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Get the Pageant Habit: E. Azalia Hackley's Festivals and Pageants during the First World War Years, 1914–1918

2011; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 34; Issue: 5 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/03007766.2010.521441

1740-1712

Juanita Karpf,

Theater, Performance, and Music History

Abstract Little has been written about patriotic activities in African-American communities during the First World War years, 1914–1918. One of the most important community music leaders during this time period was the soprano Emma Azalia Hackley (1867–1922). Hackley was in Paris at the outbreak of war in 1914 and witnessed the eruption of hostility. After her return to the United States she produced a series of folksong festivals in large metropolitan centers throughout the country. When the United States entered the war in April 1917, she added patriotic songs and military pageantry to her festivals, thereby providing a public forum at which African Americans could join together in celebrations of patriotism. In choosing musical selections for her patriotic events, Hackley drew attention to the beauty of spirituals and the accomplishments of black American composers and musicians. Acknowledgments Appreciation is extended to the anonymous reviewers of this journal for many helpful suggestions and comments. I also wish to thank Sonya Basnight, Gladys Bell, and Elizabeth Evans, The William R. and Norma B. Harvey Library, Hampton University, Hampton, VA; Mary E. Davis, Chair, Department of Music, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH; Joellen ElBashir, Curator of Manuscripts, Moorland Spingarn Research Center, Howard University, Washington, D.C.; Catherine Gick, John Hay Library, Brown University, Providence, RI; Wendy D. Hall, Special Collections, Center for Black Music Research, Columbia College, Chicago, IL; Patrick Kerwin, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.; Diane Lee, Interlibrary Loan, Mudd Library, Oberlin College, Oberlin, OH; Jeffrey Makala, Rare Books and Special Collections, Thomas Cooper Library, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC; Romie Minor, Archivist for Special Collections and Curator, The E. Azalia Hackley Memorial Collection of Negro Music, Dance and Drama, Detroit Public Library, Detroit, MI; Lewis Nielson, Oberlin Conservatory of Music, Oberlin, OH; Jeffrey Quick, Kulas Music Library, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH; Elizabeth Rumics, Special Collections, Mudd Library, Oberlin College, Oberlin, OH; and William Toll, Department of History, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR. Notes [1] Ralph Waldo Tyler (1859–1921) was the only African-American First World War correspondent officially recognized and accredited by the US government (Lorenz 2 Lorenz, Alfred L. 2005. Ralph W. Tyler: The Unknown Correspondent of World War I. Journalism History, 31(1): 2–12. Print[Taylor & Francis Online] , [Google Scholar]). See also "100,000 Negroes", Clark Clark, Kenneth B. 1949. Morale of the Negro on the Home Front: World Wars I and II. The Journal of Negro Education, 12(3): 417–428. Print[Crossref] , [Google Scholar] ("Morale" 417–28), "Doing Our Bit" "Doing Our Bit." Savannah Tribune 29 Dec. 1917: 4. Print [Google Scholar], Hamlett Hamlett, J. Arthur. "The Negro's Loyalty to the Flag." Topeka Plaindealer 18 May 1917: 4. Print [Google Scholar], "How Negroes" "How Negroes Are Helping to Win the War." New York Times 7 July 1918: 58. Print [Google Scholar], Moton Moton, Robert R. "The Patriotism of the Negro Citizen." Outlook 20 Nov. 1918: 451. Print [Google Scholar]; "Negro Doing" "Negro Doing His Bit to Win the War." Savannah Tribune 3 Mar. 1918: 6. Print [Google Scholar] and "See Hampton." "See Hampton Institute: Prominent Speakers to Entertain Throng." Chicago Defender 21 Apr. 1917: 3. Print [Google Scholar] [2] Biographical information about Hackley drawn mostly from Karpf Karpf, Juanita. 1992. "E. Azalia Hackley". In Notable Black American Women, Edited by: Smith, Jessie Carney. 429–34. Detroit: Gale Research. Print [Google Scholar] ("E. Azalia Hackley"). These sources were also consulted: Brevard Brevard, Lisa Pertillar. 2001. A Biography of E. Azalia Hackley (1867–1922), African-American Singer and Social Activist, Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen Press. Print [Google Scholar]; Davenport; Gatewood Gatewood, Willard B. 1990. Aristocrats of Color: The Black Elite, 1880–1920, Bloomington: Indiana UP. Print [Google Scholar]; Lewis Lewis, Ellistine P. "A Profile of Emma Azalia Hackley." In "The E. Azalia Hackley Memorial Collection of Negro Music, Dance, and Drama: A Catalogue of Selected Afro-American Materials." Ph.D. diss., U of Michigan, 1978. 20–53 [Google Scholar] ("Profile"). [3] The Hackleys had no children and were never legally divorced. Edwin Hackley was the founding editor of the newspaper the Denver Statesman, to which Azalia Hackley contributed articles. [4] "Voice culture," now a little-used term, broadly referred to the elements of proper vocal production including correct breathing and diction, needed especially for singing and elocution. [5] In addition to the nearly four months Hackley stayed in Paris in 1914, she also spent considerable time there during 1905–07. [6] Hackley's acceptance into the studios of these renowned teachers confirmed her prodigious talent. Descriptions and analyses of the pedagogical methods Hackley experienced under the tutelage of de Reszke and Shakespeare can be gleaned from Gilliland Gilliland, Dale V. 1993. The Teaching of Jean de Reszke, Minneapolis, MN: Pro Musica Press. Print [Google Scholar], Miller Miller, Richard. 1997. National Schools of Singing: English, French, German and Italian Techniques of Singing Revisited, Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press. Print [Google Scholar] (National 5–6, 32–39, 48–53, 75–77, 96–98, 136–37, 144–46), and Shakespeare Shakespeare, William. 1910. The Art of Singing, Boston, MA: Oliver Ditson. Print [Google Scholar]; see also Hackley Hackley, Emma Azalia. 1909. A Guide in Voice Culture, Philadelphia, PA: author. The E. Azalia Hackley Memorial Collection of Negro Music, Dance and Drama, Detroit Public Library, Detroit, MI. Print [Google Scholar] (Guide). [7] I draw upon discussions of racial uplift ideology, strategies and implementation found in Gaines Gaines, Kevin K. 1996. Uplifting the Race: Black Leadership, Politics, and Culture in the Twentieth Century, Chapel Hill: U of North Carolina P. Print[Crossref] , [Google Scholar] and in James (1 James, Joy. 1997. Transcending the Talented Tenth: Black Leaders and American Intellectuals, New York: Routledge. Print [Google Scholar]–60). For useful analyses of the strategies of other like-minded mediatory contemporaries of Hackley who shared with her a commitment to reconciling Washington's and Du Bois' views, see Moore Moore, Jacqueline M. 2003. Booker T. Washington, W.E.B. Du Bois and the Struggle for Racial Uplift, Wilmington, DE: Scholarly Resources. Print [Google Scholar] (Booker T. Washington 89–113; Leading the Race 187 Moore, Jacqueline M. 1996. 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E-mail correspondence. 17 Dec. 2009 [Google Scholar], the catalog of the Archives of Howard University, Washington, D.C., lists Decennial Brief, in which Miller's MillerKelly "The Effect of the European War upon the Colored Race." The Decennial Brief of the Mu-So-Lit Club of Washington, D.C., 12 Nov. 1915: n.p. Print [Google Scholar] essay "Effect" appeared, but the publication may be permanently lost (E-mail correspondence). William Toll Toll, William. E-mail correspondence. 17 Dec. 2009. Department of History, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR [Google Scholar] has been unable to locate his copy of, or his notes on, Miller's essay (E-mail correspondence). [10] Delsarte (44 Delsarte, Walter W. 1919. The Negro, Democracy and the War, Detroit, MI: Wolverine. Print [Google Scholar]–46) expressed similar opinions. Useful analyses of these viewpoints can be found in ("'Closing Ranks'" 92–124; "W.E.B. Du Bois" 1584–90), Fabre (46 Fabre, Michel. 1991. From Harlem to Paris: Black American Writers in France, 1840–1980, Urbana: U of Illinois P. Print [Google Scholar]–62), Smith Smith, Shane A. 2008. The Crisis in the Great War: W.E.B. Du Bois and His Perception of African-American Participation in World War I. The Historian, 70: 239–62. Print[Taylor & Francis Online] , [Google Scholar] ("Crisis"), and Wolters (108 Wolters, Raymond. 2002. Du Bois and His Rivals, Columbia: U of Missouri P. Print [Google Scholar]–42). [11] Hymns written by Bradbury still current in US hymnals include: "He leadeth me," "Jesus loves me," "Just as I am without one plea," "Savior, like a shepherd lead me," and "Sweet hour of prayer." [12] R[ichard] W. Seager (1832–1913) assumed the expired copyright of Esther in 1874 and republished Bradbury's score with a lengthy appended essay that outlined instructions for performing Esther as staged musical theater. [13] Freund also printed Hackley's widely distributed publicity photo and the only known image of her seated with her Harlem Chorus (J.A.H. J.A.H. 1917. Serious Purpose Is Revealed in Work of Colored Singers. Musical America, 26: 13 Print [Google Scholar]). See also Clark Clark, Kenneth B. 1917. Community Music Moves Throng to Patriotic Fervor. Musical America, 26(1): 1–2. Print [Google Scholar] ("Community Music") and Stanley ("Mobilizing" Stanley, May. 1917. Mobilizing the Musical Forces of America. Musical America, 26(4): 3–4. Print [Google Scholar]; "Musicians" Stanley, May. 1917. Musicians, Your Country Needs You to Help Inspire 'the First 500,000'. Musical America, 26(5): 11 Print [Google Scholar]). [14] Hackley's considerable support for gifted African-American musicians included her Foreign Scholarship Program, for which she raised money to enable artists to study in Europe. In addition to Cook, Diton and White, Hackley sponsored soprano Florence Mildred Cole [Talbert] (1890–1961), soprano Eliza Thompkins Dishman, violinist Harrison Emanuel, pianist Bertha Allena Hansbury [Phillips] (1888–1966), violinist Edwin Frances Hill, soprano Frances E. Robinson, violinist Bessie Williams [Dones] (1890–1985), and pianist Myrtle Mae Williams; see Hackley Hackley, Emma Azalia. "The Foreign Scholarship". In 1908. Documentary: Negro Music and Musicians, Edited by: La Brew, Arthur R. Detroit: author. 1969. The E. Azalia Hackley Memorial Collection of Negro Music, Dance and Drama, Detroit Public Library, Detroit, MI. Print [Google Scholar] ("Foreign Scholarship"). Du Bois Du Bois, W. E. B. 1909. Efforts for Social Betterment among Negro Americans, Atlanta, GA: Atlanta UP. Print[Crossref] , [Google Scholar] applauded her philanthropic initiatives (Efforts 107–08). [15] W. E. B. Du Bois and Davis-Dubois had a close personal and professional relationship and Du Bois admired her work. She eventually joined the editorial staff of Crisis; see Lewis Lewis, David Levering. 2000. W.E.B. Du Bois: The Fight for Equality and the American Century, New York: H. Holt. Print [Google Scholar] (W.E.B. Du Bois 270–71). [16] African-American newspapers regularly referred to Washington as the "Tuskegee Wizard"; for example, see "After Five Years Tuskegee Wizard Strongly Condemns Lynching." "After Five Years Tuskegee Wizard Strongly Condemns Lynching." Indianapolis Freeman 19 Mar. 1904. 1. Print [Google Scholar] Hackley Hackley, Emma Azalia. 1916. Colored Girl Beautiful, Kansas City: Burton. Print [Google Scholar] summarized many of her political, moral, social, and pedagogical views in Colored Girl Beautiful, a book based upon talks she gave at historically black institutions, including Tuskegee Institute (now University). [17] Primary source information on the pageantry movement can be found in issues of the Bulletin Bulletin (American Pageant Association), 53 (1 Dec. 1917). Print [Google Scholar]. The American Pageant Association outlined its goals and described the pageant genre and its variants in Bulletin Bulletin (American Pageant Association) 58 (15 Sept. 1918). Print [Google Scholar] 53 (1 Dec. 1917): 1. [18] Unfortunately little documentation survives about Hackley's earliest patriotic pageants. [19] Camp Gordon was established in 1917 as a temporary training facility to accommodate huge numbers of African-American enlistees. It is no longer standing, but a State Historical Marker designates the former location of the camp just inside the main entrance to the DeKalb-Peachtree Airport in Atlanta. [20] In his study of black cultural identity, Levine (162 Levine, Lawrence W. 1977. Black Culture and Black Consciousness: Afro-American Folk Thought from Slavery to Freedom, New York: Oxford UP. Print [Google Scholar]–67)notes that spirituals did not disappear altogether but instead went through periods when they were sung far less often and in fewer locales; see also Cruz (167 Cruz, Jon. 1999. Culture on the Margins: The Black Spiritual and the Rise of American Cultural Interpretation, Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP. Print[Crossref] , [Google Scholar]–81). [21] Willis became the first African American to enlist for officer training at the camp established for blacks in Des Moines, Iowa. A photograph of the event that appeared in the New York Tribune New York Tribune 10 June 1917: n.p. Print [Google Scholar] on 10 June 1917 shows Willis seated next to a white enlistment officer. The photograph can be seen at: http://media.nara.gov/media/images/25/32/25-3115a.gif. In 1939 Willis and Edith Baker established the Hackley School of Music in New York, named after Azalia Hackley. [22] Hackley's arrangement of "Run to Jesus" has been lost. [23] For an analysis of Aida Overton Walker's portrayal of Rosetta Lightfoot, see Brooks (207 Brooks, Daphne A. 2006. Bodies in Dissent: Spectacular Performances of Race and Freedom, 1850–1910, Durham, NC: Duke UP. Print[Crossref] , [Google Scholar]–80). See also Krasner Krasner, David. 1997. Resistance, Parody, and Double Consciousness in African American Theatre, 1895–1910, New York: St. Martin's Press. Print [Google Scholar] (Resistance 75–98) and Newman Newman, Richard. 1993. 'The Brightest Star': Aida Overton Walker in the Age of Ragtime and Cakewalk. Prospects: An Annual of American Cultural Studies, 18: 465–81. Print [Google Scholar]. [24] Feist's patriotic slogans appear on the back cover of the sheet music for Bill Baskett, C. Frances Reisner, and Benny Davis Baskett, Bill, Reisner, C. Frances and Davis, Benny. 1917. "Good-bye Broadway, Hello France". New York: Leo Feist. Print[Crossref] , [Google Scholar], "Good-bye Broadway, Hello France." A digitalized image of this sheet music can be seen at: http://dl.lib.brown.edu/repository2/repoman.php?verb = render&id = 1086371835646375&view = pageturner&pageno = 1. See also Feist's advertisements in the Saturday Evening Post (30 Saturday Evening Post, 30 June 1917: 39. Print [Google Scholar] June 1917: 39; 29 Saturday Evening Post 29 Sept. 1917: 87. Print [Google Scholar] Sept. 1917: 87; 17 Saturday Evening Post 17 Nov. 1917: 92. Print [Google Scholar] Nov. 1917: 92). [25] For an image of this sheet music, see: http://scriptorium.lib.duke.edu/sheetmusic/n/n08/n0835. In her account of the singing of African-American soldiers during the First World War, Gibbons Gibbons, Helen Davenport Brown. 1919. A Little Gray Home in France, New York: Century. Print [Google Scholar] recalls the title of this song parody as: "It Takes a Long, Tall Brown-Skin Man to Make a German Lay His Rifle Down" (139). White White, Newman Ivey. 1928. American Negro Folk-songs, Hatboro, PA: Folklore Associates. Print [Google Scholar] reported another version, "It Takes a Long, Tall, Slim Black Man to Make a German Lay His Rifle Down" (American 355). [26] For an image of this sheet music, see http://dl.lib.brown.edu/repository2/repoman.php?verb = render&id = 1098214206500000 [27] Newsom's song is listed in the Catalogue of Copyright Entries 1919. Part 3: Musical Compositions Washington, DC: Government Printing Office. Print [Google Scholar], 1919, 265. [28] Hackley's book is listed as A Patriotic Pageant: A Musical and Dramatic Spectacle of Allied Countries in the Catalogue of Copyright Entries 1918. Catalogue of Copyright Entries, Part 1, Group 2 Washington, DC: Government Printing Office. Print [Google Scholar], 1918, 1111. [29] For an excellent analysis of the permeation of the social and political history of African Americans during the Great War into the Harlem Renaissance, see Whalan Whalan, Mark. 2008. The Great War and the Culture of the New Negro, Gainesville, FL: UP of Florida. Print[Crossref] , [Google Scholar].