Herzogenrath-Dissertation
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
THINKING AMERICAN, WORKING AMERICAN, PLAYING AMERICAN FOLK DANCE IN CHICAGO, 1890-1940 A Dissertation by JESSICA RAY HERZOGENRATH Submitted to the Office of Graduate and Professional Studies of Texas A&M University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Chair of Committee, Julia K. Blackwelder Committee Members, Harold C. Livesay Carlos K. Blanton Judith Hamera Head of Department, David Vaught August 2014 Major Subject: History Copyright 2014 Jessica Ray Herzogenrath ABSTRACT Examination of folk dance in the Chicago area from 1890 to 1940 reveals the centrality of the body to ideas about education in the early twentieth century. The dissertation illuminates the circulation of folk dance practices in higher education and settlement houses in Progressive Era Chicago in conjunction with the influences of gender, ethnicity, and race. Folk dance satisfied both white, native-born, middle-class American nostalgia for an imagined rural past and immigrant desire to retain ties to homelands. Women social workers and teachers promoted folk dance as a healthful exercise and an avenue of insight into other cultures while also presenting it as an embodiment of American values. Extension of the study into the interwar period (1920- 1940) permits analysis of both the persistence of progressive ideologies concerning the body as practiced through folk dance and the central role of women in physical education. Over six chapters the dissertation address three primary points. First, it argues for the consideration of folk dance as an integral part of the physical education of children and young women as well as its function as an element of defining American-ness in both higher education and social settlements. Second, the dissertation demonstrates the prevalence of women as innovators in education, specifically through physical education curricula in colleges and universities. It also shows the connections between higher education and social settlements as two sites for learning that incorporated similar ideas about folk dance. Third, the dissertation assesses how Chicago, as a progressive center, ii facilitated the circulation of a set of folk dance practices grounded in Old World nostalgia and reframed it as part of the way to learn how to achieve a proper American body through similar curricula, instructors, and performances. Sources examined include records from colleges and universities such as course catalogs, programs, yearbooks, and campus newspapers; materials from social settlements, for example histories, programs, activity announcements, workers’ reports, and scrapbooks; personal papers of settlement workers and folk dance instructors; and folk dance manuals. iii For K and LZ. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Contrary to what many believe about the solitary, lonely nature of researching and writing a dissertation, my process has proven wonderfully collaborative and, in fact, quite impossible without those that I cannot thank enough here. First and foremost, I find myself truly indebted to my committee, chaired by Professor Julia K. Blackwelder. She offered the guidance necessary for me to develop a somewhat unconventional history dissertation. Professor Harold C. Livesay graciously lent eyes and ears on innumerable occasions, as well as mentorship that I will treasure always. Professor Judith Hamera taught me how to navigate the dance and performance studies worlds, leading me to greater success than I deserve. Professor Carlos K. Blanton always offered a willing ear to help sort out my latest intellectual entanglement. Several faculty from my MA and BA programs have continued to encourage my work, especially Tricia Young, Sally Sommer, and Jen Atkins at Florida State University and Billy Siegenfeld at Northwestern University. Without their involvement in laying my academic foundations, my intellectual journey would have taken a quite different, and I believe, less enjoyable and fulfilling path. Generous financial support for the dissertation has hailed from several quarters, including the Melburn G. Glassscock Center, the Texas A&M College of Liberal Arts, the Texas A&M Department of History, and the Texas A&M University Race and Ethnic Studies Institute. Their funding allowed me to commit to a thorough examination of the sources necessary to the completion of the dissertation. v Without the generous spirit of some of the archivists I have encountered over the life of the project, many of the people, places, and events addressed in the dissertation would have remained hidden. Thank you to those who assisted me at the archives of Columbia College (Chicago), Chicago History Museum, Chicago State University, DePaul University, Evanston Historical Society, Loyola University, Newberry Library, National-Louis University, Northwestern University, the University of Chicago, and University of Illinois at Chicago. I owe Janet Olson of Northwestern University Archives an especial debt of gratitude both for pointing me in the direction of Agnes Jones Cashman and also for her unflagging hospitality over my many visits since 2008. Several colleagues have commented on and provided emotional support, beginning with many of the members of the Texas A&M Department of History cohort of 2009. Thank you in particular to Cameron McCoy and members of the DWG – Jared Donnelly, Chris Gilson, and Matthew Yokell. Most especially, I thank Jennifer Heth, a kindred spirit in academia and in life, without whom the last five years would have proven considerably less fun. Thank you also to Kate Elswit, with whom I have shared the ins and outs of academia (and everything else) since our undergraduate days. Finally, and most importantly, I thank my family. To Mom, thank you for instilling a love of reading and for introducing me to important women in history. To Dad, thank you for grounding me in a love of learning, for writing, for research, and for passionately talking things through. I owe extra ear scratches and long walks to Pepperoni Pizza the Wonderpup, who should receive her own degree in patience, foot- warming, and snuggling. To Mr. Zog, thank you for your encouragement in my darkest vi moments of self-doubt. Thank you for your sense of humor, your ability to accommodate funky work schedules, and, my favorite, your constant willingness to look at me and ask, “What’s next?” Here’s to our next adventures. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT .............................................................................................................. ii DEDICATION .......................................................................................................... iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...................................................................................... v TABLE OF CONTENTS .......................................................................................... viii CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION: DANCING AMERICAN-NESS ....................... 1 CHAPTER II TEACHING AND LEARNING: HIGHER EDUCATION .............. 30 CHAPTER III TEACHING AND LEARNING: SOCIAL SETTLEMENTS ......... 70 CHAPTER IV COLLECTING AND SELECTING: FOLK DANCE MANUALS . 119 CHAPTER V PERFORMING AND WATCHING: HIGHER EDUCATION ...... 157 CHAPTER VI PERFORMING AND WATCHING: SOCIAL SETTLEMENTS . 195 CHAPTER VII CONCLUSION ............................................................................... 224 REFERENCES .......................................................................................................... 231 APPENDIX A ........................................................................................................... 253 APPENDIX B ........................................................................................................... 254 APPENDIX C ........................................................................................................... 256 APPENDIX D ........................................................................................................... 257 viii CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION: DANCING AMERICAN-NESS On a high school auditorium stage in Katy, Texas, in the spring of 2010, the faculty members of DANMAR dance studio shuffled through the darkness into their places, arranged their feet hip width apart and bent their knees slightly while making final adjustments to their floral necklaces and crowns.1 I struggled mightily with a long, black wig that insisted on shifting to one side, giving my “hair” an unattractive asymmetrical look. The strains of the “Hukilau” crescendoed as the lights brightened to reveal us in shiny green leotards and grass skirts, barefoot with plastered smiles, performing a hula dance.2 Our hips swayed in rhythm to the ukulele as we attempted the gestures that invited the audience to join us as we transported ourselves from a Houston suburb to the exotic islands of Hawaii. We had spent several hours learning and practicing our hula taught to us by a member of our faculty who had trained and performed for many years with a ballet company in Mexico. I, a blonde-haired blue-eyed Midwestern American of Western European descent, taught hip-hop and contemporary dance in the studio. My other colleagues hailed from Southeast Texas, Mexico, and several different countries in South 1 Daniela Urbaez Olivares and Maria Fernanda Urbaez established Danmar Dance Studio in Katy, Texas in 2001. The name comes from the first three letters of each of their names: Dan + Mar = Danmar. In 2007 a drunk driver killed my friend and colleague Daniela and her husband Pedro. We miss you, Daniela. 2 Jack