The Black Press, African American Celebrity Culture, and Critical Citizenship in Early Twentieth Century America, 1895-1935
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LOOKING AT THE STARS: THE BLACK PRESS, AFRICAN AMERICAN CELEBRITY CULTURE, AND CRITICAL CITIZENSHIP IN EARLY TWENTIETH CENTURY AMERICA, 1895-1935 A Dissertation Submitted to the Temple University Graduate Board In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY OF MEDIA AND COMMUNICATION by Carrie Teresa May 2014 Examining Committee Members: Carolyn Kitch, Advisory Chair, Media and Communication Susan Jacobson, Journalism & Mass Communication, Florida International University Andrew Mendelson, Media and Communication Linn Washington, External Member, Journalism ABSTRACT Through the development of entertainment culture, African American actors, athletes and musicians increasingly were publicly recognized. In the mainstream press, Black celebrities were often faced with the same snubs and prejudices as ordinary Black citizens, who suffered persecution under Jim Crow legislation that denied African Americans their basic civil rights. In the Black press, however, these celebrities received great attention, and as visible and popular members of the Black community they played a decisive yet often unwitting and tenuous role in representing African American identity collectively. Charles M. Payne and Adam Green use the term “critical citizenship” to describe the way in which African Americans during this period conceptualized their identities as American citizens. Though Payne and Green discussed critical citizenship in terms of activism, this project broadens the term to include considerations of community- building and race pride as well. Conceptualizing critical citizenship for the black community was an important part of the overall mission of the Black press. Black press entertainment journalism, which used celebrities as both “constellations” and companions in the fight for civil rights, emerged against the battle against Jim Crowism and came to embody the spirit of the Harlem Renaissance. The purpose of this project is to trace how celebrity reporting in the black press developed over time, distinct from yet contemporaneous with the development of yellow journalism in the mainstream press, and to understand how black journalists and editors conceptualized the idea of “celebrity” as it related to their overall construction of critical citizenship. i The evidence in support of this project was collected from an inductive reading of the entertainment-related content of the following black press newspapers over the time period 1895-1935: Baltimore Afro-American, Chicago Defender, New York Age, New York Amsterdam News, Philadelphia Tribune, Pittsburgh Courier, Cleveland Gazette, Kansas City/Topeka Plaindealer, Savannah Tribune, and Atlanta Daily World. In addition, the entertainment content of Black press magazines The Crisis, The Messenger, The Opportunity and The Negro World was included. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am indebted to my advisory committee, Carolyn Kitch, Andrew Mendelson, Susan Jacobson, and Linn Washington, without whom this project would never have come to fruition. You were the best committee I could have asked for. Thank you. To Carolyn, my advisor, mentor, friend, and the person who first introduced me to the Black press – words cannot express how grateful I am to you for all you have done for me over the years. Thank you. I was fortunate to share this journey with the members of Temple’s Media and Communication program, whom I will miss dearly. Perhaps the best thing about this process was getting to know Kathryn Beardsley, a gifted scholar and dear friend. I would also like to acknowledge the valuable assistance provided by Temple staff members Nicole McKenna, Kristina DeVoe, and Aslaku Berhanu. Thank you to my parents Carl and Terri, for giving me the confidence to pursue my dream. I am grateful to my sisters Annmarie and January, my brother-in-law Rudolph, my niece Isabelle and nephew Charlie, my Uncles Ed and Larry, and my Aunt Liz for cheering me on. Thank you to those in my life who blur the line between “friend” and “family”: Liz and Ben Campanella, the Wysocki family, Taylor Rainier, Molly Byrne, and Aubrey and Chris Emrich. I do not know where I would be without my boys, Brendan and Paddington. To Brendan, I will let e.e. cummings speak for me: “and it’s you are whatever a moon has always meant and whatever a sun will always sing is you.” Finally, I would like to dedicate this work to the memory of the journalists and performers discussed in the following pages. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ...................................................................................................................... i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .............................................................................................iii LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................ v LIST OF FIGURES .........................................................................................................vi CHAPTERS 1. “WHAT DOES AN ARTIST OWE HIS RACE?” ..................................................... 1 2. “LET US HAVE A LITTLE RACE PRIDE” ............................................................16 3. “WHAT OTHERS SEE AND FORGET, THE JOURNALIST MUST REMEMBER” .............................................................47 4. “A RAINBOW OF HOPE” .......................................................................................74 5. “ELEVATED BY THE SUCCESS OF INDIVIDUALS” ...................................... 100 6. REFUSING TO “OBSCURE OUR TALENTS FOREVER UNDER THE BUSHEL OF PREJUDICE, JEALOUSY, STUPIDITY” .............................. 127 7. “THE TOASTS OF FILMLAND” .......................................................................... 157 8. MAKING SENSE OF THE “JUNGLE SYMPHONY” .......................................... 189 9. “LEVELING THE CRESTS OF AMERICAN PREJUDICE” .............................. 216 10. THE ENDURING ROLE OF THE “ENTERTAINER-ACTIVIST” IN AFRICAN AMERICAN CELEBRITY JOURNALISM ................................... 249 NOTES ........................................................................................................................... 275 BIBLIOGRAPHY .......................................................................................................... 308 PRIMARY SOURCES .................................................................................................. 323 iv LIST OF TABLES TABLE 2.1 – Trends in employment for African American men, 1890-1910 ................22 TABLE 2.2 – Employment among African American males, 1910 ................................22 TABLE 2.3 – Employment among Black and White males, 1910 ..................................23 TABLE 2.4 – African American population by city, 1900-1930 ....................................30 TABLE 2.5 – Gains in labor among Black Americans, 1910 .........................................33 TABLE 2.6 – African Americans’ gains in professional employment, 1910-1930 ........36 TABLE 3.1 – Rates of illiteracy among African Americans, 1930 .................................49 TABLE 3.2 – Illiteracy rates among the Black population, 1890-1930 ..........................52 v LIST OF FIGURES FIGURE 5.1 – “Samuel Coleridge-Taylor” .....................................................................124 FIGURE 5.2 – “Black Patti Troubadours will be here next week” .................................125 FIGURE 5.3 – “The late Mrs. Etta Johnson” ...................................................................125 FIGURE 5.4 – “Across the river” ....................................................................................126 FIGURE 5.5 – “Joe Gans” ...............................................................................................126 FIGURE 5.6 – “Aida Overton-Walker as the public knew her” ......................................126 FIGURE 6.1 – “Bert Williams, famous comedian, dead” ...............................................154 FIGURE 6.2 – “Brown Skin Models” .............................................................................155 FIGURE 6.3 – “Lottie Gee” .............................................................................................155 FIGURE 6.4 – The Messenger cover, January 1924 .......................................................156 FIGURE 6.5 – “Is the star of the Folies-Bergere really married?” ..................................156 FIGURE 7.1 – “He’s the emperor” ..................................................................................186 FIGURE 7.2 – “That’s fine honey” .................................................................................187 FIGURE 7.3 – “Their drama poignant” ...........................................................................188 FIGURE 8.1 – Front page, Philadelphia Tribune, December 25, 1936 ..........................214 FIGURE 8.2 – “Duke Ellington and Fredi Washington” ................................................214 FIGURE 8.3 – “Juvenile director” ...................................................................................215 FIGURE 9.1 – “Jesse Owens just normal American boy” ..............................................242 FIGURE 9.2 – “Champion Benny Leonard pays his respects to Joe Gans” ....................242 FIGURE 9.3 – “Don’t be silly like poor Mister Battling Siki” .......................................243 FIGURE 9.4 – “Tolan/Metcalfe” .....................................................................................244 FIGURE 9.5 – “Jesse Owens: Popularity is somewhat worrisome