New Deal Cowboy: Gene Autry and Public Diplomacy
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UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones 5-1-2012 New Deal Cowboy: Gene Autry and Public Diplomacy Michael Dean Duchemin University of Nevada, Las Vegas Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/thesesdissertations Part of the Mass Communication Commons, Public Policy Commons, and the Social Influence and Political Communication Commons Repository Citation Duchemin, Michael Dean, "New Deal Cowboy: Gene Autry and Public Diplomacy" (2012). UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones. 1558. http://dx.doi.org/10.34917/4332539 This Dissertation is protected by copyright and/or related rights. It has been brought to you by Digital Scholarship@UNLV with permission from the rights-holder(s). You are free to use this Dissertation in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. 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NEW DEAL COWBOY: GENE AUTRY AND PUBLIC DIPLOMACY By Michael Dean Duchemin A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy History Department College of Liberal Arts The Graduate Collage University of Nevada, Las Vegas May 2012 Copyright by Michael Dean Duchemin, 2012 All Rights Reserved THE GRADUATE COLLEGE We recommend the dissertation prepared under our supervision by Michael Dean Duchemin entitled New Deal Cowboy: Gene Autry and Public Diplomacy be accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of History Andrew Kirk, Committee Chair David Tanenhaus, Committee Member Joseph Fry, Committee Member Alan Simmons, Graduate College Representative Ronald Smith, Ph. D., Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies and Dean of the Graduate College May 2012 ii ABSTRACT This dissertation explains how Gene Autry used his mastery of multiplatform entertainment and the techniques of transmedia storytelling to make the policies of Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR), the 32nd President of the United States, more attractive to the American public. Making a case for cultural significance, the work shows how Autry developed a singing cowboy persona to exploit the western genre as his modus operandi, because it appealed to rural, small town and newly-urban Americans in the Midwest, South and Southwest. Examining Autry’s oeuvre within a context created by Roosevelt administration policies, the dissertation exposes a process of public diplomacy at work in American media culture from 1932 to 1942. I used a storyboarding technique and other methods of history museum exhibition to organize archival research with artifacts, photographs, sound recordings, radio broadcasts, motion pictures, and video recordings preserved by the Autry Qualified Interest Trust, Autry Foundation, Gene Autry Entertainment and the Autry National Center of the American West. Music proves to be a transcendental art form, capable of tying together these multiplatform entertainments into a single name-brand enterprise. As President Roosevelt’s policies shifted from the New Deal to the Good Neighbor and war preparedness strategies, Gene Autry’s cultural products reflected these changes. The self-described New Deal Cowboy helped Americans deal with the cultural transformation that accompanied the Great Depression and the run up to World War II. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Contributing directly or indirectly to this dissertation have been many people, including the work of Paul Belton, Herbert J. Gans, Henry Jenkins, Gaynor Kavanaugh and Jon Tosh, who equipped me with a general understanding of the American cultural industries, American media culture, and the methods of history best suited for dealing with multiplatform entertainment and non-book materials. Gene Autry, Holly George Warren, Don Cusic, David Rothel and Boyd Magers provided the autobiographical and biographical underpinnings for my understanding of Gene Autry’s cultural significance. Peter Stanfield, Robert M. Hurst, Charles O’Brien, Giuliana Muscio, Richard Aquila, R. Phillip Loy, Ray White, Garth Jowett and Richard B. Jewell shaped my understanding of film history and the uniqueness of the musical-western hybrid. Douglas B. Green, Anthony Harkin, D.K. Wilgus, Archie Green, Mark Fenster, and Bill C. Malone did the same for my comprehension of the country-western hybridization in American folk music. Gerald D. Nash, Richard Lowitt, Hal K. Rothman, and Michael Berkowitz informed my appreciation for the New Deal and the American West. Joseph K. Nye, Jr., Wilson P. Dizard, Jr., Monroe E. Price, and Fitzhugh Green helped me realize how public diplomacy worked and the concepts of soft power at work in U.S. politics. Fred Fejes, Frederick B. Pike and Max Paul Friedman identified issues related to the Good Neighbor Policy. Richard W. Steele, Duncan Aikman and James Schwoch provided insights to the history of radio broadcasting that iv related to hemispheric strategies. Dennis Preisler shared his acumen concerning Sears Roebuck and Company and the beginnings of Radio Station WLS in Chicago during the formative years of Autry’s career. Without the works of these and many other great writers, I could not have written this dissertation. I owe another debt of gratitude to the trustees, staff, docents, volunteers and members of the Gene Autry Western Heritage Museum, Autry Museum of Western Heritage, and Autry National Center of the American West. Michael Husband introduced me to the Autry in 1993, when he recommended me to Joanne Hale, Executive Director of the Gene Autry Western Heritage Museum, and James Nottage, the Autry’s Chief Curator. Joanne and James brought me into the Autry Museum and encouraged all of my work in public history. Likewise, Jackie Autry showed her support for my work among the museum trustees, never more so, than during my time as curator for Gene Autry and the Twentieth Century West: The Centennial Exhibition, 1907-2007. So many colleagues at the Autry made this dissertation better. I cannot name them all. Those who stand out include Garron Maloney, Mark Lewis, Marva Felchlin, LaLeña Lewark, Clyde Derrick, Sandra Odor, Evelyn Davis, Richard Moll, Andi Alameda, Ann Marshall, and Mary Ellen Nottage. The centennial exhibition provided the wellspring for this dissertation and for that I have John Gray to thank. John awarded me a yearlong sabbatical in 2003, which enabled me to enroll in the doctoral program at the University of Nevada—Las Vegas. I went to UNLV to work with and learn from Hal Rothman. v Hal’s untimely passing, just months before the exhibition opened in 2007, left a void in my program and my soul. I owe a special thank you to Andrew Kirk for stepping in as my committee chair and for his commitment to history. For their service on my graduate committee, I thank Joseph A. “Andy” Fry, David Tanenhaus and Alan K. Simmons. Thanks to David Wrobel, Elizabeth Fraterrigo, Andrew Bell, Raquel Casas, and David Holland for their help as graduate advisors, to Gregory Brown for his assistance with my French translations, and to Lynette Webber for everything else. Rothman, Kirk and Fraterrigo worked with me to set up the Autry-UNLV Fellowship for awardees, Garron Maloney, Leisel Carr Childers and Jeffrey Richardson. All three Autry Fellows made significant contributions to the development of the centennial exhibition and my knowledge about Gene Autry. Of course, the centennial exhibition and this dissertation would have never happened without the foresight, planning and persistence of Karla Buhlman, Maxine Hansen, Alex Gordon and Irynne Isip at Gene Autry Entertainment. Gene Autry Entertainment is responsible for the preservation, restoration, and continued distribution of published music, sound recordings, motion pictures, radio broadcasts, television programs, video recordings, and all other forms using the “Gene Autry” name and image. The resources created by Gene Autry Entertainment and housed within the collections of the Autry National Center are extraordinary. Moreover, Maxine introduced me to Elvin Sweeten and his supporters at the Gene Autry Oklahoma Museum. Here to, the vi collections related to Gene Autry are surprising and their dedication to the singing cowboy is superior. Thanks also to Jasmine Aslanyan, Bobbi Bell, David Burton, Suellen Cheng, Michael Childers, Susan Einstein, Michael Fox, Erik Greenberg, Scott Kratz, Helen Lewis, Leroy Lewis Raymond Merlock, Cynthia Miller, Scott Myerly, Jack Nacbar, Andrew P. Nelson, Byron Price, Chuck Rankin, Johnny Western, Inez Wolins and Gary A. Yoggy for their support and contributions to this endeavor. To my wife Päivi and our pups—Jessie, Duffy, Budhi, Rainy, and Buddy, Jr.—I acknowledge a debt I can never repay. Thank you most of all. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT III ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS IV 1. “PRIVATE BUCKAROO” 1 A MERICA ’ S A C E C OWBOY 1 P U B L I C D IPLOMACY 4 P U B L I C H ISTORY 14 2.“THAT SILVER HAIRED DADDY OF MINE” 22 I NTRODUCTION 22 C OUNTRY - W E S T E R N H Y B R I D M USIC 34 M USICAL - W E S T E R N H Y B R I D F ILM 58 C ONCLUSION 85 3.“THE WEST AIN’T WHAT IT USED TO BE” 90 I NTRODUCTION 90 N EW D EAL — N EW W EST 96 T H E S E C O N D N EW D EAL 130 viii C ONCLUSI ON 159 4.“SOUTH OF THE BORDER (DOWN MEXICO WAY)” 169 I NTRODUCTION 169 S I N G I N G C OWBOY — S E C R E T A GENT 180 C ONCLUSION 226 5.“MELODY RANCH” 230 I NTRODUCTION 230 Y OUTH ’ S M O D E L 1940 236 C ONCLUSION 296 6.