

September 25, 1935

2005-09-25T04:57:00.000-07:00

The Cardinals and the Cubs began a critical late season series today at Sportsman's Park. The Cards entered the series three games back, with five games left to play. The Cubs started Lon Warneke against Paul Dean. Dean was to finish the season 19-12 with a 3.37 ERA. Warneke was to be a twenty game winner thanks to today's contest in which the Cubs prevailed, 1-0. Dean struck out the first four batters he faced but then Phil Cavaretta hit a home run onto the roof for the game's only run. Cavaretta, the Cubs first baseman, was 18 years old.

The Tigers lost, 3-2, to the Indians but they had clinched the AL flag back on September 21st when they swept a doubleheader from the hapless Browns. The Browns ended the season with a 65-87 record in seventh place.

In The Nation today an item on a demonstration in Chicago by the American League Against War and Fascism protesting the "impending conflict between Italy and Ethiopia." The League applied for a permit for the demonstration which was refused "on the ground that the proposed demonstration was a 'hostile act toward a friendly power.'" The Police Commissioner punctuated the permit's denial by stating: "there isn't going to be any parade, and those who try to parade will get their heads cracked."

He was as good as his word. According to The Nation's account:

A number of persons who attempted to march, without otherwise committing any breach of the peace, were set upon by policemen. Old men and women, Negro and white, were among the victims; clubs were the weapons, although kicks and arm-twisting were also freely employed. Some 400 persons were arrested, several score being herded into a bullpen about twenty-five feet long and twelve feet wide. The injured were ignored, although some were bleeding copiously from the blows of policemen's clubs; for two or three hours even water was denied the prisoners.

Newsreels of the event apparently featured this commentary: "if these people want to start a war, let them go back where they came from."

The Nation also featured an article entitled "The Right of Asylum". The article lamented the government's policy of refusing to grant asylum in cases of deportation:

we do not hesitate to return an anti-fascist to Italy, where he may be put to death, or a militant anti-Nazi to Germany, or a Chinese student "agitator" to the tender mercies of his native firing squads. The fact that death or long prison sentences may wait these persons when they reach the countries of their origin deters us as little as the fact that in deporting them we may leave their native-born American children without economic support.

The article also noted that proposals had been made, but not enacted, in Congress to deport "no fewer than 6,000,000 aliens, as a means of solving the unemployment problem."

Osprey

2005-09-24T16:16:00.000-07:00

In Prospect Park on Saturday there were several "good" (i.e. rare) birds - connecticut warbler, dickcissel - but, of course, I didn't see any of those. But I did have one of those experiences that makes even bad birdwatching worthwhile. While I was trying to figure out if the warbler I was looking at in a pine tree was a pine warbler or a chestnut-sided warbler or a blackpoll (I never did figure it out), an osprey flew up and perched in full view in a nearby tree.

Audubon called the osprey a fish-hawk because the bird dives into water to catch fish. Ospreys don't nest in Prospect Park (Audubon describes them as nesting throughout coastal New Jersey and today they nest at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge in Queens near JFK airport) but they do pass through in migration. At first I thought the bird I saw looked emaciated but then I realized he was just wet. It was at about the same time that I saw he had a fish in his right talon which he must have just caught in Prospect Park Lake. He looked around, perhaps disturbed by some squawking blue jays and chipping cardinals, and then flew off.

Tonight (Sunday), I saw two osprey in the Lullwater in Prospect Park. One was carrying a fish, the other was repeatedly calling. Perhaps the calling bird was a juvenile. Osprey were also seen over Central Park on Saturday.

Coincidentally, the National Gallery of Art opened an exhibit of Audubon engravings and paintings today entitled Audubon's Dream Realized: Selections from "The Birds of America". The centerpiece of the exhibit is an oil painting by Audubon - Osprey and Weakfish - which was recently acquired by the National Gallery. I must say the fish in the Audubon painting is much larger than the fish I saw being carried by ospreys over the weekend! Here's what Audubon says about the weakfish:

The largest fish which I have seen this bird take out of the water, was a weak-fish, such as is represented in the plate, but sufficiently large to weigh more than five pounds. The bird carried it into the air with difficulty, and dropped it, on hearing the report of a shot fired at it.

By the way, your chances of seeing a weakfish being carried by an osprey these days are not very good. According to one website I checked:

The commercial weakfish fishery in the lower [Chesapeake] Bay is significant, but has been in decline since the 1940s. Today the population is at a very low level due to severe overfishing, compared to a decade ago, and the fishery is in danger of collapse. Historical landings have fluctuated widely, but since 1980 commercial and recreational weakfish landings have steadily declined from about 80 million pounds to just over 7 million pounds in 1993. Much of the decline in the weakfish fishery appears attributable to overfishing and degradation in the estuarine environment.

September 23, 1935

2005-09-23T05:15:00.000-07:00

The Cardinals were routed, 12-0, by the Pirates at Sportsman's Park. The loss dropped the Cards to 93-55. They were 3-1/2 games out with six games left to play. Ed Heusser started the game for the Cardinals. He finished the 1935 season with a 5-5- record and an ERA of 2.92.

The Senators were downed, 5-1, by the Yankees at Griffith Stadium. The loss brought a three game winning streak to an end. Earl Whitehill was on the mound for the Nats. Lefty Gomez got the start for the Yankees. Gomez was to finish the season with a 12-15 mark and a 3.18 ERA.

In today's issue of Time, the lead international story was the continuing crisis between Italy and Ethiopia. British Foreign Secretary Samuel Hoare delivered an impassioned defense of collective security to the League of Nations at Geneva:

Though he never varied from his flat, toneless delivery, Sir Samuel at one point fairly electrified the Assembly when he raised his hand above his head and thrice slapped the tribune loudly as he repeated words and phrases, then struck a final slap for further emphasis. Said he: "Britain stands (slap!) for steady collective resistance (slap!) to all acts of unprovoked aggression (slap!). Steady collective resistance to all acts of unprovoked aggression (slap!)."

The Ethiopian government announced the Emperor's willingness to "accept any reasonable suggestion in the spirit of high conciliation by which he is moved." Time reported that, while delivering his speech, the Ethiopian delegate "visibly quaked with nervousness."

Mussolini, however, was in no mood to compromise:

"The [Italian] Cabinet examined in what circumstances Italy's continued membership in the League would be rendered impossible. The Cabinet, after having learned that around the Italo-Ethiopian controversy are gathering all the forces of foreign antiFascism, feels it is its duty to reconfirm in the most explicit manner that the Italo-Ethiopian problem does not admit of compromise solution after the huge efforts and sacrifices made by Italy. . . . From a military viewpoint our preparations in East Africa proceed with greater intensity."

In addition to Britain, other states also expressed their opposition to Italian aggression:

Fidelity to the Covenant was pledged by Haiti whose black delegate declared: "The colored peoples of the world are watching. The period of colonial wars is closed." Into line fell Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, the Irish Free State, the Little Entente (Czechoslovakia, Rumania, & Yugoslavia), Belgium, The Netherlands, Bulgaria, Turkey, Greece, Portugal, Panama, China, the Scandinavian & Baltic States, Poland and Soviet Russia whose roly-poly Foreign Commissar "Maxie" Litvinoff spoke in English and re-employed Sam Hoare's words to say that in supporting the League Russia will be "second to none." No nation offered to be first.

Notwithstanding the widespread opposition to Italian aggression, Britain and France seemed resigned to war.

[T]he British and French Governments . . . "are now agreed that nothing done at Geneva can prevent Premier Mussolini's war machine from being launched at the heart of Ethiopia. When this happens the League of Nations' procedure must take a predestined course . . . culminating eventually in a decision to apply sanctions to the aggressor state. . . . The pressure to be applied shall be economic."

In other international news, Mexico was rocked by an armed attack on its legislature.

From the doorways and from the galleries gunmen previously stationed there ripped out revolvers, sent a fusillade of shots zinging through the air. Most of the windows were blown out. Seventeen bullets crashed through the press box from which reporters tumbled to safety. When the smoke cleared away Deputy Manuel Martinez Valadez of Jalisco lay dead on the floor. Deputy Luis Mendez, who died next day, and two other deputies were wounded. Fifty shots were fired. It was the third fatal battle in Mexico's Congress since 1924.

The Mexican government blamed a group of right wing deputies opposed to the program of President Lazaro Cardenas. Seventeen deputies suspected of involvement in the attack were expelled from the Chamber of Deputies.

In domestic news, the State Attorney of Florida concluded his investigation into the deaths of hundreds of war veterans in the Labor Day hurricane. These men were Bonus Army marchers who had been sent by the Government to work camps in Florida to help construct the Key West highway. Although veterans officials pleaded to have the men evacuated before the storm hit, a train sent to fetch the men was blown off the tracks en route. In its September 16th issue Time described what happened to the veterans:

At Camp Three, where 243 veterans were enrolled, the men ran for the mess hall. When the roof blew off they scattered over the railway embankment. The water began rising and the men began praying. Suddenly a terrific blast ripped up the tracks as a tidal wave struck. The ex-soldiers were swept into the mangrove swamp where many were battered to death, or out to sea where they drowned. Seventy saved their lives by hanging on to a tank car full of water—"Good old No. 3390."

When the Red Cross, the American Legion, the National Guard and the Coast Guard finally got into the devastated Keys over the broken bridges and wrecked roads, they found signs of slaughter worse than war. Bodies were in trees, floating in the creeks, bogged in the mud. While jittery veterans dug in the sand for hot bottles of beer, relief forces began to collect and count the corpses. The first thing President Roosevelt did after ordering out necessary aid was to promise burials with full military honors for the dead veterans. But the Florida Keys last week was no place for such ceremonies. To prevent plague the bodies were bundled onto drays, wrapped in oiled rags, boxed, burned.

Nothing but praise for all concerned came from the Dixie disaster. Ashore things were different. With smoke from the funeral pyres drifting lazily along the flat horizon of his State, stocky Governor Dave Sholtz of Florida quoted an estimate of the fatalities as 1,000, demanded to know why the veterans were not moved out before the hurricane hit, sourly declared that there was "great carelessness somewhere."

Sound familiar? Not everyone was mollified by the State Attorney's report which concluded that government officials were not to blame for the catastrophe:

Indignant, too, was Author Ernest Hemingway of Key West. After reporting the carnage in last week's New Masses, he passionately apostrophized one of the dead: "You're dead now, brother, but who left you there in the hurricane months on the Keys where a thousand men died before you in the hurricane months when they were building the road that's now washed out? Who left you there? And what's the punishment for manslaughter now?"

In happier news, it was a good week for movies. among the new releases reviewed by Time were The Thirty Nine Steps, Big Broadcast of 1936, Broadway Melody of 1936 and The Goose and the Gander.

Here's bit of what Time had to say about Big Broadcast:

a collection of specialty acts by radio entertainers, might have been much more satisfactory if its producers had not insisted on incorporating them into a story. Any narrative framework designed to include Amos 'n' Andy, Ray Noble, Ethel Merman, Henry Wadsworth, Lyda Roberti, Burns & Allen, Sir Guy Standing, Mary Boland, Charles Ruggles, Jack Oakie, Ina Ray Hutton and her Melodears, Wendy Barrie, Bing Crosby, the Vienna Choir Boys and Bill Robinson could scarcely be distinguished for its spontaneity.

Of the moments when The Big Broadcast offers its audience some respite from the story the most enjoyable are those in which Bill Robinson demonstrates that he is still the ablest tap-dancer in the world, Bing Crosby sings I Wished on the Moon and Ethel Merman cavorts with a chorus of elephants to a tune called It's the Animal in Me.

Lyda Roberti had starred in the stage version of Roberta. Ginger Rogers is doing a Roberti imitation or homage in the film, particularly in her version of "I'll Be Hard to Handle."

September 22, 1935

2005-09-22T06:03:00.000-07:00

The Cubs won their 18th straight game in their last appearance at Wrigley for the season, 2-0 over the Pirates. The Cardinals swept a doubleheader from the Reds to end the day three games out in the NL.

At the other end of the NL standings, the Braves lost their 110th game of the season - an NL record that they would break two days later when they dropped both ends of a doubleheader to the Dodgers. Today, the Braves were also swept in a doubleheader by the Phillies, 7-5 and 4-3 at the Baker Bowl. Ben Cantwell started the record-breaker for Boston. Cantwell was 4-25 for the Braves in 1935. His career record was 76-108. In 1935 he boasted an ERA of 4.61 and allowed 235 hits in over 210 innings. He was evidently a "contact" pitcher. He struck out just 34 batters over the season and walked 44.

The Phillies, by the way, were also a woeful bunch. Even after their victories today, they were 63-84, 33 games back of the Cubs. Hal Kelleher started the second game of the twin bill for the Phillies. Kelleher had a brief career in the majors, finishing with a 4-9 record. In 1935, he would end the season 2-0 with an ERA of 1.80.

London 1945

2005-09-22T05:00:00.000-07:00

I've just completed London 1945 by Maureen Waller. If you expect a book about a triumphant city, rejoicing in its steadfastness and victory over fascism - think again! This book is chiefly a very detailed rendering of the miseries that afflicted Londoners at war's end. The catalogue of woes is long: rocket bombing by V-1 and V-2s that indiscriminately killed and maimed, housing shortages, food shortages, clothing shortages, rationing, rampant crime and corruption, limited personal hygiene (most Londoners bathed once a week - at most) and a government that seemed indifferent at times to the suffering of its civilian population. For example, the British government did not warn civilians - who had begun to return to London as the war neared its end in late 1944 - about the V-rocket attacks and suppressed most coverage of the bombings in order to deprive the Germans of potentially useful intelligence.

The book draws heavily on the experiences of ordinary people and offers sympathetic and illuminating information on the effects of the war on women and children and the difficulties of family reunification when Britain's soldiers returned home. At times, however, the detail is repetitive and excessive. There is also an illuminating discussion of the 1945 elections which decimated the Conservatives - led by Churchill - and brought the Labour party to power. Although this surprised many observers, the book makes it clear that it should not have. Churchill appears to have run a Red-baiting campaign which did nothing to address people's desire for a better life after the war and was heckled and booed at campaign stops in several London neighborhoods. Americans may be perplexed, however, that people who had been entangled in extensive government regulation of their lives during the war would turn to a party which advocated even more bureaucracy and regulation. Waller makes it clear that the vote was less an endorsement of Labour's socialist policies than a rebellion against a Conservative party which was felt to be out of touch with ordinary people and responsible for the country's lack of readiness for war.

Roberta again

2005-09-20T18:52:00.000-07:00

In case you're interested, here's what The Nation had to say about Roberta:

"Roberta" the only musical film to which this column has exposed itself in recent weeks, owes all of its entertainment value, which is considerable, to the personality and dancing talents of Fred Astaire. For the sake of his incomparable feet the interruptions of the Alice Duer Miller romance, including the parade of fashion models [which included Lucille Ball] and white Russian emigres in Paris may be quite easily endured.

No mention of Ginger!

September 20, 1935

2005-09-20T05:05:00.000-07:00

In baseball news, the Pittsburgh Crawfords defeated the New York Cubans to win the Negro National League championship. Josh Gibson, Cool Papa Bell and Oscar Charleston collected extra base hits for the Crawfords. This 1935 squad was considered perhaps the greatest Negro League team ever:

For five years, 1932-36, Gus Greenlee's Crawfords were the "Yankees of the Negro Leagues" and each year's squad draws some votes as the greatest of all-time. However, the 1935 team, which featured five Hall-of-Famers in the lineup, is considered the best, with Josh Gibson, Oscar Charleston, Cool Papa Bell, Judy Johnson and Satchel Paige. Although Paige jumped to a white semio-pro team in Bismarck, North Dakota during the season, the team was so strong that they continued to win without him. Lefthander Leroy Matlock assumed the role as ace of the staff and fashioned an outstanding record. Flanking Bell in the outfield were Sam Bankhead and Jimmie Crutchfield, giving the Crawfords one of the fastest outfields ever to play baseball. The Crawfords easily won the first half title with a .785 winning percentage and defeated the New York Cubans in a seven-game play-off for the Championship.

Greenlee was a gambling and numbers racketeer who owned the field where the team played in Pittsburgh - Greenlee Field - and the Crawford Grille which hosted entertainers like Lena Horne and Bill Robinson as well as Crawford ballplayers.

Nighthawks and Wood Ducks

2005-09-18T22:26:00.000-07:00

Saturday evening, I had my first sighting this fall of common nighthawks. I was looking for them as they migrate through New York each year in September. But when I first caught sight of them, having seen them only a few times in my short birdwatching career, I thought they were hawks (for an instant) and then (very dark) gulls before I recognized them by their white wing patches. These birds are a species of special concern in New York although they continue to nest in both Manhattan and Brooklyn, according to Bull's. A birder named Ben Cacace has made regular reports of sighting nighthawks, at dusk, over Central Park this summer. Bootstrap analysis has an excellent post on the causes of the bird's decline.

Audubon wrote this about the nighthawk's flight:

The Night-Hawk has a firm, light, and greatly prolonged flight. In dull cloudy weather, it may be seen on the wing during the whole day, and is more clamorous than at any other time. The motions of its wings while flying are peculiarly graceful, and the playfulness which it evinces renders its flight quite interesting. The bird appears to glide through the air with all imaginable ease, assisting its ascent, or supporting itself on high, by irregular hurried flappings performed at intervals, as if it had unexpectedly fallen in with its prey, pursued, and seized it. Its onward motion is then continued. It moves in this manner, either upwards in circles, emitting a loud sharp squeak at the beginning of each sudden start it takes, or straight downwards, then to the right or left, whether high or low, as it presses onward, now skimming closely over the rivers, lakes, or shores of the Atlantic, and again wending its way over the forests or mountain tops. During the love season its mode of flight is particularly interesting: the male may be said to court his mate entirely on the wing, strutting as it were through the air, and performing a variety of evolutions with the greatest ease and elegance, insomuch that no bird with which I am acquainted can rival it in this respect. It frequently raises itself a hundred yards, sometimes much more, and apparently in the same careless manner already mentioned, its squeaking notes becoming louder and more frequent the higher it ascends; when, checking its course, it at once glides obliquely downwards, with wings and tail half closed, and with such rapidity that a person might easily conceive it to be about to dash itself against the ground. But when close to the earth, often at no greater distance than a few feet, it instantaneously stretches out its wings, so as to be nearly directed downwards at right angles with the body, expands its tail, and thus suddenly checks its downward career. It then brushes, as it were, through the air, with inconceivable force, in a semicircular line of a few yards in extent. This is the moment when the singular noise produced by this bird is heard, for the next instant it rises in an almost perpendicular course, and soon begins anew this curious mode of courtship. The concussion caused, at the time the bird passes the centre of its plunge, by the new position of its wings, which are now brought almost instantly to the wind, like the sails of a ship suddenly thrown aback, is the cause of this singular noise. The female does not produce this, although she frequently squeaks whilst on the wing.

Meanwhile, on the upper pool in Prospect Park, you can now see the wood ducks returning to their glorious breeding plumage. There were seven on the pool tonight. Audubon referred to the duck as the "summer duck" although this seems a strange name as the bird loses its breeding plumage in July and August and is a mere shadow of itself in "eclipse" plumage. He described their courtship in somewhat purple prose:

When March has again returned, and the Dogwood expands its pure blossoms in the sun, the Cranes soar away on their broad wings, bidding our country adieu for a season, flocks of water-fowl are pursuing their early migrations, the frogs issue from their muddy beds to pipe a few notes of languid joy, the Swallow has just arrived, and the Blue-bird has returned to his box. The Wood Duck almost alone remains on the pool, as if to afford us an opportunity of studying the habits of its tribe. Here they are, a whole flock of beautiful birds, the males chasing their rivals, the females coquetting with their chosen beaux. Observe that fine drake! how gracefully he raises his head and curves his neck! As he bows before the object of his love, he raises for a moment his silken crest. His throat is swelled, and from it there issues a guttural sound, which to his beloved is as sweet as the song of the Wood Thrush to its gentle mate. The female, as if not unwilling to manifest the desire to please ;which she really feels, swims close by his side, now and then caresses him by touching his feathers with her bill, and shews displeasure towards any other of her sex that may come near. Soon the happy pair separate from the rest, repeat every now and then their caresses, and at length, having sealed the conjugal compact, fly off to the woods to search for a large Woodpecker's hole. Occasionally the males fight with each other, but their combats are not of long duration, nor is the field ever stained with blood, the loss of a few feathers or a sharp tug of the head being generally enough to decide the contest. Although the Wood Ducks always form their nests in the hollow of a tree, their caresses are performed exclusively on the water, to which they resort for the purpose, even when their loves have been first proved far above the ground on a branch of some tall sycamore. While the female is depositing her eggs, the male is seen to fly swiftly past the hole in which she is hidden, erecting his crest, and sending forth his love-notes, to which she never fails to respond.

This duck very nearly disappeared from our ponds and lakes due to overhunting and wetlands destruction. Populations were "alarmingly low" by the late 1880s. A combination of hunting prohibition/regulation and human assistance - in the form of the construction of thousands of nest boxes - has brought the birds back.

September 18, 1935

2005-09-18T11:20:00.000-07:00

The Cubs thrashed the Giants, 15-3, at Wrigley. It was the 15th straight victory for the Chicagoans and dropped the Giants six and a half games off the lead. The Cardinals, meanwhile, having split a twin bill with the Dodgers on the 17th, defeated the Brooklynites, 6-3, at Sportsman's Park. Nonetheless, they remained 2-1/2 games behind the surging Cubbies.

The Senators, however, were more successful against Chicago's AL entry, sweeping a doubleheader from the White Sox, 5-4 and 3-1. By the end of the day, the Nats were 63-80, 28 games behind the Tigers. Bobo Newsom started the first game and Ed Linke the second. Linke had a brief career, finishing with a lifetime 22-22 record. 1935 was his best season. He finished 11-7 (on a team with a 67-86 record) although his ERA was 5.01. Perhaps he benefited from strong run support. He gave up 211 hits in 178 innings and struck out just 51 batters (as against 80 walks). His luck ran out in 1938 - his final major league season, which he spent with the Browns. He was 1-7 with a 7.94 ERA and gave up 60 hits in over 39 innings pitched. He was twenty six years old when his career ended.

In The Nation published today, several interesting items:

In an editorial, the magazine comments on the recent assassination of Huey Long. It notes that "his championship of the poor was as sincere as anything in his equipment of distorted passions. Giving him every advantage of sympathetic consideration does not raise him to the status of martyr. Huey Long was America's first dictator." The editorial concludes:

His death undoubtedly means troubled times in Louisiana. Nationally, however, the political situation is simplified. Now there will be no formidable third-party movement in the South threatening to wreck the Democratic Party. With the death of Long the field of demagoguery is left to Father Coughlin, of whom one need be much less afraid.

The Nation was critical of Magistrate Louis Brodsky's denunciation of Nazi Germany in his decision freeing the SS Bremen demonstrators. These were anti-Nazi agitators who had boarded the Bremen - a German liner - and torn down the swastika flag. Although Judge Brodsky's conclusion that the demonstrators had not engaged in unlawful assembly was legally correct:

when Magistrate Brodsky, in presuming to set forth the sentiments of the defendants which urged them to commit what was in effect an act of violence against a nation with which the United States is on diplomatically friendly terms, proceeded in his official capacity to describe that nation in highly uncomplimentary language, one may question not only the diplomatic policy but the judicial propriety of such a proecdure. It is the function of a judge to uphold and interpret the law; it is not his function to make political speeches from the bench.

Perhaps Magistrate Brodsky had been influced by three anti-Nazi books reviewed in The Nation that week: The Nazi Dictatorship: A Study in Social Pathology and the Politics of Fascism; Rubber Truncheon; and I Was Hitler's Prisoner.

In an analysis of the Italo-Ethiopian crisis entitled "Geneva Stands Firm", the magazine noted that the delay occasioned by League of Nations deliberations over Ethiopia might postpone an Italian invasion for a full year. This was because the rainy season limited the available window for military operation to seven months of the year. The Nation was optimistic that sanctions could deter Italy:

Italy is obviously in no position to resist sanctions if they are rigorously aplied, and is even less able to go to war with any of the big poweers over their application. As was pointed out in last week's issue of The Nation, Italy is perhaps the farthest from self-sufficiency of any of the major countries. Faced by the certainty of a stringent financial and commercial boycott, combined with the threat of a closing of the Suez Canal, Mussolini would be practically forced to seek some face-saving compromise.

The article concluded that:

failure to curb Italy means the end of all possibility of security. It implies an acceptance by the world at large of the principles of force and violence which are the keystone of fascism, and relegates to the next post-war generation our rightful task of building an effective organization for peace.

In "Bullets Fell on Alabama", Bruce Crawford [according to the attached link, Crawford was a journalist and advocate for labor and civil rights]relates a visit by the National Committee for the Defense of Political Prisoners to Birmingham, Alabama. In that city, possession of more than one copy of "radical publications" was an offense punishable by a fine of $100. Among the radical publications distributed by the Committee in a test of the ordinance were The Daily Worker, The Nation and the New Republic.

Members of the Committee were "seized" by local police and taken to meet Chief of Police Hollums. The Chief delivered the following remarks:

This literature [referring to the magazines listed above and several others]isn't unlawful, but it contains what offends some people. Besides, the ignorant working people shouldn't be allowed to read such literature. It stirs them up. Why, before these radicals began scattering such stuff the n----r would come holding up his hands when a white man called to him. Now the n----rs are uppity.

I haven't sufficient police force to guarantee you protection against certain elements here. There may be some in this room now, to hear what you are saying. If you pursue your activity [distributing left-wing magazines] here, I can't protect you, I'm sorry to admit.

If distributing radical magazines in Alabama wasn't dangerous enough, an advertisement in the magazine invited readers to "be one of 500 enemies of Nazism to help circulate in Germany a pamphlet against anti-semitism." The ad was placed by the International Relief Association.

Saint Robert Bellarmine

2005-09-17T09:45:00.000-07:00

September 17th is the feast of Saint Robert Bellarmine. Bellarmine was involved in the Galileo controversy. He warned Galileo, under orders of Pope Paul V, not to discuss or defend Copernican or heliocentric theories. He apparently opposed Copernican theories both on the grounds that they contradicted Scripture and were not fully demonstrated scientifically. In a letter to Paolo Antonio Foscarini, who had written a book defending Copernican theory against the charge that it contradicted Scripture, Bellarmine wrote:

First, I say that it seems to me that Your Paternity and Mr. Galileo are proceeding prudently by limiting yourselves to speaking hypothetically and not absolutely, as I have always believed that Copernicus spoke. . . .

Second, I say that, as you know, the Council prohibits interpreting Scripture against the common consensus of the Holy Fathers; and if Your Paternity wants to read not only the Holy Fathers, but also the modern commentaries on Genesis, the Psalms, Ecclesiastes, and Joshua, you will find all agreeing in the literal interpretation that the sun is in heaven and turns around the earth with great speed, and that the earth is very far from heaven and sits motionless at the center of the world. Consider now, with your sense of prudence, whether the Church can tolerate giving Scripture a meaning contrary to the Holy Fathers and to all the Greek and Latin commentators.

Third, I say that if there were a true demonstration that the sun is at the center of the world and the earth in the third heaven, and that the sun does not circle the earth but the earth circles the sun, then one would have to proceed with great care in explaining the Scriptures that appear contrary, and say rather that we do not understand them than that what is demonstrated is false. But I will not believe that there is such a demonstration, until it is shown me.

All this suggests to me that Bellarmine might have been comfortable today in the camp of the "intelligent design" theorists.

He is a Doctor of the Church and his major work, Disputations on the Controversies of the Christan Faith Against the Heretics of the Time, was three volumes! Apparently, among many other things, it argues against the so-called divine right of kings.

Nonetheless, Bellarmine seems to me admirable because of his style of church leadership and his concern for the poor. As one source states:

Bellarmine was made a cardinal by Pope Clement VIII on the grounds that "he had not his equal for learning." While he occupied apartments in the Vatican, Bellarmine relaxed none of his former austerities. He limited his household expenses to what was barely essential, eating only the food available to the poor. He was known to have ransomed a soldier who had deserted from the army and he used the hangings of his rooms to clothe poor people, remarking, "The walls won't catch cold."

Here is another author on Bellarmine:

All of a saint’s life should be a book or mirror that teaches people how to apply the gospel to the needs of their particular era and state of life and personal characteristics. I have already dwelt on his concern for the poor and the sick. Let us look at some other personal traits of Bellarmine. One was simplicity. He despised the pomp of office which most Renaissance notables gloried in. As soon as he became rector at the Roman college, he stripped down his office. The big chestnut desk he sent to the sacristy to hold altar linens. The religious pictures from his office were moved to the corridor walls where all might see, enjoy, and profit from them. Even as rector he insisted on doing a turn sweeping the corridors and washing the dirty pots and pans.13 As an old man, he used to delight in going off for his vacation to the Jesuit novitiate where he could shed his fancy red cardinal’s robes and don an old black cassock and eat the ordinary fare of the novices.

Another characteristic of his was a joyful disposition. He always received those who came to his office with a smile, himself pulling out a chair for visitors, trying to make them feel at home. Bellarmine’s Jesuit subjects at the Roman College and its 2000 students represented a dozen nationalities. He bent over backwards not to favor any one nation. The people Bellarmine did favor were the sick, for whom he provided the best fare and best care. Another thing he did not scrimp on was the library.

The Ashes

2005-09-16T06:26:00.000-07:00

England has reclaimed the Ashes, defeating Australia 2-1 in the series. It is the first victory for England since 1987 and comes at the conclusion of what observers agree was a classic series. England is apparently awash in victory celebrations. According to the BBC:

The Queen and Tony Blair have sent congratulations to the Ashes-winning England cricket team.

Fans also celebrated outside The Oval cricket ground and in pubs around the country, while British troops around the world were glued to TV screens. Soldiers based at Camp Souter in Afghanistan clapped and cheered as England came closer to victory. At the Oval, fans danced around the ground and out onto the streets singing: "The Ashes are coming home."
From a nearby block of flats, a banner aimed at Australia and their fans simply read: "Barbecue that!"

On Tuesday tens of thousands of cricket fans jammed Trafalgar Square for a victory parade. Here's the BBC again:

The tens of thousands gathered in Trafalgar Square cheered highlights of the exhilarating summer series and interviews with each member of the victorious squad before a rendition of 'Jerusalem' rounded the presentation off.

Australian-raised wicketkeeper Geraint Jones held up a giant inflatable Dalek emblazoned with the words "Aussies exterminated". And Kevin Pietersen, man of the match in the final Test at The Oval, repeatedly sprayed those on the street below with champagne. "These are amazing scenes and it's fantastic what is happening to English cricket," Pietersen told BBC Sport. "I'm taking it all in and this is great for the game of cricket."

One commentator summed it up this way:

This glorious Ashes series has provided blessed relief from the fighting, snarling, cash-waving ogre of football which has trampled all over cricket for so long. Indeed, in some respects, the victory party was an old-fashioned affair - ancient hymns and anthems and flag-waving galore. It was like the Proms had never ended - and there wasn't a single arrest.

Pictures of the parade can be seen here.

September 16, 1935

2005-09-16T05:18:00.000-07:00

The Cubs defeated the Giants, 8-3, at Wrigley. Meanwhile, the Cardinals (behind the recuperated Paul Dean) shutout the Dodgers, 1-0, at home. This left the Cardinals two games out with fourteen games left to play.

The Senators continued their slide, losing to the White Sox, 9-1, at home. Their victory still left the White Sox twenty one games out of first place in the AL with a 69-70 record. "Sad" Sam Jones started for the Sox. The 1935 season was sad indeed for Jones who finished the year with an 8-7 record but was released in November by the Sox, ending his career. He was 229-217 lifetime. His best season was in 1923 with the Yankees. He was 21-8 that year and threw a no-hitter on September 4, 1923. It was the last no-hit performance with no strikeouts until Ken Holtzman duplicated the feat in 1969. Bump Hadley went for the Nats so the game featured a former Yankee hurler contending with a future Yankee. Unlike Hadley, Jones does not appear to have been involved in any savage beanings during his career.

Time's cover featured Dr. Alexis Carrel. Carrel had won the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1912.Charles Lindbergh worked with Carrel, as a volunteer, at the Rockefeller Institute. As the cover story noted:

Long ago Dr. Alexis Carrel had some small renown as the man who had found a way to keep a piece of chicken heart living and growing through the years. Lately the name of Carrel has been whirled up to fresh fame because Bio-mechanic Lindbergh designed him an artificial heart with which to pump life into human hearts, kidneys, thyroids, ovaries and because the Press knew the newsworthiness of the name of Lindbergh, if not of Carrel.

According to Wikipedia:

Later in life, Carrel published a best-selling book titled Man The Unknown theorizing that the whole of mankind could better itself by following the guide of a restricted number of intellectual aristocrats, and by implementing a regime of selective reproduction as in vogue at the time in the field of eugenics. He went so far as to recommend gas chambers to 'dispose' of 'inappropriate individuals', especially praising Hitler's efforts in eliminating weak-minded, alienated and criminals in the 1936's German introduction of his book.

Lindbergh shared with Carrel a certain admiration, if not affection for the Hitler regime. Nothing appears to have come of Carrel/Lindbergh's "bio-mechanical" heart.

In another interesting item, Time reported on new artwork ordered for Ellis Island, still serving as immigration inspection facility at the time. The work was carried out by the PWA - a New Deal organization - and involved muralists Edward Laning and Hideo Noda. Here is a photo of Laning at work on Ellis Island. Their work was nonetheless subject to approval by Immigration Commissioner Rudolph Reimer:

No sooner was Muralist Hideo Noda's cartoon submitted to him than Commissioner Reimer blossomed out as a stickler for artistic detail. The Noda mural was promptly rejected because Negro cotton pickers were shown wearing turtlenecked sweaters and creased trousers, because the creature pulling a poor blackamoor's farm cart seemed to be a full-blooded Percheron stallion. Artist Noda threw up his hands and his job, went back to California.

The Laning mural, showing the building of the Pacific Railroad with Irish and Chinese labor (see cut), got by Commissioner Reimer last week only after the artist had made many a change of detail to bring the whole into accord with that official's idea of U. S. history. Pointing to the drawing, Commissioner Reimer said:

"You see that man, he should be wearing high boots. These are Federal Army uniforms. There were Civil War soldiers working on that railroad and every now & then even a Confederate uniform would turn up. . . . The engineering details at first were even worse. Laning had square-cut ties under the tracks which were never used until 25 or 30 years ago. The rail which the coolies were handling was at least an 80 or 90-lb. rail. I made him reduce the size of the rail. Rolling mills in those days couldn't produce anywhere near that size of rail. . . .

"You know coolie labor was imported to work on that railroad and they were almost the first Chinamen that came to America. Having invited them Congress passed a law granting them limited citizenship. . . ."

Meanwhile at the League of Nations, fascist Italy accused Ethiopia of being a haven for various barbaric rituals:

Mostly the Italian exhibits showed Ethiopians snapped in acts every explorer of the Empire knows to be sanctified by savage custom, namely in the words of Baron Aloisi:

"Emasculation, not only of adults but of boys and babies captured during raids, and commerce in eunuchs, which is still flourishing. The survival of atrocious practices, such as cannibalism for magical purposes and bleeding babies for ritualistic functions. The cruelest practices of torture and execution. Among these may be cited a punishment that the French ethnologist and explorer, Marcel Griaule, witnessed in Godjam. An Ethiopian guilty of aggression against a minor ras [chief] was wrapped in muslin strips, dipped in wax and honey and slowly burned as a living torch in the presence of the ras. . . .

Such a country, declared Baron Aloisi, is unfit to belong to the League of Nations. Next day, on telephonic orders from Benito Mussolini, the Italian delegates began a melodramatic routine of jumping up and marching out of the League Council chamber whenever Ethiopian delegates arose to speak. This move backfired, won extra courtesy from other Great Power statesmen for dusky Ethiopian Chief Delegate Bedjirond Tecla Hawariate. Once when Mr. Hawariate, Premier Laval and Captain Eden had to enter the same door, such a contest of bows began that it seemed none would get in. Finally the Ethiopian entered first, next the Briton, last the Frenchman.

The Ethiopians replied through French Law Professor Gaston Jeze:

Wasting no breath to deny Baron Aloisi's undeniable facts on Ethiopian savagery, the Professor with great dexterity called Benito Mussolini a "Big Bully" without actually using those words. He neatly said that since nobody is to blame for the Ualual incident [an incident between Ethiopian and Italian forces at the Ethiopian/Eritrean border] no cause exists for war, ridiculed what he called the Fascist concept of a "Supernatural Mission for Eternal Rome" and scathingly declared: "In France we have a proverb, 'When a man wants to drown his dog he first says it is mad.' Italy, having resolved to conquer Ethiopia, begins by calling Ethiopia mad!"

Time speculated that a deal might be afoot to declare Ethiopia a "mandate" of Italy:

By common consent Premier Laval is now the No. 1 horse-trader for Peace. His entourage said, off the record, last week that they hoped Great Britain will raise no objection to a maneuver under which the League of Nations would designate Ethiopia afresh as "free and independent," entrusting her to Italy under much the same arrangement that free & independent Irak and free & independent Egypt are under London's thumbs.

Under this formula Italy's Armies could achieve some of the glory Benito Mussolini seems to want, for the savage Ethiopians would not take Civilization lying down. On the other hand this form of League "mandate" to Italy would cut off Ethiopia's Emperor from all help by the Great Powers and should, so Geneva statesmen said, "shorten the war." This they felt would be something gained, adding that the League would also have "localized the conflict outside of Europe."

Against a solution along these lines the chief forces this week were: 1) Anglo-Saxon public opinion that one must crack down on a "Big Bully"; 2) the Socialist and Trade Union movements on the continent and in Britain which ceaselessly petitioned the League to hurl "sanctions" against Boss Mussolini; and 3) Soviet Russia whose suave Foreign Commissar Maxim Maximovich Litvinoff unleased at Geneva a strong Red speech for Peace and against Fascist dreams of Empire.

Stay Tuned!

September 15, 1935

2005-09-15T05:07:00.000-07:00

Germany today promulgated the Nuremberg Laws which prohibited marriage or sexual intercourse between Jews and "Germans" and further prohibited the employment of most "German" women in Jewish households. A Reich Citizenship Law stripped Jews of their citizenship and made them "subjects" of the German state.

Here's how Time magazine reported the event:

In menacing tones General Göring then read out three new decree laws. The first ended the clumsy arrangement under which the German tricolor and the Nazi swastika have been flown together as national flags. Henceforth Germany's sole flag is the swastika. "It is the anti-Jewish symbol of the world!" thundered General Göring amid deafening cheers. "A soldier from the front lines, Adolf Hitler, pulled us out of the dirt and brought us back to honor. . . . The swastika has become for us a holy symbol!" This, Germans considered, completely answered a Jewish judge in Manhattan named Brodsky who recently called the swastika a "pirate flag." Last week U. S. Secretary of State Cordell Hull sent the German Government a note of "regret" at the Brodsky incident.

Citizenship, Blood & Honor. The second decree read out by General Göring is the National Citizenship Law. This divides Germans into "citizens"' (with such rights as suffrage) and "members" (rights not defined). Jews under this law are automatically "members,'' and German "citizens" will be degraded to that status if they are found to be Communists or otherwise "unworthy."

The final decree last week is the Law for the Protection of German Blood and German Honor. This permits Jews to fly a racial flag of their own; prohibits them from flying the German flag; bars Jews from marrying outside their race in Germany; bars them, whether married or not, from having sexual relations across the race line; and, as a final deterrent, forbids a Jew to employ a German female servant less than 45 years old.

The implications of this proviso struck the German Reichstag so forcibly that Deputies clutched their quaking midriffs and the whole chamber roared with Homeric laughter until tears of mirth glistened on many a cheek. Banging down his gavel President Göring boomed: "No Jew can insult Germany!"

The incident involving Judge Brodsky referred to in the Time article had occurred earlier in 1935. Demonstrators had boarded the German ship SS Bremen and torn down the swastika flag. Describing the swastika as a "pirate flag", Judge Brodsky dismissed the charges. He found that such a standard would naturally have incited the demonstrators.

In baseball news, the Cardinals lost again to the Giants, 7-3. It was a classic pitching matchup - Dizzy Dean versus Carl Hubbell. Meanwhile, the Cubs again defeated the Dodgers, 6-3. The Cubs were still in possession of first place. On July 4th, they had been in fourth place, 10-1/2 games back. The Giants were now in third place, 3-1/2 games back. As recently as August 24th, they had led the NL.

Hubbell was to finish the 1935 season at 23-12 with an ERA of 3.27. He allowed 314 hits in just over 302 innings and struck out 150 batters. It was his third straight 20-win season.

The Senators saw their winning streak come to a crashing halt as they dropped both ends of a doubleheader to the Indians. The Yankeees downed the Tigers, 8-7, at Yankee Stadium but still finished the day 8-1/2 games back.

American redstart, etc.

2005-09-15T04:44:00.000-07:00

One bird that even bad birdwatchers like me are seeing in abundance this fall is the American Redstart. It's described by the Cornell Ornithology Lab as declining in a few areas but still abundant. Alexander Wilson painted the bird and Audubon also described it as abundant. Unfortunately, its abundance may be the result of characteristics which would not endear it to conservatives - who are now much enamored of (serially) monogamous penguins. As Cornell reports:

The male American Redstart occasionally is polygynous, having two mates at the same time. Unlike many other polygynous species of birds that have two females nesting in the same territory, the redstart holds two separate territories up to 500 m (1,640 ft) apart. The male starts to attract a second female after the first has completed her clutch and is incubating the eggs.

Polygynous but prudent. Audubon classified the bird as a flycatcher rather than a warbler. Here's bit of what he had to say about this abundant warbler:

This is one of the most lively, as well as one of the handsomest, of our Flycatchers, and ornaments our woods during spring and summer, when it cannot fail to attract the attention of any person who may visit the interior of the shady forests. It is to be met with over the whole of the United States, where it arrives, according to the different localities, between the beginning of March and the 1st of May. It takes its departure, on its way southward, late in September, and in the beginning of October. It keeps in perpetual motion, hunting along the branches sidewise, jumping to either side in search of insects and larvae, opening its beautiful tail at every movement which it makes, then closing it, and flirting it from side to side, just allowing the transparent beauty of the feathers to be seen for a moment. The wings are observed gently drooping during these motions, and its pleasing notes, which resemble the sounds of tetee-whee, tetee-whee, are then emitted. Should it observe an insect on the wing, it immediately flies in pursuit of it, either mounts into the air in its wake, or comes towards the ground spirally and in many zig-zags. The insect secured, the lovely Redstart reascends, perches, and sings a different note, equally clear, and which may be expressed by the syllables wizz, wizz, wizz. While following insects on the wing, it keeps its bill constantly open, snapping as if it procured several of them on the same excursion. It is frequently observed balancing itself in the air, opposite the extremity of a bunch of leaves, and darting into the midst of them after the insects there concealed.

Another frequent - and welcome - sighting this fall has been the monarch butterfly. Last year, numbers of this migrating insect plummeted. But this year, as measured at Cape May, New Jersey, monarch numbers have so far recovered to their highest point since 1997.

More Chrysostom

2005-09-14T06:31:00.000-07:00

In the Orthodox calendar, today is the feast of the Repose of St. John Chrysostom. This feast commemorates the transfer of the saint's relics from the place where he died in exile to Constantinople. This was done at the urging of Saint Proclus - a follower of Chrysostom who became Patriarch of Constantinople in 434. Here is the story behind the feast:

The emperor, overwhelmed by Saint Proclus, gave his consent and made the order to transfer the relics of Saint John. But the people dispatched by him were by no means able to life up the holy relics -- not until that moment when the emperor realising his oversight that he had not sent the message to Saint John, humbly beseeching of him forgiveness for himself and for his mother Eudoxia. The message was read at the grave of Saint John and after this they easily lifted up the relics, carried them onto a ship and arrived at Constantinople. The reliquary coffin with the relics was placed in the Church of the holy Martyr Irene. The Patriarch opened the coffin: the body of Saint John had remained without decay. The emperor, having approached the coffin with tears, asked forgiveness. All day and night people did not leave the coffin. In the morning the reliquary coffin with its relics was brought to the Church of the Holy Apostles. The people cried out: "Receive back thy throne, father!" Then Patriarch Proclus and the clergy standing at the relics saw Saint John open his mouth and pronounce: "Peace be to all."

This site has the text of the "Eight Homilies Against the Jews" as well as a link to reactions regarding their posting.

More Equiano

2005-09-14T06:23:00.000-07:00

Here's a website with additional commentary on the Equiano birth issue.

September 14, 1935

2005-09-14T04:49:00.000-07:00

The Cubs grabbed the NL lead, downing the Dodgers in a slugfest at Wrigley, 18-14. Meanwhile the Cardinals let another extra innings game get away from them, losing 5-4 to the Giants in 11 innings. Paul Dean was to have started the game for St. Louis but was scratched owing to having suffered a "severe heart attack" at a boxing match. As Dean returned three days later to pitch for the Cardinals, his recuperative powers must have been extraordinary. In the bout at which Dean suffered his "heart attack", Tony Canzoneri defeated Joe Ghnouly in ten rounds to retain his world lightweight crown.

The Senators won their fifth straight, 5-1, over the Indians at Griffith Stadium. Bobo Newsom was on the hill for the Nats. The well-travelled Newsom apparently earned his nickname by calling his teammates "Bobo" - he moved so often he could not recall their names. According to one source:

Misfortune plagued Newsom. He once pitched nine no-hit innings only to lose 2-1 on a 10th-inning hit; he was suspended by his own manager for throwing a spitball; he had his kneecap broken by a line drive yet hobbled on to a complete-game victory. He showed great courage in the 1940 World Series. He had a 21-5 record that year and pitched three complete games for the Tigers in the seven-game Series. His father died suddenly after seeing him win the opener. Tearfully, Newsom dedicated his next start to his dad and won that as well. But his fortunes reversed in Game Seven, as he lost to the Reds, 2-1.

Meanwhile, the AL-leading Tigers downed the Yankees, 5-1 at Yankee Stadium. Gallant Yankee fans heaped abuse on Tigers slugger Hank Greenberg earning a rebuke from the New York American:

"The hooting and jeering which some of the fans turned loose against Hank wasn't much of a tribute to the sportsmanship of his home town."

Olaudah Equiano

2005-09-13T06:16:00.000-07:00

A forthcoming book will cast doubt on the validity of Equiano's claim to have been born in Africa and experienced the Middle Passage - the notorious journey of enslaved Africans by ship to the Americas. Equiano's autobiography is one of the first, written in English, by an African (or person of African descent?). It was published in 1789. Now Vincent Carretta, who edited the Penguin edition of The Interesting Narrative, has uncovered a baptismal record record for Equiano which lists his place of birth as South Carolina. A discussion of Carretta's findings can be found here. The baptismal record itself can be examined here.

September 13, 1935

2005-09-13T06:13:00.000-07:00

Friday the 13th. The Cardinals, trailing the Giants by four runs, tied the game in the bottom of the ninth. But Dizzy Dean, coming on in relief, is touched for three runs in the tenth and the Cards lose, 13-10. With the Cubs downing the Dodgers, 4-1, at Wrigley, the NL race is tied.

The Senators beat the Indians, 5-3, at Griffith Stadium. It was their fourth consecutive win. Bump Hadley was on the hill for the Nats.

Hadley later pitched for the Yankees and on May 25, 1937 savagely beaned Mickey Cochrane. Cochrane's skull was fractured in three places and the pitch ended Cochrane's playing career. Cochrane had been a beloved figure in baseball. As one source states:

Cochrane wasn't just a great baseball player, though. He was a hero and role model to millions of people during the Great Depression of the 1930s when as player-manager of the Detroit Tigers he led the downtrodden Tigers to their first pennant in 25 years. The combination of Cochrane's fierce competitiveness on the field and his likable personality off the field, mixed with his successful rise from humble beginnings, helped Americans take their minds off the widespread unemployment during the Great Depression and encouraged them that they too could weather the economic times. Many parents named their children after Cochrane, including one Oklahoma family named Mantle.

St. John Chrysostom

2005-09-13T04:54:00.000-07:00

Today is the feast of St. John Chrysostom. (In the Catholic calendar - the Orthodox celebrate his feast on November 13th). He was patriarch of Constantinople and a constant thorn in the side of the powerful. As a website dedicated to the saint puts it:

[H]e also made enemies by his denunciations of the vices and follies of the clergy and aristocracy. He emptied the Episcopal palace of its costly plate and furniture and sold it for the benefit of the poor and the hospitals. He introduced his strict ascetic habits and reduced the luxurious household of his predecessors to the strictest simplicity. He devoted his large income to benevolence. He refused invitations to banquets, gave no dinner parties, and ate the simplest fare in his solitary chamber. He denounced unsparingly luxurious habits in eating and dressing, and enjoined upon the rich the duty of almsgiving to an extent that tended to increase rather than diminish the number of beggars who swarmed in the streets and around the churches and public baths. He disciplined the vicious clergy and opposed the perilous and immoral habit of unmarried priests of living under the same roof with "spiritual sisters." This habit dated from an earlier age, and was a reaction against celibacy. Cyprian had raised his protest against it, and the Council of Nicea forbade unmarried priests to live with any females except close relations.

Because of his constant tendency to denounce the powerful, particularly the Empress, he was exiled from Constantinople and died on his journey out of the city.

Unfortunately, Chrysostom's zeal was not confined to defense of the poor. He is the author of the infamous Orations Against the Judaizers. Here is a page which explores the issue of whether Chrysostom was anti-semitic - from a viewpoint sympathetic to the saint.

September 12, 1935

2005-09-12T07:10:00.000-07:00

In baseball news, the Cardinals and the Cubs both won, leaving the Cardinals one game ahead in the NL pennant race. The Cubs stomped the Dodgers, 13-3 at Wrigley. The Cards were winners, 5-2, over the Giants at Sportsman's Park. The Senators shut out the Indians, 3-0, behind staff ace Earl Whitehill. The victory raised their record to 59-76. It was the third straight win for the Nats. The Tigers remained atop the AL by a comfortable margin, downing the Yankees, 8-5. Their loss left the Yankees with a 78-55 record, eight and a half games off the pace.

In world news, the U.S. issued a statement which included the following language:

"On September 3, having discovered that an American corporation was a party to a newly granted commercial concession the conclusion of which had added to the perplexities and difficulties confronting the governments and other agencies which are intent upon preservation of peace, the American Government took prompt steps toward removal of this obstacle to peaceful settlement. In connection with that matter, the Secretary of State said at his press conference: "The central point in the policy of this Government in regard to, the Italian and Ethiopian controversy is the preservation of peace-to which policy every country throughout the world is committed by one or more treaties-and we earnestly hope that no nations will, in any circumstances, be diverted from this supreme objective."

This was the oil concession referred to in my earlier post regarding September 9, 1935. What the U.S. had done was more fully revealed by the Time magazine report of September 16, 1935:

"In Addis Ababa last week, Ethiopian courtiers told correspondents that their Emperor was angrily rebuking U. S. Chargé d'Affaires Cornelius Engert inside the Royal Palace.

"The Emperor considers that Secretary of State Cordell Hull acted with gross misjudgment in persuading the Standard Vacuum Oil Company to cancel the Rickett concession," said the Emperor's spokesman, adding that His Majesty told Mr. Engert hotly: "We need the co-operation of somebody—instead of obstacles, OBSTACLES!"

Co-operation was what no Great Power would give Ethiopia last week except in words (see p. 18). The blatant announcement last fortnight that Haile Selassie had conceded subsoil rights in half his empire to British Promoter Francis Rickett and his mysterious backers (TIME, Sept. 9) was universally called by statesmen and financiers last week a "n----r trick." Anything but smart was this dusky African potentate's pathetic belief that President Roosevelt would defend Ethiopia against Italy as a result of the midnight signing of the Rickett concession. Equally footless was his loss of temper in accusing Secretary Hull of "gross misjudgment." This petulant error Chargé d'Affaires Engert erased by denying the assertions of the Emperor's own entourage that he expressed himself in violent terms. According to Diplomat Engert the Emperor merely voiced "regret" that Standard Oil is not to lead the U. S. Marines to the rescue."

The racist language of Time's report reveals what was perhaps one of the most important reasonas why Ethiopia received no real assistance from the U.S., Britain or France. None of these countries wanted Ethiopia to be an example of successful resistance to European aggression by an independent African state - ruled by Africans. Remember, France and Britain were both major imperial powers in Africa in 1935.

September 9, 1935

2005-09-09T06:56:00.000-07:00

In baseball news: "With the Cardinals' Phil Collins losing to Curt Davis and the Phils, 4–3, the Cubs win their 5th and 6th straight games. Chicago tops the Braves, 5–1 and 2–1, behind the pitching of Larry French and Tex Carleton, cutting the Cardinal lead to a single game."

The Senators lost to the Tigers, 5-4. This dropped their record to 56-76 - sixth place in the AL.

Clyde Herring, the governor of Iowa, was on the cover of Time magazine. Here was the magazine's version of the baseball pennant race:

"Baseball superstition says that the team which is leading each major league on July 4 will win the pennant. Last July 4, the New York Giants were nine games ahead in the National League, the New York Yankees one game ahead in the American League. More logical is the belief that the teams which lead the leagues on Labor Day will finish first. On Labor Day last week, the Detroit Tigers were nine full games ahead of the Yankees and seemed destined to win the American League pennant more easily this year than last. In the National League, the Champion St. Louis Cardinals were clinging to first place by two games, with the Giants and Chicago Cubs bunched close behind and the Pittsburgh Pirates within striking distance. "

The chief international story was the ongoing crisis in Italo-Ethiopian relations:

"If the prestige of the League of Nations is to be saved by restraining Benito Mussolini, obviously France and Britain must do the hog-tying. In Paris swart, astute Premier Pierre Laval picked the strongest possible delegation of pro-League French statesmen to go with him this week to Geneva. Portly, pipe-sucking Edouard Herriot and fluffy-maned, impassioned Joseph Paul-Boncour, both onetime Premiers, are the two big League guns, but they are flanked by pontifical old Henry Berenger, Chairman of the French Senate Foreign Affairs Committee and kinetic Deputy Paul Bastid, the Chamber's Foreign Affairs Chairman. Though French public opinion remained friendly to Italy last week it also remained pacifist and continued to regard the League as a vital strut in the structure of Security—in France a word more magic than Peace. "

The Emperor had recently signed a deal granting an oil concession to British interests. The French were non-plussed by this act which was apparently designed to win British and American support for Ethiopia. The French, by contrast, were willing to hand Ethiopia over to Mussolini:

"The [French] Premier promised Benito Mussolini a "free hand" as to Ethiopia when they last met in Rome (TIME, Jan. 14, 21). Ever since, M. Laval has hoped that it might be possible to pass off a Fascist conquest of Ethiopia at Geneva by giving it some other name than "war." It might, for example, be called a "colonial expedition." Early last week M. Laval suggested the advantages of this name to Sir George Clerk, but the British Ambassador reacted by freezing up. Without exactly saying so, Sir George intimated that the French may be the sort of people who would keep the League going and save Europe from unpleasant complications by letting Il Duce have his war under some sweeter name, but that His Majesty's Government are not that sort of people. Few days later, when the odor of oil arose, it was like attar of roses in the black nostrils of peasant-born Pierre Laval."

Finally, this interesting item from Time on the quarrel between Mexican artists Diego Rivera and David Siqueiros:

"Artists in the U. S. will, if necessary, argue all through the night about their work, but they seldom resort to gunfire. In Mexico, art is taken much more seriously. Last week a sober crowd of black-coated schoolteachers filled the auditorium of the Palace of Fine Arts in Mexico City for a conference on Progressive Education. On the platform Painter David Alfaro Siquieros, one of the founders of the famed Revolutionary Syndicate of Technical Workers, Painters & Sculptors (now defunct) that first brought Mexican mural painting to the world's attention, was expounding his theories. Up from a rear row seat suddenly sprang the best-known member of that syndicate, Diego Rivera, who yanked a revolver from his hip pocket, pointed it straight at his old companion-in-paint.

Before Artist Rivera could pull the trigger, bystanders intervened. But honor had been impugned and a duel was in order. Half an hour's furious talk on the part of the authorities convinced both principals that the duel should be one of words, to be held in the same place the following night.
Fighting point between the two muralists was the charge that neither was sufficiently Communist. A hearty laugh was this to thoroughgoing Reds, who have disowned Rivera and Siquieros time & again. Possibly the proletariat never had a more talented group of advocates than the members of the old Mexican syndicate. Besides Rivera and Siquieros it included Jose Clemente Orozco, Xavier Guerrero, Carlos Merida, Jean Chariot. All were real artists, sturdy individualists. All have made international reputations and a certain amount of money. With growing fame all have developed an unintelligent but thoroughly natural jealousy of each other. Because Muralist Siquieros was the author of the famed manifesto which launched the Revolutionary Syndicate, and because Muralist Rivera has gained the greatest publicity, feeling between these two has been particularly bitter."

Depression era photos

2005-09-09T04:59:00.000-07:00

The other side of 1935 and depression era life can be seen in these photos taken by Farm Security Administration photographers beginning in 1935. Color photos from this collection are currently on display at the Library of Congress in Washington.

Roberta reviewed

2005-09-08T18:27:00.000-07:00

I know you're waiting for it. Here's the Time magazine review of Roberta:

Roberta (RKO). Dressed up with Jerome Kern songs, Alice Duer Miller's little anecdote about the U. S. football hero who, on a visit to Paris, inherits his aunt's dressmaking establishment and marries a Russian princess, was one of the hit shows of the 1933-34 theatrical season in Manhattan. Now, further decorated
and enlarged to suit the tastes of cinemaddicts, it has become a thoroughly enjoyable musicomedy of the smart rather than the spectacular type, which can be recommended to students of singing, dancing and next season's female fashions. The screen version of Roberta contains two new Kern songs—"I Won't Dance" and "Lovely to Look At"—in addition to "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" and three others held over from the stage version. Roberta, a kindly, domineering, elderly cosmopolite, is Helen Westley. Her assistant, the Russian princess whose chief
function is to put her to sleep with sentimental lullabies
every afternoon, is Irene Dunne. Her unsophisticated nephew is Randolph Scott. These items, in addition to a series of handsome modernistic interiors and a fashion show which is likely to have a helpful influence on this summer's trends in dressmaking,
can be listed among the advantages of the picture. But the most
pleasant moments in Roberta arrive when Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers turn the story upside down and dance on it. On the three occasions when they allow their feet to speak for them, their sleek and nimble scufflings lift Roberta out of the class of ordinary entertainment, make it an intermittent masterpiece.
The picture establishes Fred Astaire more firmly than ever as the No. 1 hoofer of the cinema and proves what The Gay Divorcee suggested: that Ginger Rogers is a wholly acceptable partner.

It appeared in the March 18, 1935 issue of the magazine.

Premier Wang" (presumably of China) appeared on the cover. According to the story:

"A keen little Japanese general, trim if tubby, bustled about Hongkong last week, the confident swish of his great-coat followed by hate-glinting Chinese eyes. "

The story, which deals with Japan's efforts to annex parts of China, continues:

Nanking has an ornate and splendid new "White House," but President Lin modestly resides in a rented house. The White House, he seems to feel, should be occupied by the Nanking Government's real boss, Generalissimo Chiang Kaishek. But the
Generalissimo's pose is precisely that he is not President. Last week the Chinese Communist armies, which the Government reports "almost exterminated" every few months, were again giving Generalissimo Chiang so much trouble that he placed himself at the head of forces rushing to avenge the murder of an Australian missionary. Left in command at Nanking was the versatile and brilliant Premier of China, Mr. Wang Ching-wei. Today he is carrying the awful onus of secret negotiations with Japan, fateful to China's whole future—the future of the most populous nation in the world.

Though the Heavens May Fall

2005-09-08T08:45:00.000-07:00

I've just finished reading Though the Heavens May Fall. The book tells the story of the 1772 Somerset decision which found that slaves brought by their masters to England were free there - as British law did not recognize slavery. Because there were about 15,000 enslaved Africans in Britain at the time of the decision, its effects were significant. Moreover, by recognizing the principle that English common law disfavored slavery, - and describing slavery as "odious" - the decision struck a moral blow in favor of the institution's abolition. The book's title is derived from the maxim: fiat justicia, ruat coelum - let justice be done, though the heavens may fall.

The decision itself was delivered orally and its essence is only a paragraph in length. It is worth quoting:

The state of slavery is of such a nature that it is incapable of being introduced on any reasons, moral or political, but only positive law, which preserves its force long after the reasons, occasion, and time itself from which it was created, is erased from memory. It is so odious that nothing can be suffered to support it but positive law. Whatever inconveniences, therefore, may follow from a decision, I cannot say this case is allowed or approved by the law of England, and therefore the black must be discharged.

Of course, as there were no official court reporters at the time, the author notes that this is only one of several versions of the decision which survive.

The book opens windows on the legal process in eighteenth century England and the lives of two fascinating men: Lord Mansfield, the judge who decided the case and Granville Sharp, the abolitionist crusader who sponsored the legal challenge. We might have learned more about James Somerset, the man whose petition for habeas corpus, filed as he was being dragged to the sugar cane/killing fields of the West Indies, was the subject of the decision. Nonetheless, the book - although poorly edited - is well worth a read. Additional information about the black presence in Britain is available here. And another recently published book advances the theory that the Somerset decision was an important cause of the American Revolution.

September 8, 1935

2005-09-08T07:33:00.000-07:00

Huey Long was assassinated on this date. What would Huey think of his beloved Louisiana today? His assassin, Carl Weiss, was killed by Long's bodyguards. According to one account, Weiss' body had sixty one bullet wounds.

In baseball news: The Cards fail to increase their lead as they split with the Phils. In the opener, Dizzy Dean wins his 25th game, but the Birds lose 4–2 in the night cap when they strand 16 runners. St. Louis outhits the Phils 13 to 4. Rain washes out the Cubs game at Wrigley.

The Brooklyn Dodgers swept a twin bill from the Reds at Crosley Field. They were 60-71 after the day's games - in fifth place in the NL.

The Senators downed the league leading Tigers, 4-3. Bump Hadley started for the Nats. After the win, they were 56-75, 29 1/2 games back of the Tigers.

Today is the feast of the Nativity of Mary.

Top Hat

2005-09-08T05:51:00.000-07:00

Top Hat was released seventy years ago this week. Here is the review which appeared in Time magazine:

Top Hat (RKO). When Hollywood revived musical films three years ago, dancing was monopolized by Director Busby Berkely and his imitators. The height of their inventions was reached in Footlight Parade, which showed a chorus massed to represent the U. S. flag. When Dancer Fred Astaire first appeared in Hollywood, he was deemed too lacking in acting ability and sex appeal to do more than a momentary turn in Dancing Lady, for which Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer borrowed him from RKO. That bit made Astaire one of the five biggest box-office names in the
industry. Teamed with Ginger Rogers—an almost equally capable comedienne who had been overlooked for years for the same reasons—he has since made an estimated $10,000,000 for the company which had at first been happy to lend him to its
competitors. Finally, thanks more to Fred Astaire than any other single influence, the character of musicomedy in the cinema has now completely changed.
In Top Hat, Dancer Astaire obligingly continues to offer cinemaddicts an inventory of the proficiencies which made him a stage star for ten years before civilized dancing reached the cinema. The picture contains a dance on a sanded rug, designed as a lullaby for the lady (Ginger Rogers) who lives on the floor
below and who has gone upstairs to complain about the tap-dance that preceded it; an elaborate routine with male chorus, copied from one Astaire did in Smiles in 1930; a pretentious "Piccolino," which may or may not turn out to be the "Continental" of 1935-36. Possibly more ingratiating than any of these is an informal scene reminiscent of their best, in Roberta, showing Rogers & Astaire caught in a thunderstorm, arguing with each other by dancing.
The music which accompanies these exercises, all by Irving Berlin, contains such likely hits as Top Hat, White Tie and Tails; Cheek to Cheek and Isn't This a Lovely Day. The story shows Astaire as the U. S. star of a London revue trying hard to further a romance which begins when he keeps Miss Rogers awake and which is impeded only by her stubborn and illogical belief that he is her best friend's husband. Otherwise pleasantly negligible, the narrative has at least the merit of giving a cast of skilled comedians (Edward Everett Horton, Helen Broderick, Erik Rhodes and Eric Blore) a chance to be amusing when Astaire &
Rogers are out of breath.

September 2, 1935

2005-09-02T05:57:00.000-07:00

Sadly, and perhaps ironically, this was the date of the Labor Day hurricane of 1935 which killed over 400 people. It was the strongest hurricane until Gilbert in 1988. Even this toll, unfortunately, pales next to the destruction wrought by Katrina.

In happier news, Hank Snow, a country music singer, married on this date. Snow was known as the Singing Ranger.

In baseball news: The first-place Cards open a 30-game home stand by sweeping a Labor Day doubleheader from the Pirates. Paul Dean wins his 16th game, 4–3 in the opener, then Dizzy cops his 23rd in the nitecap, 4–1. The Cards are two games up on the rained-out Giants.

With the Cubs splitting two with the 7th-place Reds at Wrigley, Chicago is just two 1/2 in back of the Cards. Chicago wins 3-1 in the opener as Lon Warneke tops Tony Freitas, then lose 4–2 to Gene Schott. Bill Lee takes the loss.

Veteran P Dick Coffman (5-11) and Browns manager Hornsby get into a shoving match shortly after their train leaves St. Louis for a road trip. Coffman is cut from the team and put off the train at Edwardsville, IL, and will not play again this year.

The Senators split a doubleheader with the Red Sox at Fenway. Earl Whitehill started game 2 for the Senators. He was the staff ace, finishing the year with a 14-13 record and a 4.29 ERA.

Donald Budge was featured on the cover of the Time magazine published today. The magazine featured a story on the collapse of the "Ethiopia Parley", the presidential prospects of New Hampshire Governor John Gilbert Winant and a new Cecil DeMille film on the Crusades.

Inside the Vatican

2005-09-02T05:56:00.000-07:00

I've just finished reading Inside the Vatican of Pius XII, a memoir of Charles Tittman who was U.S. charge d'affaires to the Holy See and lived in the Vatican from the entry of the U.S. in World War II until June 1944.

It's an interesting read - a combination of Tittman's memoir with notes by his son - who was a teenager at the time. The book focuses on three themes: 1) efforts by the Allies to persuade Pius to denounce Nazi atrocities, including the Holocaust; 2) the efforts of Pius to prevent Allied bombing of Rome, and 3) Vatican views of the Soviet Union and the U.S. alliance with Stalin.

On the first issue, Tittmann notes that Allied efforts eventually produced a statement from the Pope referring to "the hundreds of thousands who, through no fault of their own, and solely because of their nation or race, have been condemned to death or progressive wasting away."

Tittmann is clearly sympathetic to Pius on this issue. He states that "[t]here were absolutely no signs that the Pope was pro-Fascist or pro-Nazi. In fact, the opposite seemed more the case." And in September 1942, Tittmann prepared a memorandum summarizing the reasons for the Vatican's reluctance to condemn Nazi atrocities. Among these were that the Pope would also have to condemn "Russian cruelties" if he denounced Nazi atrocities and that the Vatican lacked the resources to assemble "supporting evidence of reported violations in order to justify condemnatory action . . .."

Tittmann also comments that "[w]hen members of the hierarchy speak out on violations, as they have done in Germany and other countries, it should be realized that it is the voice of the Pope speaking and that this should be sufficient." Although many bishops did courageously speak out, others provided explicit or implicit support for the Nazis or collaborator regimes. Did the latter group also speak for the Pope?

Tittmann also notes that the "Holy See is firmly convinced that any public statement by the Pope condemning Nazi atrocities in Nazi-occupied Europe, far from doing any good, would greatly worsen the already precarious situation of Catholics obliged to reside in those areas."

On the issue of the Soviet Union, Tittmann notes that an encyclical of Pope Pius XI - Divini Redemptoris - had unequivocally barred Catholics from any cooperation with communism. "Communism is intrinsically wrong, and no one who would save Christian Civilization may collaborate with it in any undertaking whatsoever."

This position posed problems for Roosevelt's efforts to win support to extend Lend-Lease aid to Russia after the Nazi invasion in June 1941. In a letter to Pius XII, seeking his support on this issue, Roosevelt stated that "[i]nsofar as I am informed, churches in Russia are open." Although the Vatican failed to accept this evident whitewash of Stalin's record on religious freedom, it did assist Roosevelt by arranging for Archbishop McNicholas of Cincinnati to issue a pastoral letter "interpreting the Encyclical . . . as desired by President Roosevelt."

Roosevelt's statements regarding religious freedom in Russia are consistent with the type of propaganda used to marshall support for the alliance with Stalin. The film Mission to Mosocow - based on the experiences of former Amabassador Joseph Davies - featured a script which:

"wrote that the Soviet invasion of Finland and Poland after the 1939 Nonaggression pact was only "self-defense", blamed the purge trials on traitors and Trotskyite 5th columnists, ignored the ideological differences between Stalin and Trotsky, and romanticized Russian leaders and the happy Russian people learning as modern consumers in contrast to the regimented Germans . . .."

The book by Davies, published in 1941, is widely available through used bookstores and makes for interesting reading today. The film, first screened by Roosevelt in the White House, was so popular that it led Benny Goodman to issue a song with the same title.

I Won't Dance

2005-09-01T05:35:00.000-07:00

Just for fun.

GINGER:
Think of what you're losing
By constantly refusing
To dance with me.
You'd be the idol of France with me.
And yet you stand there and shake your foolish head rheumatically
While I wait here so ecstatically.
You just look and say emphatically:

FRED:
Not this season. There's a reason.
I won't dance.
Don't ask me.I won't dance.
Don't ask me.
I won't dance, Madame, with you.
My heart won't let my feet do things they should do.
You know what? You're lovely.

GINGER:
So what? I'm lovely...

FRED:
But oh, what you do to me.
I'm like an ocean wave that's bumped on the shore.
I feel so absolutely stumped on the floor.

GINGER:
Ah, but when you dance you're charming and you're gentle.
Especially when you do The Continental.

FRED:
But this feeling isn't purely mental.
For heaven rest us
I'm not asbestos.
And that's why...
I won't dance.
Why should I?
I won't dance.
How could I?
I won't dance, merci beaucoup.
I know that music leads the way to romance.
And if I hold you in my arms... I won't dance.

Invasive species

2005-09-01T05:13:00.000-07:00

The New York State Invasive Species Task Force has just issued a draft report. The report defines invasive species as "non-native species that can cause harm to the environment or to human health." The report gives an excellent rundown of invasive species present - or on their way - to New York, including invasive crabs, plants and birds - and offers strategies for their control.

Of particular interest to birdwatchers, the report notes that at Iona Island in Bear Mountain State Park, common reed or phragmites "has expanded to almost sixty per cent of what had been a rich emergent ecosystem." As a result, although the number of birds on the island has remained constant, the number of species present has declined by more than half. Even in Central and Prospect parks, efforts are underway to suppress or eliminate phragmites.

Another threat to bird life is posed by invasive zebra and quagga mussels. The bacterium that causes Type E Botulism thrives in beds of Quagga mussels and is passed on through the Round Goby fish to seabirds. As a result, according to the report, "tens of thousands of birds [including loons, ducks, gulls and eagles] have died in recent years." The Round Goby, of course, is itself a non-native species hailing originally from the Black and Caspian Seas. Like many invasive species, it is capable of rapid population growth. According to the above website: "They spawn repeatedly during the summer months, and each time, a female can produce up to 5,000 eggs."

Purple loosestrife - also cited by the report - is an attractive marsh plant. It is highly aggressive and pushes out native aquatic plants. This is believed to have an adverse effect on ducks and other wildlife which lose breeding and foraging habitat.

One invasive species with which even bad birdwatchers are familiar is the starling. These birds nest in cavities or holes in trees - like woodpeckers - but they do not excavate their own nests. Rather, they steal them from woodpeckers - like red-bellied woodpeckers and northern flickers. While populations of red-bellied woodpeckers are increasing, those of flickers are declining. Here's a website that promotes the view that nest competition between starlings and flickers is a cause of the latter bird's decline and which offers some suggestions for helping the flickers to gain the upper hand.

On the other hand, this study found that competition between starlings and Lewis' woodpeckers (a species found in the western United States) was not a factor in that woodpecker's population decline - at least in certain areas. Audubon has included Lewis woodpecker on its Watchlist as a threatened species but notes:

"European Starlings attempt to take over Lewis's nesting cavities, but Lewis's is almost always successful at retaining its cavity. The species is preyed upon by other avian species, particularly raptors. American Kestrels prey heavily
upon young fledglings."

I once witnessed a nest competition between a downy woodpecker and a red-bellied woodpecker in Prospect Park. Although the downy is a much smaller bird, it won and raised a brood in the nest - despite the presence of many starlings in the area. So sometimes the good guys (and gals) win!

September 1, 1935

2005-09-01T02:49:00.000-07:00

Seiji Ozawa was born on this date. Baseball news of the day: In a rain-soaked game, the Senators take 14 innings to beat Lefty Grove and the Red Sox, 2–1. The Nats will win four of five decisions this year off Lefty. Grove will win his next four decisions to finish at 20–12, a big comeback from his 8–8 record in 1934.

August 31, 1935

2005-08-31T05:22:00.000-07:00

Eldridge Cleaver was born on this day. As was Frank Robinson, cuurently manager of the Washington Nationals. The old Washington Senators defeated the Boston Red Sox today. In other baseball news: Vern Kennedy pitches the first AL no-hitter since 1931, and the first ever in Comiskey Park, blanking Cleveland 5-0. He also is the batting star with a bases-loaded triple

Warblers

2005-08-31T02:55:00.000-07:00

On a short walk through Central Park yesterday afternoon, I saw two of my favorite warblers, ovenbird and worm eating warbler. Although superficially similar, the two birds have quite different habits, The worm eating warbler is a gleaner, typically seen moving about in low shrubs or, as I saw it yesterday, just above eye level moving from shrubs to trees. As its name implies it usually feeds on caterpillars. We appear to be near the northern edge of its breeding range.

The ovenbird, by contrast, is almost always found on or near the ground. It takes insects off the forest floor. This bird breeds as far south as Georgia and as far north as the Yukon and Newfoundland. It is named for its nest, which resembles a Dutch oven. Audubon did not classify the ovenbird among the warblers but referred to it as the Golden-Crowned Wagtail.

Here's a bit of what he said about the ovenbird:

Perched erect on a low horizontal branch, or sometimes on a fallen tree, it emits, at intervals of ten or fifteen minutes, a short succession of simple notes, beginning with emphasis and gradually falling. This suffices to inform the female that her lover is at hand, as watchful as he is affectionate. The
quieter the place of his abode, the more the little minstrel exerts his powers; and in calm evenings, its music immediately following the song of the Tawny Thrush, appears to form a pleasant unison. The nest is so like an oven, that the
children in many places call this species the "Oven Bird." I have found it always on the ground, sometimes among the roots of a tall tree, sometimes by the side of a fallen trunk, and again at the foot of some slender sapling. It is sunk in the ground among dry leaves or decayed moss, and is neatly formed of
grasses, both inside and out, arched over with a thick mass of the same material, covered by leaves, twigs, and such grasses as are found in the neighbourhood. A small aperture is left on one side, just sufficient to admit the owner. In this snug tenement the female deposits from four to six eggs, which are white, irregularly spotted with reddish-brown near the larger end.

Antonio de Montesinos

2005-08-30T12:29:00.000-07:00

Here's another fellow who deserves a fine biography in English. He was a Dominican friar who delivered this sermon to the Spanish conquistadors in 1511:

Tell me, by what right or justice do you hold these Indians in such cruel and
horrible slavery? By what right do you wage such detestable wars on these people
who lived mildly and peacefully in their own lands, where you have consumed
infinite numbers of them with unheard of murders and desolations? Why do you so
greatly oppress and fatigue them, not giving them enough to eat or caring for
them when they fall ill from excessive labors, so that they die or rather are
slain by you, so that you may extract and acquire gold every day? And what care
do you take that they receive religious instruction and come to know their God
and creator, or that they be baptized, hear mass, or observe holidays and
Sundays? Are they not men? Do they not have rational souls? Are you not bound to
love them as you love yourselves? How can you lie in such profound and lethargic
slumber? Be sure that in your present state you can no more be saved than the
Moors or Turks who do not have and do not want the faith of Jesus Christ.

Did we hear anything this forthright from the Vatican during the Holocaust? Apparently, Montesinos participated in a later expedition to the Chesapeake which was abandoned in 1527.

1491

2005-08-30T09:46:00.000-07:00

I just finished this book by Charles Mann. I discussed his remarks on passenger pigeons in a post below. I had expected the book to be a survey of the ecological and cultural situation in the Americas immediately prior to European contact. However, this is not the case.

The book is intended to acquaint a general audience with results of recent archaeological and ethnological research regarding pre-contact American history and culture. (That's a mouthful). The emphasis is on findings which indicate that pre-contact population levels were much higher than popularly believed and that American civilization is more ancient and was more sophisticated than we might think.

The book is clearly the result of prodigious research and includes extensive notes and bibliography. At times, frankly, I found the detail regarding certain civilizations a bit mind-numbing. But Mann does make a persuasive case for his thesis.

He notes that pre-contact civilizations were more numerous than popularly believed and that they had a greater effect on the environment than we imagine. Pre-contact cultures did not preside over a largely untouched wilderness but extensively modified their surroundings. In North America, this involved extensive agriculture (maize) and forest burning. Mann also presents evidence that even in Amazonia, Indians planted "orchards" of fruit producing trees which transformed large sections of the Amazon basin. This was a rational response to the difficulty of clearing land in a culture without metal axes and poor soil quality which could not support intensive agriculture. Here is some additional detail on this issue.

Mann also includes an interesting chapter - "The Great Law of Peace" - on the link between American concepts of equality and liberty and Indian culture and spirituality. This chapter seemed to be somewhat brief to do the topic full justice. Check here for some additional thoughts on this topic.

Finally, a thought occurred to me as I read Mann's book which he does not address. Political scientists these days sometimes speak of strong and weak states. From Mann's book, I gathered the impression that the Inka and Mexica (Aztec) empires were strong states. They erected huge state buildings. Religion was state dominated and forced labor was extensively used by the Inka for road construction and other purposes. Spaniards marvelled at how clean and orderly were the cities of these two empires.

By contrast, European states at the time were characterized by frequent civil warfare and a lack of effective central control. Cortes, for example, operated with very limited and ineffective oversight or control even from colonial authorities. Spain had only recently been unified at the time of European contact and England was just emerging from the dynastic struggles of the Wars of the Roses. Although Inka society was wracked by civil war shortly before the Spanish Conquest, Mann believes this was a result, in part, of the social disintegration which occurred when Inka society was ravaged by European-introduced disease. And Mann makes it clear that he believes that the success of Cortes and Pizzaro was attributable not to technological superiority but to the ravages of disease which decimated Indian populations.

It also seems that the Inka and Mexica realms had religious belief systems which were state oriented. They more closely parallelled the state religions of ancient Rome than Christianity or Islam. See Mann's discussion of Tlacaelel at pp. 118-20. Although Christianity (or its leadership) was more than willing to accomodate itself to the demands of the conquest of the Americas, it could be argued that its reliance on principles that transcended the state allowed for dissent to develop from figures like Bartolome de las Casas. How much practical effect this had may be doubted but it did act as a small check on the rapacity of the conquistadors.

August 30, 1935

2005-08-30T07:26:00.000-07:00

John Phillips of the Mamas and Papas was born on this date. Also, Henri Barbusse, a French author, died on this date. He was noted for his memoir Le Feu, which won the Prix Goncourt. In 1935, the Prix Goncourt was awarded to Joseph Peyre for his book Sang et Lumiere. This book was made into a film in 1953 which starred Zsa Zsa Gabor!

More ivory bill

2005-08-30T05:14:00.000-07:00

Here's something a bit more up to date on the recent ivory bill sightings. One skeptic has a blog which provides considerable detail on his doubts. For a different view, look here.

Cricket

2005-08-29T11:54:00.000-07:00

I read recently that the term "thrilling cricket" is an oxymoron. Perhaps - but the current Ashes test series between England and Australia may defy logic. Currently, and improbably, England leads the series two to one. The Ashes are a venerable series of "test" matches between England and Australia which began in 1877. The "ashes" in question are of a cricket ball used in the Third Test in 1882. Australia won this series in what is described as a "nail biting finish." Here's a description:

"England required 85 to win and it is recorded how Spofforth, during the ten minutes' interval, declared to his compatriots that `this thing can be done'. However, with the score at 51 for 2 and Grace still at the wicket, it looked unlikely. But when Grace was caught at mid-off for 32, the tempo of the game changed. Spofforth and Boyle delivered twelve successive maiden overs and England's target grew more and more elusive. We can imagine the cheers when Lyttleton finally scored a single, but four more maidens followed. Spofforth was not to be denied. England's last 5 wickets could manage only 7 runs and in his final 11 overs the Demon had conceded 2 runs and taken 4 wickets. One of the Australian players, Horan, recalled the tension of the last half hour. In the excitement one spectator `dropped down dead' and another gnawed out pieces from his umbrella handle. The lips of one English batsman as he made his way to the wicket were`ashen grey' and `his throat so parched he could hardly speak'. Clearly the `pressure' of a close Test match finish is not something restricted to the modern era. Spofforth, having taken 14 wickets in the match, was carried shoulder-high to the pavilion. "

If you don't understand all this - then check out this glossary of cricket terms. And for more info on the history of cricket - check here. By the way, I hope to return to the 1960 "tied test" later on.

In any event, in the fourth test of the current series, England very nearly suffered the same fate as their ancestors in 1882, but managed to escape with a victory. The fifth test is scheduled to begin September 8th - so stay tuned!!!

Screech owl

2005-08-29T10:08:00.000-07:00

One of the birds that I was lucky enough to see in Central Park this weekend was an eastern screech-owl. This species was re-introduced into Central Park several years ago. The reintroduction was controversial - as is an ongoing reintroduction of the Bald Eagle in Inwood Park. Here is some information regarding the screech owl reintroduction. I want to add here that I've met Robert DeCandido on several occasions in the park. He's always been very gracious and helpful to me and leads well attended bird walks in Central Park every weekend. It should be possible to debate the propriety of bird re-introductions without getting bogged down in personalities but the world isn't always like that, is it?

Ivory Bill lore

2005-08-29T09:41:00.000-07:00

Here is probably the best ivory bill woodpecker story ever - from Alexander Wilson:

"The first place I observed this bird at, when on my way to the south, was about twelve miles north of Wilmington in North Carolina. There I found the bird from which the drawing of the figure in the plate was taken. This bird was only wounded slightly in the wing, and on being caught, uttered a loudly reiterated, and most piteous note, exactly resembling the violent crying of a young child; which terrified my horse so, as nearly to have cost me my life. It was distressing to hear it. I carried it with me in the chair, under cover, to Wilmington. In passing trhough the streets, its affecting cries surprised every one within hearing, particularly the females, who hurried to the doors and windows with looks of alarm and anxiety. I drove on, and on arriving at the piazza of the hotel, where I intended to put up, the landlord came forward, and a number of other persons who happened to be there, all equally alarmed at what they heard; this was greatly increased by my asking, whether he could furnish me with accommmodations for myself and my baby. The man looked blank and foolish, while the ohers stared with still greater astonishment. After diverting myself for a minute or two at their expense, I drew my woodpecker from under the cover, and a general laugh took place. I took him up stairs and locked him up in my room, while I went to see my horse taken care of. In less than an hour I returned, and, on opening the door, he set up the same distressing shout, which now appeared to proceed from grief that he had been discovered in his attempts at escape. He had mounted along the side of the window, nearly as high as the ceiling, a little below which he had begun to break through. The bed was covered with large pieces of plaster; the lath was exposed for at least fifteen inches square, and a hole, large enough to admit the fist, opened to the weather-boards; so that, in less than another hour he would certainly have succeeded in making his way through. I now tied a sting round his leg, and, fastening it to the table, again left him. I wished to preseve his life, and had gone off in search of suitable food for him. As I reascended the stairs, I hears him again hard at work, and on entering had the mortification to perceive that he had almost entiredly ruined the mahogany table to which he was fastened, and on which he had wreakd his whole vengeance. While engaged in taking the drawing, he cut me severely in several places, and, on the whole, displayed such a noble and uconquerable spirit, that I was frequently trempted to restore him to his native woods. He lived with me nearly three days, but refused all sustenance, and I witness his death with regret."

Here's Audubon's entry on the bird in Birds of America.

Roberta 3

2005-08-29T09:17:00.000-07:00

I've been watching Roberta again and I'm reminded of some of the reasons why I admire the "I'll Be Hard to Handle" dance number. Ginger dances beautifully in this number and arches her back gracefully at several points in dance. The dance ends exquisitely with a seemingly improvised drop into chairs at the side of the dance floor. Arlene Croce put it much better:

"'I'll be hard to handle' is the big event of the film, the number in which 'Fred and Ginger' become fixed screen deities. The wonderful secret they seemed to share in 'The Continental' becomes here a magical rapport that is sustained through what looks like sheerest improvisation. It begins with some light banter punctuated by dance breaks, continues with music and more dance breaks - tap conversation with each other taking eight-bar 'sentences' (his growing more impudent, hers more indignant) - and ends in a chain of turns across the floor and a flop into two chairs."

In his biography of Astaire, Tim Satchell says that in Roberta "for the first time, Astaire arranged that the dance sequences would be shot to his own specifications, with several cameras shooting one dance from several different angles and a whole sequence shot in one take, so that after editing there would be a continuity of movement on film."

Benny Green makes an excellent point about the democratic aspects of Roberta and other Astaire films. "The audience watching [Busby] Berkeley was dreaming of life in a never-never land; when it watched Fred and Ginger it was dreaming of its own existence."

1935 (3)

2005-08-29T09:06:00.000-07:00

1935 wasn't notable for Goodman solely because of the concert at the Palomar ballroom. Goodman is today remembered for performing with an integrated band and smaller groups. That practice began in 1935:

"In 1935, Benny Goodman And His Orchestra played the Congress Hotel in Chicago. The band included such outstanding musicians as Krupa on drums; Jess Stacy, piano; Nate Kabier, trumpet; Hymie Shertzer, alto sax; Art Rollini, tenor sax; Allen Reuss, guitar; Harry Goodman (Bennys brother), bass; and Helen Ward, one of the best big band vocalists. Earlier, Goodman had made some trio recordings using Krupa and pianist Teddy Wilson earlier that had sold well. Helen Oakley, later Helen Oakley Dance, encouraged him to feature Wilson (a Black man) in the trio at the hotel. Eventually, Goodman was persuaded that featuring such a racially mixed group was not a recipe for disaster, and when the occasion passed without public comment, (except for musical plaudits), Wilson was soon became a regular member of the Goodman trio. In 1936, Benny added Lionel Hampton to form the Benny Goodman Quartet. Though this was not the first integrated Jazz group, it, by far, had the highest profile."

1935 Again

2005-08-29T07:25:00.000-07:00

August 21st was the 70th anniversary of Benny Goodman's famous concert at the Palomar Ballroom in Los Angeles. Here's one description of the concert:

"Six months later, MCA booked Benny's orchestra for a coast- to-coast tour which turned out to be dismally unsuccessful until the band reached the Palomar Ballroom in Los Angeles, CA. Several times during the tour, MCA considered cancelling the remainder. The tour was absolutely unsuccessful until the very last date at the Palomar Ballroom. There Goodman found "his" audience. The kids went completely wild over Goodman's 'swing' sound. That day, Goodman''s invention, the 'big band swing' sound, swept over the world. When Benny brought the orchestra back to New York's Paramount Theatre, the kids were actually dancing in the aisles. "Bobbysox-ers" were invented and "jitterbugs" became endemic. Benny Goodman was crowned as the King of Swing, a title he held for the rest of his life (very deservedly). "

1935

2005-08-29T06:58:00.000-07:00

Seventy years ago. This was the year Roberta (see below) was released and perhaps Year One in the Swing Era. As the year goes by, I'll note important events in 1935 on their anniversaries. Queen Astrid of Belgium died in a car accident on this date in 1935.

In addition to Roberta, films released in 1935 include The 39 Steps, A Night at the Opera, Mutiny on the Bounty and Top Hat. Perhaps, we'll take these up in later entries. Finally, to close and just for fun - can you name this song?

I'll be hard to handle.
I promise you that.
And if you complain
Here's one little Jane that will leave you flat.
I'll be hard to handle.
What else can I be?
Just ask my Dad the trouble he had controlling me.

I have faults. To be specific,
In a temper, oooh, I'm terrific.
I throw chairs and tables and I never miss.
Ohhh... I'm as cold as in a shell fish.I tell lies.
I'm mean. I'm selfish.
Think it over. My warning is this:
I'll be hard to handle.
I'm making it plain.
Now just be a dear
And scram out of here, 'cause I'm going to raise Cain.

(unintelligible Polish babbling)

I'm as cold as in a shell fish.
I tell lies.
I'm mean. I'm selfish.
Think it over.
My warning is...If you want to be sveet, huh!

Biography

2005-08-29T06:50:00.000-07:00

These are some folks who, in my view, deserve excellent biographies in English: Bernardino de Sahagun, Rosalie Edge, Lazaro Cardenas, John Bachman (of whom we've already heard) and Fred Astaire. I'll try to provide more on each in the weeks to come.

Passenger pigeon

2005-08-29T04:57:00.000-07:00

While the Ivory billed woodpecker may have resurfaced, it does not appear likely that the passenger pigeon will do so. Audubon gave the most unforgettable description of these birds:

"The multitudes of Wild Pigeons in our woods are astonishing. Indeed, after having viewed them so often, and under so many circumstances, I even now feel inclined to pause, and assure myself that what I am going to relate is fact. Yet I have seen it all, and that too in the company of persons who, like myself, were struck with amazement. In the autumn of 1813, I left my house at Henderson, on the banks of the Ohio, on my way to Louisville. In passing over the Barrens a few miles beyond Hardensburgh, I observed the Pigeons flying from north-east to south-west, in greater numbers than I thought I had ever seen them before, and feeling an inclination to count the flocks that might pass within the reach of my eye in one hour, I dismounted, seated myself on an eminence, and began to mark with my pencil, making a dot for every flock that passed. In a short time finding the task which I had undertaken impracticable, as the birds poured in in countless multitudes, I rose, and counting the dots then put down, found that 163 had been made in twenty-one minutes. I travelled on, and still met more the farther I proceeded. The air was literally filled with Pigeons; the light of noon-day was obscured as by an eclipse, the dung fell in spots, not unlike melting flakes of snow; and the continued buzz of wings had a tendency to lull my senses to repose."

Alexander Wilson commented on these birds in similar terms:

"But the most remarkable characteristic of these birds is their associating together, both in their migrations, and also during the period of incubation, in such prodigious numbers as almost to surpass belief, and which has no parallel among any other of the feathered tribes on the face of the earth with which naturalists are acquainted."

Now, however, in his new book 1491, Charles Mann reports that these observations may have reflected an anomalous situation that arose as a result of the arrival of Europeans in the Americas. Mann is reporting on the findings of various researchers, which are reported here. This is the substance of Mann's argument, which can be found at pp. 315-18 in his book. Indians and passenger pigeons competed for the same foods: mast (acorns, beechnuts, chestnuts, etc.) and maize. Thus, Indians would have had a strong motive to hunt passenger pigeons. And the birds were notoriously easy to hunt. Audubon described such a hunt:

"Suddenly there burst forth a general cry of "Here they come!" The noise which they made, though yet distant, reminded me of a hard gale at sea, passing through the rigging of a close-reefed vessel. As the birds arrived and passed over me, I felt a current of air that surprised me. Thousands were soon knocked down by the pole-men. The birds continued to pour in. The fires were lighted, and a magnificent, as well as wonderful and almost terrifying, sight presented itself. The Pigeons, arriving by thousands, alighted everywhere, one above another, until solid masses were formed on the branches all round. Here and there the perches gave way under the weight with a crash, and, falling to the ground, destroyed hundreds of the birds beneath, forcing down the dense groups with which every stick was loaded. It was a scene of uproar and confusion. I found it quite useless to speak, or even to shout to those persons who were nearest to me. Even the reports of the guns were seldom heard, and I was made aware of the firing only by seeing the shooters reloading."

However, Mann notes, very few bones of passenger pigeons are present at Indian settlement sites which have been excavated by archaeologists. In contrast, bones of seventy two other bird species are found at such sites. The conclusion reached by some researchers, therefore, is that Indians did not hunt passenger pigeons because they did not need to do so - inasmuch as populations of the pigeon were much lower before European contact. The huge numbers of pigeons Audubon saw are described by one archaeologist as "outbreak populations - always a symptom of an extraordinarily disrupted ecological system."

How does this square with the widely accepted view that the passenger pigeon survived only because it was able to gather in large flocks. The reproductive rate of the bird was low and it was highly vulnerable to predation. As one source puts it:

"By the early 1890s the passenger pigeon had almost completely disappeared. It was now too late to protect them by passing laws. In 1897 a bill was introduced in the Michigan legislature asking for a ten-year closed season on passenger pigeons. This was a completely futile gesture as the birds still surviving, as lone individuals, were too few to reestablish the species. The passenger pigeon's technique of survival had been based on mass tactics. There had been safety in its large flocks which often numbered hundreds of thousands of birds. When a flock of this size established itself in an area, the number of local animal predators (such as wolves, foxes, weasels, and hawks) was so small compared to the total number of birds that little damage could be inflicted on the flock as a whole."

Moreover, these accounts link the decline of species to the reduction in the size of the forest which occurred after European settlement of the Americas.

"Because the passenger pigeon congregated in such huge numbers, it needed large forests for its existence. When the early settlers cleared the eastern forests for farmland, the birds were forced to shift their nesting and roosting sites to the forests that still remained. As their forest food supply decreased, the birds began utilizing the grain fields of the farmers. The large flocks of passenger pigeons often caused serious damage to the crops, and the farmers retaliated by shooting the birds and using them as a source of meat. However, this did not seem to seriously diminish the total number of birds. The notable decrease of passenger pigeons started when professional hunters began netting and shooting the birds to sell in the city markets. Although the birds always had been used as food to some extent, even by the Indians, the real slaughter began in the 1800s. "

Audubon himself speculated that forest reduction would endanger the species:

"Persons unacquainted with these birds might naturally conclude that such dreadful havoc would soon put an end to the species. But I have satisfied myself, by long observation, that nothing but the gradual diminution of our forests can accomplish their decrease, as they not unfrequently quadruple their numbers yearly, and always at least double it. In 1805 I saw schooners loaded in bulk with Pigeons caught up the Hudson river, coming in to the wharf at New York, when the birds sold for a cent a piece. I knew a man in Pennsylvania, who caught and killed upwards of 500 dozens in a clap-net in one day, sweeping sometimes twenty dozens or more at a single haul. In the month of March 1830, they were so abundant in the markets of New York, that piles of them met the eye in every direction. I have seen the Negroes at the United States' Salines or Saltworks of Shawanee Town, wearied with killing Pigeons, as they alighted to drink the water issuing from the leading pipes, for weeks at a time; and yet in 1826, in Louisiana, I saw congregated flocks of these birds as numerous as ever I had seen them before, during a residence of nearly thirty years in the United States."

But an interesting observation is provided by our old friend Bachman. Audubon quotes him as follows:

My friend Dr. BACHMAN says, in a note sent to me, "In the more cultivated parts of the United States, these birds now no longer breed in communities. I have secured many nests scattered throughout the woods, seldom near each other. Four years ago, I saw several on the mountains east of Lansinburgh, in the State of New York. They were built close to the stems of thin but tall pine trees (Pinus strobus), and were composed of a few sticks; the eggs invariably two, and white. There is frequently but one young bird in the nest, probably from the loose manner in which it has been constructed, so that either a young bird or an egg drops out. Indeed, I have found both at the foot of the tree. This is no doubt accidental, and not to be attributed to a habit which the bird may be supposed to have of throwing out an egg or one of its young. I have frequently taken two of the latter from the same nest and reared them. The Wild Pigeons appear in Carolina during winter at irregular periods, sometimes in cold, but often in warm weather, driven here no doubt, as you have mentioned, not by the cold, but by a failure of mast in the western forests."

Perhaps what Bachman observed was a reversion to nesting habits that had been followed by the pigeon before European settlement.

Memin Pinguin

2005-08-26T04:31:00.000-07:00

Memin Pinguin vaulted to prominence in June of this year when the Mexican government issued a series of postage stamps with his image. There's a website still offering the set for sale although word is that the issue rapidly sold out. Memin is a comic-book character whose career began in the 1940s. He has the stereotypical "darky" features common in caricatures produced in the United States until the 1960s and 1970s and his mother closely resembles an "Aunt Jemima" character.

Memin is poor and works shining shoes and selling newspapers. The comics feature his adventures with his friends, who are also street children. When I was in Mexico recently, I found the comic books for sale as well as t-shirts and dolls. The recent controversy regarding Memin undoubtedly has spurred sales of these items.

The issuance of the postage stamps resulted, predictably, in criticism of the Mexican government by leading figures in the U.S. civil rights movement, including organizations such as LULAC. However, the Mexican government defended the stamps on the grounds that the character was not intended to be racist and was much beloved, particularly by poor and working class Mexicans. A spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that criticism of the stamps was based on "a total lack of knowledge of our culture."

In an article which appeared in the Washington Post on July 12, 2005, Enrique Krauze, a well-known Mexican historian, defended the stamps. He began by noting that, unlike the United States, Mexico had two presidents of "Native American" origin - Benito Juarez and Porfirio Diaz. Krauze goes on to describe the image of Memin as understood by most Mexicans:

"he is a thoroughly likable character, rich in sparkling wisecracks, and is felt to represent not any sense of racial discrimination but rather the egalitarian possibility that all groups can live together in peace. "

Krauze goes on to describe the history of Africans in Mexico in benign terms. They "could buy their freedom and give birth to children who were in turn free to marry anyone of any racial origin." He goes on:

"To be sure, within the society of New Spain , they and their descendants . . . were not admitted to certain occupations and offices limited to people of pure-blooded Spanish descent. But they could work freely in tropical agriculture and skilled occupations, especially as blacksmiths, painters, sculptors, carpenters, candle-makers and singers in the churches. In the colonial society of New Spain, men and women of color mixed easily with the rest of the population."

Really? The history of New Spain is replete with efforts to segregate Africans from Indians and mestizos and to classify individuals by caste depending on their ethnic or racial background. Moreover, colonial rulers lived in constant fear of revolt by Africans or Indians or, worst of all, some combination of the two. In the seventeenth century, three major uprisings did occur. It is true, however, that legal restrictions on contact between Africans and Indians and other groups were often ineffectual. But Africans definitely occupied a social niche below those of other groups.

As Ilona Katzew notes in Casta Painting

"Africans . . . were brought to the New World as slaves and were in theory situated on the lowest echelons of society; they worked as domestic servants for the Spaniards and as laborers on the sugar plantations, mines and estates. Africans were considered a homogenous group with no rights, and were redeemable only on an individual level, once they had proven their loyalty to the church and their masters. In practice, however, Spaniards often preferred Africans to Indians and employed them to oversee Indian labor."

While Krauze notes the "freedom" of Africans to work in agricultural labor, sugar plantations and mines were undoubtedly hellish places.

In an article available online entitled "Casta Painting: Identity and Social Stratification in Colonial Mexico" Kastew elaborates on the situation of Africans in the social hierarchy:

"While intermarriage among the three groups did not become common until the second half of the seventeenth century, sexual contact among Spaniards, Indians, and Blacks occurred as early as the sixteenth century. This resulted in the growth of a large group of racially-mixed people known collectively as castas-the general term used by Spaniards and creoles (Spaniards born in the Americas) to distinguish themselves from the large masses of racially-mixed people. By the end of the eighteenth century, approximately one quarter (25.4 percent) of the total population of Mexico was racially mixed.From the sixteenth century on a variety of names served to designate the different castas of Mexico. The most widely used terms were those referring to the mixtures between the three main groups: mestizo (Spanish-Indian), mulatto (Spanish-Black), and zambo or zambaigo (Black-Indian). In the seventeenth century two additional terms appeared: castizo (a light-skinned mestizo) and morisco (a light-skinned mulatto). By the eighteenth century a whole array of fanciful terms had been devised to refer to the different castas and their offspring."

She goes on to add:

"Although most of these terms were clearly not applicable in ordinary communication, they suggest a basic principle: Spanish or white blood is redeemable; Black is not. In other words, while the purity of Spanish blood was inextricably linked to the idea of "civilization," Black blood, bearing the stigma of slavery, connoted atavism and degeneracy."

In short, the reality is more complex than that portrayed by Krauze. There was considerable intermarriage despite official disapproval. But the prevailing ideology in colonial New Spain was racist.

Modern Mexicans, however, see themselves as the heirs not of the Spanish colonialists but of the castas. And, the argument goes, inasmuch as the castas included descendants of Africans brought to New Spain, how can Mexicans be racist? They are themselves the descendants of African slaves. Moreover, most Mexicans have never encountered people who consider themselves "Afro-Mexican".

But Afro-Mexicans exist. However, they are a small minority and live largely in the coastal states of Veracruz,Geurrero and Oaxaca. Perhaps not surprisingly, they complain of continuing discrimination and neglect.

"This is the one community that is not recognised nationally. Indigenous groups are worse off in many ways, but at least they are paid lip service," said Bobby Vaughn, an African-American anthropologist who specialises in the Costa Chica [where many Afro-Mexicans live]. "Mexicans of African descent have no voice and the government makes no attempt to assess their needs, no effort to even count them."

At least one person interviewed by the Guardian for its story on Afro-Mexicans continues to believe in the old Spanish theory of purity of the blood:

"Pointing out the natural beauty around him with understated head gestures, Mr. Garcia pronounces: "I like being black."
But his pride in the colour of his skin soon runs up against a jarring contradiction. He says he is happy that the number of mixed marriages in his community is rising fast. "That's a good thing," the fisherman says, "it improves the race, cleans the blood."

There is a great deal to be said for the notion of Mexico as a mestizo country where the racial and ethnic barriers created by the Spanish conquerors have been eroded by intermarriage and tolerance. But Mexico is no longer, if it ever was, an isolated society. There are 20 million Mexican expatriates, most living in the United States. Mexican radio and television are pervaded by programming which originates in the U.S. I visited a shopping mall near Mexico City which could easily be transplanted to suburban St. Louis with few changes in the names of stores or the merchandise offered.

Thus many Mexicans have contact, either personally, or through the media, with African-American communities and personalities. It is unfair to judge from my limited contacts, but in private conversations, I have encountered Mexicans who were free of racial bias and others who would fit in quite comfortably at a Klan meeting in Alabama in 1963. As the Guardian article indicates, old concepts of racial purity have not disappeared and racism of the U.S. variety is undoubtedly alive and well in Mexico today.

Moreover, stereotypes do not have have to be exclusively negative to be demeaning or offensive. Many white Americans doubtless felt an attraction to the character of Aunt Jemima - after all, she was used as a sympathetic figure to market products for many years. But she was a demeaning stereotype as well. Is it any any wonder that blacks might regard a poorly educated street child with caricature features as an offensive stereotype also?

This is often the case with ethnic or racial stereotypes, e.g., Indian team mascots. Some people, including the mascots themselves, feel that the figure expresses esteem or pride, while others regard it as offensive or demeaning. In such a case, whose perception should control? In most cases, we accept that the feelings of the group being portrayed be given primacy. In short, it is not just the intention of the author of the image which determines whether an expression or character is offensive.

A final point in response to Krauze. Mexico is filled with images - murals, statues, monuments - which glorify its indigenous heritage. But the reality is that indigenous people continue to cling firmly to the lowest social and economic rung in Mexico. A recent World Bank study indicates that almost ninety percent of Mexico's indigenous population lives in poverty and 68.5% live in extreme poverty. The rate for non-indigenous Mexicans is 15%.

Moreover, the fact that two presidents of Mexico were indigenous is of little relevance. The French made Leon Blum prime minister in the 1930s - a few years before the Vichy regime barred Jews from most professions and then helped the Nazis deport them to concentration camps. Is the U.S. - which has never had a Jewish president - more or less anti-semitic than France?

In fact, if Mexico really cherishes its image as a country where racial and ethnic tolerance flourishes, it gains little by clinging to official glorification of Memin Pinguin. It's time to say a fond "adios" to Memin.

Roberta 2

2005-08-25T11:19:00.000-07:00

More on the Alice Duer Miller connection to this film. I have to admit that I hadn't considered - male chauvinist that I am - that the film features several women in professional roles. Aunt Minnie is the owner of the eponymous shop; Stephanie is her capable assistant and designer without whom the shop will come to ruin (even when owned by a man) and Lizzie Gatz is the unattached woman entertainer, negotiating for Astaire and his band with the cafe owner.

More Bachman

2005-08-25T06:11:00.000-07:00

One of the warblers that has been seen recently in Central and Prospect Park is the chestnut-sided warbler. Even I've seen this bird. As you can see from the link, the bird has a much different appearance in the fall (typically as a juvenile) than it does in the spring.

These differences between breeding and non-breeding and adult and juvenile plumage created real problems for early ornithologists who operated without the benefit of binoculars and the ability to observe birds on their breeding grounds. Audubon describes the chestnut-sided warbler in Birds of America but notes:

Where this species goes to breed I am unable to say, for to my inquiries on this subject I never received any answers which might have led me to the districts resorted to by it. I can only suppose, that if it is at all plentiful in any portion of the United States, it must be far to the northward, as I ransacked the borders of Lake Ontario, and those of Lakes Erie and Michigan, without meeting with it.

In fact, according to the Cornell Ornithology Lab, this bird now breeds as far south as northern Georgia. Its range may have expanded in the 19th century because it favors successional or second growth forests, which likely proliferated in the aftermath of logging and farm abandonment. The illustration which Audubon made of the bird is only of the adult in breeding plumage which suggests he may not have recognized the juvenile as belonging to the same species.

A celebrated example of Audubon's confusion of an immature bird with a separate species is the so-called "Bird of Washington" - an eagle which Audubon believed to constitute a separate species but which most ornithologists today believe was an immature Bald Eagle. In his book Natural History in America, Wayne Hanley criticizes Bachman for defending Audubon on this point. Hanley states:

"Washington's Eagle (Falco washingtonii) proved to be nothing more than an immature bald eagle. Audubon, however, defended Falco washingtonii as a valid species for the remainder of his life. "

Well, not so fast. In his excellent new book Under a Wild Sky, William Souder defends Audubon. He notes that Audubon observed a breeding pair of the bird and that "[b]ald eagles tending a brood would have had the characteristic white heads [of an adult bird]." He also notes that Audubon painted the Washington's Eagle and that the painting was done to life size. Souder measured the painting and found that the depicted bird's length, toes and folded wings all substantially exceeded in size those of a juvenile bald eagle. As Souder says:

"What about the chance that Audubon was right - that the bird he shot and drew actually was a separate species, possibly a rare individual from a remnant population that was in the process of going extinct."

The next Ivory Billed Woodpecker?

Roberta

2005-08-24T13:50:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow, TCM will show Roberta - my favorite of the Rogers/Astaire musicals. Here's an excellent synopsis/review of the film.

I like the film because:
1) The film is about pretense and how it's transcended by talent and effort. Or maybe it's about role confusion. Take your pick. The cafe owner won't hire Fred's band because they're not "Indians" - they're Indianians. He wants a more exotic group. That's why he has Lizzie Gatz singing for him under the nom de chanteuse Countess Sharvenka. As Lizzie puts it, "You've got to have a title to croon over here." As a result of "Sharvenka's" threats - and the band's undoubted ability - Fred and the Indianians wind up performing at the Cafe.

On the other side of the ledger, Stephanie (Irene Dunne) is a Russian aristocrat who is working as the capable assistant and fashion designer at Roberta's. Her cousin - a Russian prince - is the doorman of the establishment. Roberta's, of couse, is simply the most fashionable couturier in all Paris.

Roberta herself is the midwestern-born "Aunt Minnie" of Jack Kent (Randolph Scott). And the film has great fun which the notion that Jack - a football player from the U.S. - must run Roberta's after Aunt Minnie dies and leaves him the place. No one is more scornful of Jack's ability to do this than his erstwhile girlfriend Sophie Teale (Claire Dodd). Of course, Jack has the good sense to dump Sophie (a pretentious twit who aspires to a role she can't attain) and winds up with Stephanie. And Fred and Ginger, who were childhood sweethearts, wind up together, effortlessly.

2) The film features the best dance that Fred and Ginger did together - "I'll Be Hard to Handle". The dance is staged as an improptu contest/courtship between the two in the cafe during rehearsals. Perhaps I like the dance because Ginger is in pants. I don't know what that means on a deeper level, but the absence of elaborate costumes (for either dancer) seems to free the dance to be more joyous, spontaneous and expressive than any of their other work. Of course, the irony is that this occurs in a film where the title establishment is a fashion shop.

3) The film features one of the most swinging numbers in the Astaire/Rogers films - "I Won't Dance". Actually this number wasn't in the play from which the film is adapted. It was interpolated from "The Three Sisters". According to Larry Billman, Astaire wanted to use the song in The Gay Divorcee but RKO would not buy it. He plays the piano at the opening of the song and is later joined by Hal Borne - who often worked as an arranger for Astaire.

Kern was often criticized for his inability to create arrangements that swing. I don't know who arranged "I Won't Dance" but if Kern did so he proved the critics wrong this time. In 1935, when the film was released, swing was just beginning to take off commercially. This song certainly showed its potential.

4) This movie, unlike the two that preceded it - and Top Hat which followed it - has no big dance production number. These extravaganzas are the antithesis of what Astaire and Rogers did best - their eloquence, grace and intimacy. (Although the "Carioca" number in Flying Down to Rio is fun to watch). The film does have a fashion show at the end - featuring an early screen appearance by Lucille Ball. But this is capped by a glorious coda of dance by Astaire and Rogers to "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" and a reprise of "I Won't Dance".

5) The film is based on a book by the aforementioned Alice Duer Miller.

In short, it's a great movie. Watch it!

Turtle frolic 2

2005-08-24T09:27:00.000-07:00

For more on diamondback terrapins at Jamaica Bay, check out this website.

Waterfront

2005-08-24T07:50:00.000-07:00

I am going to try to keep a record in this blog of my reading. I've just finished Waterfront by Phillip Lopate. The book is an informal survey of the history and future prospects of the Manhattan waterfront. I thought it was a worthwhile read, although the author's excursions into his personal history did not feel connected to the narrative or the theme of the work. Nonetheless, there were parts of the book that were illuminating. For instance, Lopate includes an extensive discussion of Westway. I wasn't living in New York when the project was being discussed - and litigated - and I was only vaguely aware of the issues involved. Lopate makes a good case for the proposed tunnel/highway and how it would have improved access to the waterfront. Indeed, the decision to encircle Manhattan with coastal highways has clearly been vitally important for the current status and future of the city's waterfront. Unfortunately, aside from his discussion of Westway, Lopate does not give us much detail as to how or why this occurred.

Lopate also attempts to reassess - favorably - the legacy of Robert Moses. It's an interesting discussion and it made me consider - briefly - reading Caro's biography. But this section - like several others - had the feel of an attempt to be deliberately contrarian.

Finally, I admired Lopate's tribute to New York City's public housing. Public housing is no longer a hot topic politically. Indeed, the current political climate disdains such government intervention in the market. The idea that government - at any level - would build affordable housing on a large scale is not seriously proposed or discussed by any political party. For example, Fernando Ferrer, the leader in most polls for the Democratic nomination for mayor, has advanced a housing policy based on tax incentives and zoning changes to encourage the construction by private developers of affordable housing.

Before I came to New York, I lived in Chicago for nine years. In the 1980s, public housing was a constant news focus in Chicago. Almost all the news was bad. The projects were poorly maintained, riddled by serious crime and delinquency and pervaded by an atmosphere of hopelessness. I was amazed when I arrived in New York and discovered that public housing in this city was not regarded with the same contempt and fear as Chicago. As Lopate notes, New York is unique among major U.S. cities in not having destroyed any of its high rise public housing. Lopate gives several convincing reasons for this. I would add one that Lopate hints at but does not elaborate. The shortage of housing options - particularly affordable ones - has kept working or middle class tenants in the city's public housing projects. In Chicago, working class tenants who became disaffected by public housing often had other options. When I lived in Chicago, I rented a large studio apartment for $400 per month in the early 1990s. When I moved to New York City four years later, I found a rent-stabilized apartment in a neighborhood similar to the one where I had lived in Chicago at four times the Chicago rent. At Chicago rents, even the working poor could afford adequate housing and therefore could, and did, abandon public housing as it began to deteriorate. In New York, a public housing tenant of modest means who is tempted to jump ship faces a housing market now dominated by luxury rentals. As far as I can tell, rent stabilization and rent control are programs which only benefit insiders - those already living in controlled or stabilized buildings. Newcomers must pay market rents which are almost always colossal compared to those in other cities. So the savvy public housing tenant will understand that s/he is giving up one of the best rent stabilization programs still around if s/he leaves public housing. It's little wonder that so few make that choice.

Turtle frolic

2005-08-22T04:03:00.000-07:00

An interesting thread recently on a listserve on early American history involved "turtle frolics." These were apparently feasts which occurred in southern port cities when sea turtles were brought into port alive "towed astern of ships." One writer reports that Prince Hall served turtle feasts in Boston from turtle shells "carried on the shoulders of two black men."

Prince Hall is widely regarded as the founder of black Freemasonry. He was also an early abolitionist and operated a school for black children in his home.

Who could imagine that the arrival of sea turtles would be cause for such rejoicing? Apparently, turtle stew and soup were once an important part of the diet of native peoples and early colonists. One listserve writer noted that snapping turtle soup continues to be served at events sponsored by Delaware Historic Foodways. A big part of the fun is picking the turtle meat from cooked turtles - a la lobster.

Our own local sea turtle, the diamondback terrapin, was once regarded as a delicacy and nearly harvested to extinction in order to provide terrapin stew. As with Prince Hall's feasts, diamondback terrapin was frequently served in the shell, although a special terrapin plate was devised for serving the delicacy. Gen Winfield Scott described terrapin as the "flesh that is honored at feasts of the rich and the brave." Presumably, General Scott included himself in the latter category.

Today, terrapins nest at Jamaica Bay National Wildlife Refuge in Queens (just one subway stop from JFK airport on the fabled A train). They can ferequently be seen nesting on or near the path on the refuge during June and July. Predation from raccoons poses a serious threat to the Jamaica Bay population and as a result volunteers place wire cages over known nests. It's great funs to observe these turtles nesting. Offshore, they poke their heads above the water as they scan the beach to assure that it's safe to come ashore. The turtles dig the nest with their back feet, lay the eggs and then cover - again with the back feet. A nesting turtle can be spooked when digging the nest but will remain - even if humans approach - once she begins laying.

Additional threats to terrapin populations are road kills, pollution and crab traps. Check out www.neoterrapin.com for more information on our local sea turtle.

Alice Duer Miller

2005-08-19T10:47:00.000-07:00

Who is this? Alice Duer Miller was the author of "Gowns by Roberta" - the book on which my favorite Astaire/Rogers musical was based. According to Wikipedia she "wrote mainly light fiction, but dedicated herself also to the problem of women's suffrage." She authored a column for the old New York Tribune which was later turned into a book titled "Are Women People?" This was first published in 1915 and later republished - in 1917 - as "Women Are People!" This book is available on-line through the Gutenberg Project at www.gutenberg.org. Much of this is satirical poetry and the like. Among the better entries is a list of "Why We Oppose Schools for Children" by the Children's Anti-School League. Reason #1: Because education is a burden, not a right.

"Gowns by Roberta" was not the only of Ms. Miller's works to be brought to the screen. The 1948 film "Spring in Park Lane" is based on her 1916 book "Come Out of the Kitchen". I had not heard of this film but it is apparently the fifth most seen film in Britain with an estimated attendance of over twenty million. This is according to a British Film Institute survey. The number one film is, of course, "Gone with the Wind".

John Bachman

2005-08-19T09:34:00.000-07:00

Bachman (1790-1874) was a Lutheran pastor who taught blacks to read when that was criminal in the slave south. He seems to have been an interesting character. Although he educated blacks and they made up a substantial part of his congregation, he supported secession and even served as chaplain at the secession convention in South Carolina. His support for secession and slavery was ironic in view of the fact that Bachman published several papers and a book - "The Doctrine of the Unity of the Human Race" - in which he argued that blacks were not a separate and inferior race. Regrettably, he suffered a serious beating at the hands of Union soldiers as the Civil War drew to close.

His ties to Audubon were quite close. Both of his daughters married into Audubon's family. Audubon's "The Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America" was assembled by Bachman and Audubon and his sons.

Bachman was a founder of Newberry College and the school is hosting a symposium on his life and worrk in April 2006. More information on Bachman is available at www.johnbachman.org.

Bad Birdwatching

2005-08-19T04:59:00.000-07:00

I am a bad birdwatcher - not in the sense of Simon Barnes new book. I'm just bad in the ordinary sense. I can generally see a bird if the species is abundant or common but really good birds almost always elude me. Yesterday, in Central Park, however, I was fortunate to see five warbler species including hooded, worm eating, canada, yellow and redstart. Of course, just to illustrate the above point, I thought that the female hooded was a Wilson's warbler but two excellent birders helpfully told me it was a female hooded. The key field mark was white on the outer edge of the bird's tail. The bird also has the habit of spreading its tail. Now you know!

Audubon repeated a story he had heard from Bachman about a pair of hooded warblers. "A sharp-shinned Hawk suddenly pounced upon them, seized the female, and flew off with her. The male, to my surprise, followed close after the Hawk, flying within a few inches of him, and darting at him in all directions, as if fully determined to make him drop his prey. The pursuit continued thus until the birds were quite out of my sight!."

More Swing Time

2005-08-19T02:53:00.000-07:00

Arlene Croce states that the link between Astaire and Robinson was Dorothy Fields, the lyricist for Swing Time. Fields wrote the lyrics for several songs from the 1935 film "Hooray for Love" (in which Robinson appeared) - including the title number and "I'm Livin in a Great Big Way". Fields also did the lyrics for Roberta. She was the daughter of vaudevillian Lew Fields who later appeared as himself in The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle - the last of the Astaire/Rogers films for RKO. Just thought you'd want to know!

Swing Time 2

2005-08-18T10:02:00.000-07:00

A little more on Swing Time. And Bill Robinson. According to Wikipedia, Robinson coined the term "copacetic" and once danced backwards from Columbus Circle to 44th Street. He was in his sixties at the time. He is also reported as speaking out "against being stereotyped by Hollywood." It would be interesting to know his reaction to Astaire's homage to him in Swing Time.

Eric Blore appears in Swing Time as the manager of a dancing school where Astaire first dances with Rogers - who teaches at the school. In the same year he made Swing Time, Blore appeared in Picadilly Jim - based on the Wodehouse novel. He apparently appears as a butler - his quintessential (right word?) role. A recent film version of this novel was shown at the Tribeca Film Festival this spring and is apparently scheduled for release later this year. Blore, unfortunately, does not appear in Astaire's Damsel in Distress. He appeared in six other films in 1937 - including Shall We Dance with Astaire and Rogers. Perhaps he was too busy to fit Damsel in. I think Damsel is a wonderful picture but it would have benefitted from Blore's presence. By the way, who knew that Damsel was first made into a picture in 1919?

Swing Time

2005-08-18T09:06:00.000-07:00

I have been watching - in between baseball - the new Astaire/Rogers DVDs. Swing Time features a commentary track. Of course, the most disturbing aspect of this film is Astaire's use of blackface in the tribute to Bill Robinson. The dance itself is - like everything else in the film - virtuosic (is that a word?) According to the commentary, it was Astaire's only use of blackface on film and the commentator points out that Astaire used a form of blackface which, by failing to emphasive stereotypic African-American features, was less offensive than others.

Wikipedia reports that blackface was originated in the US in 1789 by an actor "playing the role of an inebriated black man . . .." This seems an inauspicious beginning. In fact, Wikipedia notes that in the mid 19th century, Frederrick Douglass was "one of the first people to write against the institution of blackface minstrelsy, pointing to its racist nature and inauthentic, northern, white origins."

Criticism of figures like Astaire who utilized blackface is often deflected by a claim that is anachronistic. However, if criticism of the practice dates back to at least the mid-19th century, is this valid? Bill Robinson himself performed in blackface but apparently shed the trappings when he toured Canada. Perhaps the use of blackface by performers like Astaire reflects a combination of the expectations of the public with an unwillingness to confront or challenge the meaning of the practice. In any event, Astaire possibly had the choice to engage in the practice or not while Robinson and other black performers likely had no other option if they wished to be accepted by a white audience.

Hello

2005-08-18T07:40:00.000-07:00

The fact that I have a blog is solid proof that anyone can! I intend to use this as a public diary to record the mundane details that I find significant. Likely topics will be bad birdwatching, Fred Astaire, New York city and anything else which comes to mind.