Cultural History

The Cabaret Trail: 1920s Urban Nightlife in New York, Paris & London

December 8, 2021 by Jaap Harskamp Leave a Comment

On November 30th, St Louis-born entertainer and civil rights activist Josephine Baker became the first Black woman to be inducted into the Pantheon in Paris, the highest honor that France bestows.

Baker had started her career as a young dancer in Vaudeville shows where her exuberant talent was quickly spotted. When she moved to New York City she joined in the festival of black life and art now known as the Harlem Renaissance, but segregation and racism drove her away from home. [Read more…] about The Cabaret Trail: 1920s Urban Nightlife in New York, Paris & London

Andalusian Allure: From Washington Irving to Thomas Edison

December 2, 2021 by Jaap Harskamp 1 Comment

Washington Irving was the son of immigrants. His father was a Presbyterian Scot, his mother Cornish. He was born on April 3rd, 1783, the same week that New Yorkers celebrated the ceasefire that ended the American Revolution. His parents named their son after George Washington. They had settled at 131 William Street, Manhattan, and were part of the city’s merchant class.

Washington began writing letters to the New York Morning Chronicle in 1802. He gained recognition as a satirical author in 1809 with A History of New York using the pseudonym Dietrich Knickerbocker. He riveted readers with his irreverent combination of fact and fancy. [Read more…] about Andalusian Allure: From Washington Irving to Thomas Edison

Political Anecdotes From Historical Newspapers

December 1, 2021 by Maury Thompson Leave a Comment

Trivia clue: She was arrested at the St. Louis fair grounds in 1887 for throwing a pancake at First Lady Frances Cleveland.

Correct response: Who is Annie Sax? – who seemingly had good aim, but made a poor choice of targets. [Read more…] about Political Anecdotes From Historical Newspapers

Yellow Fever, Immunity, and Early New Orleans

November 30, 2021 by Liz Covart Leave a Comment

In 1803, the United States purchased the Louisiana Territory from France. This purchase included the vital port city of New Orleans. But the United States did not just acquire the city’s land, peoples, and wealth – the American government also inherited the city’s Yellow Fever problem.

In this episode of the Ben Franklin’s World podcast, Kathryn Olivarus, author of Necropolis: Disease, Power, and Capitalism in the Cotton Kingdom (Belknap Press, 2022), leads us on an exploration of yellow fever, immunity, and inequality in early New Orleans. [Read more…] about Yellow Fever, Immunity, and Early New Orleans

The Two Thanksgivings of 1871

November 24, 2021 by Herb Hallas 5 Comments

For about a week in 1871, New Yorkers were in a quandary about Thanksgiving. On October 25, New York Governor John T. Hoffman designated Thursday, November 23 as Thanksgiving Day for the state. In his Thanksgiving Day proclamation, the Tammany Hall Democrat urged New Yorkers to spend time on that day to declare “their gratitude to God for all his mercies” and to “remember especially the poor.”

On October 28, President Ulysses S. Grant recommended that the nation observe Thanksgiving a week after the New York Thanksgiving, on Thursday November 30. In his proclamation, the Republican chief executive called for Americans to “make the usual acknowledgments to Almighty God for the blessings he has conferred on them” and ask “His protection and kindness for their less fortunate brethren.”

What was a conscientious, holiday-minded New Yorker supposed to do? Observe the Democratic Thanksgiving on November 23, or the Republican Thanksgiving on November 30, or both? [Read more…] about The Two Thanksgivings of 1871

War Artists’ Tragedy & Farce: The Americanized ‘Temple of War’

November 21, 2021 by Jaap Harskamp 1 Comment

On April 13, 1927, the Thomas Jefferson Association sponsored a reception aboard the SS Paris before the departure of a massive painting from Le Havre to New York’s Pier 57 with the crate containing the art work resting on its deck.

The panoramic “Panthéon de la Guerre” (Temple of War) was heading for Madison Square Garden where it was to be exhibited in aid of the Association (the day of leaving coincided with Jefferson’s birth date).

A spectacular opening night in New York on May 19 was attended by 25,000 people and the show attracted a million visitors in eight weeks. The “Temple” created enormous curiosity. [Read more…] about War Artists’ Tragedy & Farce: The Americanized ‘Temple of War’

Saratoga’s Charles Dowd & The Origin of Eastern Standard Time

November 18, 2021 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

Time is often referred to as a human construct, but time zones are definitely man-made, and they have a direct connection to Charles Dowd of Saratoga Springs and the month of November, when standard time began in 1883, and 21 years later when time ran out for Charles.

Local time once was set by the noon mark. Noon was defined to be the time at which the sun was directly overhead. This meant, for every approximately 69 miles traveled west, the moment of noon differed by four minutes. For example, the clocks in Boston were set about three minutes ahead of clocks in Worcester, MA. [Read more…] about Saratoga’s Charles Dowd & The Origin of Eastern Standard Time

The Cake Walk, Prohibition & John Philip Sousa: Ragtime Wild Paris

November 14, 2021 by Jaap Harskamp Leave a Comment

One of the effects of colonial expansion in the nineteenth century was that museums stopped being exclusively Euro-centered. The mapping of the annexed world was a responsibility of colonial governments which employed scholars to carry out the tasks of collecting and recording. Curators changed their collecting focus.

Works of art from Africa and Pacific Oceania that were looted, stolen or cheaply acquired without concern about provenance, found their way from British, French, Dutch, and Belgian colonial territories to the museums and curiosity shops of Paris, London, Amsterdam, and Brussels. [Read more…] about The Cake Walk, Prohibition & John Philip Sousa: Ragtime Wild Paris

White Supremacy and the Lincoln Assassination

November 12, 2021 by Bob Cudmore Leave a Comment

This week on The Historians Podcast, longtime historian John Rhodehamel, author of America’s Original Sin: White Supremacy, John Wilkes Booth and the Lincoln Assassination (Johns Hopkins Univ. Press, 2021).

Rhodehamel argues that Booth’s primary motivation for his heinous crime was a growing commitment to white supremacy. In alternating chapters, Original Sin shows how, as Lincoln’s commitment to emancipation and racial equality grew, so too did Booth’s rage and hatred for Lincoln, whom he referred to as “King Abraham Africanus the First.” [Read more…] about White Supremacy and the Lincoln Assassination

Historic John Coltrane Home Gets $1M Grant

November 9, 2021 by Editorial Staff 1 Comment

The John and Alice Coltrane Home in the Dix Hills neighborhood of Huntington, on Long Island, NY, was awarded a million dollar grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to support the preservation of the house, enhance organizational capacity, and expand programmatic offerings.

The multi-year grant is expected to be used to support rehabilitation of the home where great works of twentieth-century music were created, and to hire a full-time executive director to lead the project. The home is where jazz saxophonist John Coltrane lived from 1964 until his death in 1967 and in which he composed A Love Supreme. [Read more…] about Historic John Coltrane Home Gets $1M Grant