Early To Wed: Teenage Marriage in Postwar America
2013; Johns Hopkins University Press; Volume: 6; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1353/hcy.2013.0032
ISSN1941-3599
Autores Tópico(s)Identity, Memory, and Therapy
Resumon the fall of 1957, Myra Brown began eighth grade in Memphis, Tennessee. She had spent the summer months traveling around the South, watching her father and her older cousin Jerry play in their rock band. Myra had fallen in love with Jerry, and to her surprise, he fell in love with her too. After a few weeks of secret courtship, the pair drove to Hernando, Mississippi, where they married on December 12, 1957. Jerry was twenty-two and Myra was thirteen—so young that she had to lie about her age on the marriage license. When Myra's father learned of his young daughter's marriage, he vowed to kill his new son-in-law and searched for him with a loaded shotgun. His search, however, was unsuccessful, and Jerry Lee Lewis continued his ascent as one of rock 'n' roll's fastest rising stars. Despite her family's objections, the first few months of Myra and Jerry's marriage went smoothly. Myra dropped out of eighth grade to become a housewife, and Jerry rapidly became one of the most influential forces in rock 'n' roll music. His records sold by the millions, his singles Great Balls of Fire and Whole Lotta Shakin topped the charts, and his rousing performances electrified live audiences and television viewers alike. In May of 1958, Jerry traveled to England for a six-week tour with his new wife in tow. It was supposed to be his international breakthrough. When report- ers revealed Myra's age, however, the British public reacted with horror. Fans abandoned the singer, leaving him to play to half-empty auditoriums amid catcalls of baby snatcher and cradle robber. The British Home Office con- sidered expelling Jerry from the country, while the police contemplated charg- ing him with kidnapping. After several unsuccessful shows, Jerry's manager canceled the rest of the tour, and the singer fled London literally chased by an angry mob. Jerry was baffled by England's reaction to his marriage, which seemed unremarkable to the Louisiana native. He had married for the first time at age
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