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IRONDALE ENSEMBLE PROJECTNEWSNEWS Spring 2002 Volume 5 No. 2 Defining Heroes RROCKEFELLER CCENTER By Josh Bacher By Jim Niesen

What is a hero? For some, it is an historical figure. The inspiration for most For others, it is a fictional character from a legend or a likely originated with Samuel Insull’s Civic Opera House story. Some people will tell you that a hero is ham, turkey in . Insull intended to use the Lyric Opera and salami between two slices of French bread. Webster’s Company to anchor a giant office building just west of definition of a hero reads, “A person of distinguished the city’s Loop. Like Rockefeller Center, the building was courage or ability, admired for their brave deeds and noble poorly located in an out-of-the-way area poorly served qualities.” Sports figures, movie stars, scientists, by mass transit. When the Depression hit, Insull’s politicians, or just the average Joe can all fit this building went into receivership and Insull himself went description. For the past few months in rehearsal, the into hiding in Turkey. company has been trying to come up with its own definition Rockefeller’s advisors began to show interest in of a hero. And then we have been trying to agree on a converting Columbia’s midtown slum properties into person that fits that definition all the time. We have yet to office buildings anchored by an opera house in late reach a conclusion, and who knows if we will. 1927, just after Insull announced the Chicago project. One of our biggest arguments was about Babe Certainly the “Opera Square” as it was original- Ruth. For some in the company, he is a huge hero. For ly called did not grow out of any family love for opera. others, Babe’s accomplishments in baseball were not John D. Junior never attended the , enough. Why should an excellent baseball player be nor did his sons. Their idea was that the prestige of the deemed a hero? And even if a being an excellent baseball Met could somehow be made to rub off on office and player could make one a hero, why him? Were there not commercial tenants, making leases more valuable. other ballplayers that were arguably just as good? What is , John D. Junior’s long-time aide, created it that makes The Babe stand head and shoulders above what was to become the modern public relations business the rest? What is it that makes anyone a hero? when he was hired by the Rockefellers to stem public Certainly was considered a outrage following the massacre of Colorado Fuel and Iron hero after he was the first to fly solo non-stop over the workers and their families at the ’s Atlantic. Yet if he didn’t do it, someone else would have Ludlow mines. He explained to Rockefeller the way it and Lindbergh would have remained just another obscure would work. individual. This, of course, was not Lindbergh’s fate, and “The plan is that half way between Fifth and he was instantly recognized by the world as a hero. The Sixth Avenues, a square area shall be cut out between world forgot the numerous people who died attempting the 49th and 50th Streets . . .The idea is that the new Opera Josh Bacher as Charles Lindbergh, Jack Lush as very same feat which Lindbergh accomplished. He was a and Sven Miller as (Photo by Gerry Goodstein) House will stand between this square and Sixth Avenue hero for surviving; others become heroes for dying. The and that facing the square on the other three sides shall firefighters and policemen of 9/11 became heroes for giv- character he did, where would America be today? be buildings developed on land owned by Columbia ing up their lives in order to try and save the lives of others. During periods of economic or political upheaval, University which shall contain high grade shops and Heroism is a subjective topic. Heroes themselves a hero often rises. Franklin D. Roosevelt was viewed by offices in the buildings above. The thought is that this will are often contradictory, making it even harder to agree on the people as economic hope. Martin Luther King Jr. was make the square and the immediate surroundings the who is a hero and who isn’t. One man’s hero could be a voice of hope during the political turmoil of the 60’s; most valuable shopping district in the world.” another man’s criminal. It is not just a question of good and Eisenhower brought a sense of military hope during World The Rockefellers would buy a small part of evil, because many of the candidates have a little bit of War II. Columbia’s midtown real estate holdings. They would each in them. One conclusion we almost reached is that it then give this land away to the Metropolitan Opera. The Lindbergh was opposed to America entering doesn’t matter whether or not everyone agrees upon a opera people would in turn construct their building on the World War II. When he spoke declaring his opposition, he specific hero. In fact, that is likely impossible. What site. The Rockefellers would then rent from Columbia the was labeled as Anti-Semitic and Pro-Nazi. Lindbergh fell matters is that we each have a person that we look up to, area between Fifth and Sixth Avenues and 48th to 51st from grace because he was flawed. J. Edgar Hoover was for whatever reason, as our hero. We are proud of that Streets. They would get developers to pay them for the also a flawed hero, as was his nemesis, Public Enemy No. person for an acomplishment. Even if they were not right to build commercial and office space on the proper- 1, John Dillinger. Dillinger was an enemy to the banks and consistently heroic, there was a moment when they did ty. the government, but his actions made him a hero to the something amazing. They did something that people The deal bespoke a perfect symmetry. workign class just when they needed one during the Great could believe in and dream about. But, as Bertolt Brecht Rockefeller stood to make two or three million a year in Depression. said, “Unhappy is the land that has no heroes; unhappy is rents from the developers, just about indefinitely, and Often, the times themselves tell us when we need the land that needs one.” would incur a one-time cash outlay of only $3.6 million a hero. If hadn’t had the strength of and very little work. Attorney Francis W. Christy of the Continued on page 8

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The title Murals of Rockefeller Center is a TIMELINE metaphorical one. The primary thread of the play tells the story of the artist Diego Rivera’s attempt to (1839 2001) paint a large, colorful containing a most 1839 conspicuous portrait of Lenin. The painting was to July 8: John Davison Rockefeller Sr. is born. have been located over the information desk in the Main Lobby of the RCA Building at Rockefeller 1849 Center, but, before it could be completed, Rocke- Following allegations of rape, Bill Rockefeller moves his feller’s representatives fired Rivera and immediately family to Owego, New York, close to the Pennsylvania border. had the painting covered, forbidding the public to Crown Point County Jail - view it or the artist to even take photographs of it to 1855 Prosecuter Robert Estill and John Dillinger mark his work. Some months later, the Rockefellers Under pressure from his father, John D. Rockefeller had the fresco blasted off the wall with air hammers drops out of high school two months shy of reducing it to dust and rubble. This story is told from commencement. He enters a professional school, where he studies double-entry bookkeeping, Rivera’s point of view and makes ample use of his penmanship, banking, and commercial law. JohnJohn DillingerDillinger ability to overcome prosaic details of biography with greater “truths” of his own invention. 1859 John Herbert Dillinger was born in , As Diego tells his own story, he manages to Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species is published. Indiana, on June 22, 1903. After receiving a dishonorable weave other tales into the fabric of his invention. In 1861 discharge from the U.S. Navy, Dillinger married sixteen- doing so he makes use of the life and legend of other The Civil War begins. Rockefeller, like some other year-old Beryl Hovious in April of 1924. On September 6, prominent figures of the age, notably Charles northern businessmen, hires substitutes to avoid 1924, Dillinger and an acquaintance from the local baseball Lindbergh and John Dillinger, to examine the role of fighting. The war at first disrupts industry, but ultimately team, Ed Singleton, attempted to rob the local grocer. The the hero and anti-hero in American society. In their accelerates economic development in the North, holdup failed, and Dillinger was arrested the next day, as own way Lindbergh and Dillinger also paint huge contributing to Rockefeller’s meteoric ascent. was Singleton. On the advice of his father, Dillinger didn’t murals on the canvas of America. Like Diego, both 1873 hire a lawyer and pleaded guilty. He was sentenced to 10 men attempt to provoke the powers that be, and both September 18: “Black Thursday” The stock exchange to 20 years. Singleton, who had counsel, got 2 to 14, and men are ultimately destroyed by the “Rockefellers” crashes. takes advantage of the eco- only served one year. they do battle with. nomic downturn to absorb refineries in Pittsburgh, Dillinger was released on parole on May 22, 1933. Philadelphia, New York, and Pennsylvania’s Oil Region. Three weeks later he robbed his first bank. His flamboyant 1874 and graceful style soon drew the attention of Matt Leach, January 29: John D. Rockefeller Jr. is born. head of the Indiana State Police. During a robbery in East Chicago, Indiana, Dillinger killed a policeman while Washington, an embarrassed and enraged J. Edgar 1879 escaping from the site. This was the only time John At 40, John D. Rockefeller Sr. is numbered among the Hoover sought to find a way to personally involve his country’s twenty richest men. Dillinger killed anyone. agency in the Dillinger case. The illusive Dillinger often embarrassed the Dillinger engineered his escape from Crown 1882 authorities. Matt Leach received prank phone calls and Point, supposedly by flashing a wooden gun that he had Standard Oil Trust is formed. Rockefeller creates a “Wish You Were Here” postcards from the outlaw. carved in his cell. More than likely, however, the phony highly centralized structure with enormous power but With his name and face all over the newspapers, murky legal existence. Standard Oil builds up its pistol was smuggled into his cell by a guard who had been distribution system, streamlining the delivery and sale Dillinger decided it was time to lay low. He and the gang bribed by Dillinger’s lawyer. Dillinger locked the eighteen of oil and underselling its adversaries. drove to Tucson, Arizona. Following a tip from a Tucson guards in cells and drove away in the sheriff’s new car, fireman who recognized their faces from pictures in pulp reportedly singing “Get A-long Lil’ Doggies, Get Along” as 1886 detective magazines, the gang, along with Billie Frechette, he drove off. When Dillinger crossed the state line into December 13: José Diego Rivera Barrientos and his Opal Long and Mary Kinder, was arrested by the police on twin brother José Carlos are born. Illinois in his getaway car, he violated his first federal January 25,1934, statute. Now Hoover could take action. Apprehending 1888 Dillinger was transferred to the Lake County Jail Dillinger became the Federal Division of Investigation’s José Carlos Rivera dies at age one and a half. in Crown Point, Indiana, to stand trial for the killing of (predecessor to the F.B.I.) chief priority. Officer William O’Malley. When he arrived at Crown Point, Dillinger formed a new gang, which included, 1889 photographers and journalists were everywhere. Dillinger Rockefeller agrees to contribute to the founding of a among others, the notorious . By late new Baptist college in Chicago. The University of posed for the cameras with the sheriff and prosecutor, April 1934, Dillinger had become the most-hunted man in Chicago will become his first major philanthropic under- Robert G. Estill. The pictures created a national scandal. In the country. On May 27, he underwent plastic surgery in taking. Chicago. On June 22, the FBI named John Dillinger Public Enemy #1. On July 22, 1934, one month after his last bank Andrew Carnegie publishes The Gospel of Wealth, arguing that the wealthy have a moral obligation to robbery, Dillinger went to the Biograph Theater on serve as stewards for society. Chicago’s north side to escape the heat. The film showing J. Edgar was Manhattan Melodrama, a gangster picture starring 1890 Clark Gable, William Powell and Myrna Loy. As Dillinger July 2: Congress passes the Sherman Anti-trust Act, was came out of the theater, he remarked to his companion, which outlaws trusts and combinations in restraint of Hoover trade and establishes fines for violators. The law born January 1, 1875, in Anna Sage, that the film had been his kind of picture. He remains in effect today. Washington, DC. In 1913, was then gunned down by F.B.I agents and East Chicago John Edgar Hoover began police officers in the alley outside the theatre. 1899 working for the U. S. gov- John Herbert Dillinger had been released from At his father’s insistence, Rivera enrolls in a military ernment, first at the prison on May 22, 1933. He died on July 22, 1934. His college, but after two weeks, repelled by the prospect of regimented training, he is permitted to enroll in regular Library of Congress, then fourteen-month career as a bank robber is the stuff of art classes. at the Justice Department. legend. It is said that Humphry Bogart’s career was During , bolstered because he looked like Dillinger. It is also said 1893 Hoover worked for the Bureau of Investigation, keeping that the man gunned down was not Dillinger at all, but a The stock market crashes again, setting off the statistical records of immigrants for the Alien Enemy small-time crook named Jimmy Lawrence. What is said country’s first great industrial depression. Bank closings and massive unemployment heighten social tension. Bureau. A vigorous anti-Communist, Hoover quickly and what is true, what is fact and what is myth, is difficult moved up the ranks in the postwar period and by 1924 to separate. “John Dillinger - man and myth - was a 1896 was appointed Director of the Division of Investigation, creation of his time. But even though he was not what most assembles the first automobile. Just as later called the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). He of his contemporaries imagined, he has remained, under- electricity is starting to replace kerosene as an held the post for nearly fifty years, his administration last- standably, the symbol of the modern outlaw.”(Toland) illuminant, gasoline enters the scene, creating a rising demand for oil. ing from President Coolidge to President Nixon. Hoover had a reputation for hyper-vigilance in the face of crime He had his weaknesses - women, for one thing, Late-1890s and political subversion, and the FBI grew to become and a flair for the spectacular. Standard Oil attains its peak influence. Its dividends known as a group of incorruptible law officers who kept J. Edgar Hoover (about Dillinger) surge to 31% and its control of the market is files on just about everybody from John Lennon and uncontested. Martin Luther King, Jr. to Marilyn Monroe and Eldridge 1901 Cleaver. Hoover has been a controversial figure since his Anna Sage September: An anarchist assassinates President death, and there has been much speculation about his McKinley. Vice President personal life – most notably his relationship with his long- was born in Romania, She becomes President. His vehement anti-trust rhetoric time assistant Clyde Tolson, family background and became infamously known as will target corporations such as Standard Oil. dictatorial rule over the Bureau. Given his political power “The Lady in Red.” She was a madam who made a deal with October 9: John D. Rockefeller Jr. and Abby Aldrich are over five decades, he is a central figure in the history of wed at Warwick Estate in Rhode Island. One thousand scandal and U.S. politics. Hoover’s journey ended the FBI to hand over John guests attend. where it began. He died in his sleep on May 2, 1972, in Dillinger in return for her Washington, DC. Upon hearing of his death, President immigration papers. She held The Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research is Richard Nixon was moved to exclaim, “Jesus up her end of the bargain but created. The Institute, called Rockefeller University was nonetheless deported to today, will become a leader in the new field of Christ....that old cocksucker is really dead?” Publicly, he experimental medicine. called Hoover a “truly remarkable man” and “one of his Romania where she lived out closest friends and advisers.” the rest of her life.

2 years, he played various (unpaid) parts in stock companies. In 1923, an acting teacher named Josephine 1902 Dillon taught him the ropes. She was eleven years older February 4: Charles Lindbergh is born. than Gable when they married and moved to Hollywood in 1924. It was difficult for Gable to find work, and their The General Education Board is created by the marriage ended in 1927. He went to New York in 1928, Rockefellers to promote education in the South without where he landed the lead in a play. After a year of distinction of race. unemployment, he returned west and starred in a 1903 western. In 1930, MGM made him a contract player, and June 22: John Herbert Dillinger is born. in 1934, he won an Oscar for his role in Frank Capra’s It Happened One Night. Gable gained instant stardom, a December: Orville and Wilbur Wright of Dayton, Ohio, salary of $211,000 a year and mobs of women that fly their “Wright Flyer” at Kill Devil Hills, near Kitty Hawk, would burst into hysterics at his public appearances. North Carolina. Some of his many movie successes were Boom Abby Rockefeller gives birth to daughter “Babs” (Abby), Town, Mutiny on the Bounty and Gone with the Wind. dubbed “the richest of all babies” in the press. His second marriage to Ria Langham also ended in 1905 divorce, and his third and happiest marriage (to Carole Diego Rivera wins a Mexican government pension and Lombard) was tragically cut short when she died in an travels to Spain to study art. airplane crash in 1942. That same year Gable enlisted as CCLARKLARK GGABLEABLE a private in the Air Corps at the age of 41. After a string of 1906 Clark Gable was born February 1, 1901, in unsuccessful films, he left MGM in 1954 and became the Rockefeller and Carnegie are perceived by the press as Cadiz, Ohio. He dropped out of high school to work in most highly-paid freelance actor of the decade, remaining being locked in competition over the extent of their phi- various factories, oil fields and lumber camps. At the age the “king” of Hollywood until his sudden death on Novem- lanthropic giving. of 18, he went off to become an actor. In those early ber 16, 1960. John D. Rockefeller III is born. Anne Morrow is born. President Roosevelt’s attacks on Rockefeller and Art cannot be subordinate HARRY PIERPONT Standard Oil escalate. Rockefeller is singled out as one to its subject, otherwise it A close friend and associate of John Dillinger, of the “malefactors of great wealth.” Anti-Rockefeller Pierpont was believed to be the true leader of the first sentiment is at an all-time high. is not art but biography, until his arrest in Tucson on January 25, 1907 and biography is the mesh 1934. Harry never received much publicity as the gang January 6: Rivera arrives in Spain. He receives a leader and, as a family member phrased it, “That’s the modest four-year scholarship for European study from through which our real life way he wanted it.” Governor Teodoro Dehesa. Pierpont was born in Muncie, Indiana, on escapes. October 13, 1902. He worked in a gravel pit near Green- July 6: Kahlo is born. Tom Stoppard castle, Indiana, and as a hoisting engineer in an auto The U.S. government has seven different suits pending Invention of Love repair shop in Indianapolis, but eventually went to jail, against Standard Oil. The lawsuits argue that Standard serving time for assault while trying to steal a car. When Oil is more than twenty times the size of its closest paroled in 1925, he promptly robbed a Kokomo, Indiana competitor. bank and ended up back in Pendleton Reformatory, Indiana. There he met Dillinger. Pierpont attempted 1908 to escape and was transferred to City. July 8: Abby gives birth to Nelson, on his grandfather Henry Ford (1863-1947) John D. Rockefeller Sr.’s birthday. Dillinger would later transfer there on his own founded the Ford Motor Company in 1903. His “Model T” request. After Dillinger was released, he helped Rivera forms friendship with leading members of the made its debut in 1908, and has maintained a place in engineer an escape from the prison for Pierpont and Spanish avant-garde, including Ramón del Valle-Inclán American mythology ever since. The Ford Company was nine others. and the painter María Gutiérrez. the last of the major automobile manufacturers to Pierpont later paid the favor back by breaking The U.S. government launches its largest anti-trust suit recognize the U.A.W., remaining non-union until 1941 John out of the Lima, Ohio jail. During the escape, to date, targeting Standard Oil. when employees forced a contract through a sit down Pierpont shot Sheriff Jesse Sarber twice, mortally strike at Ford’s main plant in River Rouge, Michigan. Ford wounding him. Sheriff Sarber died several hours later. Rockefeller finances a campaign to fight hookworm in was a strong isolationist who opposed U.S involvement in When the gang was captured in Tucson, the South. By 1927, the disease will be eradicated. World War II. His newspaper, the Dearborn Independent, Pierpont, Makley and Clark were extradited to Ohio and reflected his position, and was also well known for its tried for the murder of Sarber. Pierpont was sentenced 1909 strongly anti-Semitic positions. Following the death of his to death. He and Makley had attempted a prison break Rivera arrives in Paris. He meets a young Russian son Edsel, Ford came out of retirement to supervise the in September of 1934. Makley was shot and killed. artist, Angeline Beloff, who will later become his company’s conversion from a civilian to a war-time econo- Pierpont received a wound to the head and spine, which common-law wife. my. The Ford Motor Company manufactured more than left him crippled. Pierpont was kept alive long enough to 1910 8,000 warplanes. Ford died on April 7, 1947, in Dearborn, be carried to the chair. He died in the Columbus, Ohio September 26: A United Mine Workers strike begins in Michigan. The Ford Motor Company, the Ford Foundation, electric chair on October 17, 1934, and is buried at Holy southern Colorado. Nine thousand workers of the and the Henry Ford Hospital in , among other things, Cross Cemetery in Indianapolis. Rockefeller-owned Colorado Fuel & Iron, the largest stand as legacies to his memory. mining operation in the area, go out on strike. John D. Rockefeller Jr. leaves Standard Oil to devote Melvin Purvis (1903 –1960) joined the Federal himself to philanthropy. He is named foreman of New Division of Investigation in 1927 and quickly rose through the ranks. He York’s White Slavery Special Jury to investigate the traf- was one of a few agents that Hoover chose for special attention, and he ficing of young women forced into prostitution. received many opportunities to earn promotions, eventually being placed in Rockefeller Foundation is incorporated “to promote the charge of the Chicago office in 1932. well-being of mankind throughout the world.” Rocke- On March 6, 1934, Hoover ordered Purvis to “put forth every feller gives the foundation $100 million in its first year. effort” to capture Dillinger. After his escape from jail at Crown Point, Indiana on March 3, 1934, Dillinger committed a federal crime by driving a Rockefeller’s wealth reaches its lifetime peak of $900 stolen vehicle across state lines. Hoover had avoided the pursuit of million, thanks in part to the dismantling of Standard Oil. Dillinger because he wasn’t sure Dillinger could be caught. Now that he Newspapers run daily box scores of his wealth. was forced by political pressure to go ahead with it, he covered himself by 1913 upbraiding Purvis for not having taken action in the past. Rivera adopts the abstract art style Cubism On April 24, 1934, acting on a tip, special agents from the 1914 Chicago and St. Paul offices traveled to Little Bohemia, Wisconsin, to April 6: John D. Rockefeller Jr. testifies before the locate the Dillinger gang. The Dillinger gang got away, but not before Baby House Subcommittee on Mines and Mining regarding Face Nelson killed one special agent and wounded two other men. Purvis admitted the operation was a failure. He the miners’ strike. He upholds the principle of the open offered his resignation to Hoover, who refused to accept it. shop and reiterates his support for Colorado Fuel & Iron On July 22, 1934, Chicago brothel owner Anna Sage called Purvis to tell him that Dillinger had invited her and management. Polly Hamilton to the movies that night. Purvis rushed his men to the Biograph Theater. He had them surround every possible exit. The special agents were joined by a few officers from the East Chicago Police Department. April 20: The Ludlow Massacre. At least twenty-four As Dillinger was leaving the theater, Purvis struck a match and lit his cigar, indicating that he had spotted him. miners die, among them two women and eleven Then he signaled for the men to move in. Purvis stood slightly behind Dillinger. He said: “Stick ‘em up, Johnny, we have children, in a 14-hour confrontation between miners you surrounded.” Dillinger ran from Purvis, who said he saw the outlaw pull a gun from his pocket. The special agents and the National Guard. John D. Rockefeller Jr. denies fired several shots. Two of them hit Dillinger. any responsibility. Purvis himself never fired a shot. He refused to give any individual agent credit for the shooting, to protect April 30: President Wilson sends Federal troops to curb the special agent from possible revenge. Purvis likened the operation to a military action, in which all the special agents an outbreak of violence in tent camps in Colorado. were equal contributors, and therefore, equally heroic. Nevertheless, he became famous as “The Man Who Got Dillinger,” receiving fan mail from around the country. April-May: Writer and activist Upton Sinclair stages anti- Purvis became instantly famous as the “ace G-man.” Reporters liked his idealistic, self-effacing manner. Rockefeller demonstrations. Protesters descend on Purvis received many letters from women who offered themselves or their friends in marriage. Hoover, however, was the Rockefeller estate. Several “Wobblies,” mem- very jealous of Purvis’ popularity, which briefly surpassed his own. He did not want any individual special agent to be bers of the revolutionary Industrial Workers of the singled out for fame: “no one employee of this Division can be responsible for the successful termination of any one World union, are killed when a bomb, possibly intended case... Through cooperative efforts a case is broken.” forJohn D. Rockefeller Jr., goes off. Hoover assigned Purvis to bad cases and subjected him to extreme scrutiny. Purvis resigned a year later. August: World War I begins. The Rockefellers donate Although Purvis had many job offers, Hoover sabotaged his attempts to find work in law enforcement or a related field. millions to international relief agencies. Purvis was forced to earn money by making commercial endorsements, which he found humiliating. Despite Hoover’s harsh treatment, Purvis remained loyal to the FBI and its special agents. After leaving the December: The United Mine Workers union agrees to FBI, he married and had three sons. In 1960, he died at his home in South Carolina, killed by a shot from the .45 auto- call off its strike without having achieved its goals. matic that his fellow agents gave him when he resigned. Although the FBI labeled the death a suicide, it was later Rivera meets . determined that Purvis may have been trying to remove a tracer bullet that was stuck in the pistol.

3 1915 January 25: John D. Rockefeller Jr. testifies before the U.S. Commission on Industrial Relations. He softens his position on labor unions and vows to improve the CCHHAARRLLEESS AA.. LLIINNDDBBEERRGGHH situation at Ludlow. September: John D. Rockefeller Jr. and his advisor, Charles A. Lindbergh was born February 4, 1902, William MacKenzie King, tour Ludlow and meet the in Detroit, Michigan. He studied mechanical engineering at miners in a well-publicized visit. the University of Wisconsin, but left after two years to go to flight school. In 1923, he gained employment as a barn- 1916 stormer and finished his army flight training in 1925. After Rivera’s work is included in two group shows of Post- his training, Lindbergh became the chief airmail pilot for Impressionism and Cubism at Marius de Zaya’s Mod- the route between St. Louis and Chicago. On May 20, ern Gallery in New York. 1927, Lindbergh became the first person to fly solo non- 1917 stop across the Atlantic from New York to Paris. His mono- John D. Rockefeller Sr. begins to transfer his wealth. plane, named the Spirit of St. Louis, took him the 3,600 The United States enters World War I. miles in 33 1/2 hours. His return to America made him the world’s first superstar. 1918 Also in 1927, he made another historic non-stop November: World War I ends flight, this time from Washington, DC to City, where Rivera denounces Cubism in favor of a more he fell in love with Anne Morrow, daughter of U.S. meaningful artistic style. He travels to Italy to study the Ambassador . They were married in 1929, works of Renaissance artists. The murals of after only four dates. During the 1930’s, Lindbergh worked Michelangelo make a great impact on him. as a technical advisor for Transcontinental Air Transport and Pan American Airways. 1919 In 1932, the Lindberghs’ 20-month-old son was President Wilson sets aside Mount Desert Island, kidnapped and murdered. In 1935, the Lindberghs moved , as a national park. Over the next decade, John to England to escape unwanted publicity. In 1936, Charles D. Rockefeller Jr. will donate 11,000 acres to what will helped Dr. Alexis Carrel invent a perfusion pump that eventually become Acadia National Park. helped keep organs working during surgery. Their Prohibition begins. The 18th Amendment is ratified by continuous collaborative efforts led to the creation of the 36 states, making it illegal to produce, transport or sell artificial heart. alcohol. He inspected the German Air Force in 1938 and was impressed by the country’s advances in aviation. 1921 Lindbergh returned home in 1939 to make anti-war Rivera returns to Mexico and, under the sponsorship of speeches on behalf of the . These the Mexican Minister of Education, Jose Vasconcelos, speeches labeled him as anti-Semitic and pro-Nazi. When begins his career in painting murals. Charles and Anne Lindbergh America entered the war, he supported the decision and 1922 enlisted in the Air Force. At first his help was turned down, February: Lindbergh leaves college to study flying at but later he flew in some Anne Morrow Nebraska Standard Aircraft Corporation combat missions in the April 9: Lindbergh makes his first solo flight. Pacific. After the war, he Lindbergh continued consulting for 1923 Pan American and the U.S. Anne Morrow was born in 1906 to Dwight and March: Lindbergh’s father co-signs a $900 bank loan so Department of Defense. In Betty Morrow. Growing up, Anne described herself as that Charles can buy a surplus army airplane. 1954, President Eisenhower “the youngest, shiest, most self-conscious adolescent December: After only five months in the Navy, twenty- made him brigadier-general that ever lived.” She took much comfort in confiding her year-old Dillinger goes AWOL. in the Air Force Reserve. thoughts and feelings in her diaries and in letter writing. That same year, Lindbergh In 1927, the Morrows hosted a Christmas party. Rivera begins the Creation in the Anfiteatro won the Pulitzer Prize for One of the special attendees was Charles Lindbergh. Bolívar of the Escuela Nacional Preparatoria. He joins his autobiography, The Anne instantly fell in love with him and, much to her the Communist Party and becomes the common-law Spirit of St. Louis. In his surprise, she left quite an impression on him as well. husband of Guadalupe Marin. later years, he moved to After four “meetings” together, Charles proposed to 1924 and became a Anne. Anne became Charles’ co-pilot, navigator and April 12: Dillinger marries 16-year-old Beryl Hovious. spokesman for environ- radio operator. mental conservation. He Lindbergh strongly encouraged his wife to May: J. Edgar Hoover is appointed acting director of the died from lymphatic cancer become independent and to find her own voice. Despite Federal Division of Investigation. Josh Bacher and Melissa Jayme as in , Hawaii, on August the kidnapping of their first born child and her “not-so- Charles and Anne Lindbergh September 6: Dillinger and Ed Singleton rob Frank (photo by Gerrry Goodstein) 26, 1974. story book” romantic marriage, Anne came into her own Morgan, a Mooresville grocer. by becoming an accomplished diarist and writer, and important feminist voice in the twentieth century. September 16: Dillinger arrives at the Indiana State Reformatory in Pendleton to serve 10 to 20 years. Dwight Whitney Morrow (1873–1931), American banker and diplomat, was born in Lindbergh enlists as a U.S. Army flying cadet. He is pro- Huntington, West Virginia. He practiced law in New York moted to first lieutenant in the National Guard a year City and entered the banking house of J. P. Morgan & later. Company in 1914. After the United States entered World 1925 War I, he became a member of the allied transport council September 17: Eighteen-year-old is and chief civilian aide to Gen. John J. Pershing. In the involved in a serious bus accident which leaves her midst of the ill feeling aroused by the Mexican laws confined to bed. expropriating U.S. holdings in Mexico, President Coolidge appointed Morrow ambassador to Mexico in 1927. His John D. Rockefeller Jr. offers to purchase the Barnard service was notable because it marked a new spirit of Cloisters, a medieval museum in upper Manhattan, for cooperation in U.S. relations with . He was the Metropolitan Museum of Art. afterward a delegate to the London Naval Conference in 1925 1930 and served in the U.S. Senate as a Republican for Lindbergh graduates first in his class from the U.S. Air from 1930–31. His daughter, Anne Spencer Service Flying School, Kelly Field, San Antonio. He is Morrow, married Charles A. Lindbergh. Charles Lindberg Jr. commissioned second lieutenant in Air Service Reserve Corps and becomes Chief Pilot for Robertson Aircraft Co. in St. Louis. 1927 Bruno Hauptmann February 25: Lindbergh purchases the Spirit of St. Born in Germany in 1899, Hauptmann, a petty thief, immigrated to the United States in November of 1923 Louis for $10,580. using a disguise and a stolen landing card. The following spring, he met Anna Schoeffler – a German immigrant who lived in Queens. In October of 1925, they were married. Life in the United States was good to the Hauptmanns. Anna May 20: Charles A. Lindbergh becomes the first aviator worked in a bakery and Hauptmann was a carpenter. They lived in a comfortable home in the Bronx. to make a solo, non-stop, transatlantic flight. In September of 1935, a $10 gold certificate from the Lindbergh ransom money with a license plate number July: The first “talkie”, The Jazz Singer starring Al Jol- written on it was discovered at a local bank. The license plate belonged to Bruno . Soon there- son, is released. after Hauptmann was arrested and charged with the . During a search of Hauptmann’s house and garage, nearly $15,000 of the Lindbergh ransom money and a plank September: Babe Ruth hits his 60th home run - a containing the address and phone number of Dr. John Condon was found. single season record. The state’s case against Hauptmann was compelling. Hauptmann was 1928 positively identified by Dr. John Condon as the man with whom Dr. Condon had Rivera and Lupe separate. met and delivered the ransom money. Prosecution experts testified that the 1929 ladder used in the kidnapping had been made from wood found in Hauptmann’s May 27: Lindbergh marries Anne Morrow. attic and that Hauptmann’s handwriting matched that found on the ransom notes. Eyewitnesses testified that it was Hauptmann who had spent some of the Rivera is appointed director of the Academy of San Lindbergh gold certificates and that he had been seen in the area of the Carlos. Hopewell estate on the day of the kidnapping. Based on this evidence, Lindbergh helps found Transcontinental & Western Air. Hauptmann was convicted and sentenced to death. Throughout the proceedings, Hauptmann maintained his innocence, 1930 claiming that the money found in his garage had belonged to a deceased friend, Febuary: Anne Lindbergh becomes the first woman and Isidore Fisch. He further maintained that he had not turned the gold certificates tenth person to obtain a first-class glider license, the in because he was an illegal alien and he feared being deported. Hauptman was highest licensure at the time. executed on April 3, 1936.

4 DIEGO RIVERA FRIDA KAHLO March: Charles and Anne chart a new course across the North Pacific to China. Diego Rivera, born in 1886 in the silver-mining On July 6, 1907, Magdalena Carmen Frida Kahlo June 20: Beryl Hovious divorces Dillinger on the town of , Mexico, began his formal training as Calderon was born in Coyoacan, Mexico to Mathilde grounds that he is a convicted felon. He is devastated. a visual artist at the National School of Art, San Carlos Calderon and , the third of four girls. At the Academy, at the age of 11. Upon graduation in 1907, he age of seven, Frida suffered an attack of polio which June 22: Charles Lindbergh Jr. is born. affected the use of her right leg permanently. This was the received a government grant enabling him to study in July 15: An embittered Dillinger is sent to the Indiana beginning of her life-long struggle with health. Europe. For most of the next 14 years, Rivera lived and State Prison, to live among more hardened criminals, In 1922, while attending the National Preparatory developed as an artist abroad. After spending time in upon his own request. Madrid and Toledo, Spain, he settled in Paris in 1909, School, Kahlo met Diego Rivera, who was painting his becoming a part of the Paris arts community as Paris was mural Creation for the school. Frida’s initial relationship to August: Lindbergh begins development of the becoming the art capital of the world. Rivera’s studies Diego was one of antagonism. At the time, Kahlo and “perfusion pump” (the precurser to the artificial heart) included the European Masters, Expressionism, fellow student Alejandro Gomez Arias were courting, and with Dr. Alexis Carrel. Impressionism, Pointillism, Post-Impressionism and Rivera was married to Lupe Marin. August: Rivera marries Frida Kahlo in Coyoacán. He is Cubism. He painted in virtually all of these styles during his Three years later, on September 17, Kahlo had a expelled from the Mexican communist party for maturation. Rivera adopted Cubism in 1913 and befriend- tragic but life-changing experience. While on a bus trip disobedience to its policies. U.S. ambassador Dwight ed Picasso. He did not abandon Cubism until 1917, when with Arias, Kahlo was seriously injured in a streetcar W. Morrow commissions Rivera to paint a mural for the he met the French art historian, Elie Faure. Faure became accident. She was found bathed in blood, without her loggia of the Palacio de Cortés in Cuernavaca. a pivotal figure in Rivera’s life pointing out to him that in clothes, virtually impaled on the rod of a metal handrail. order to play a meaningful part in the art world of the The following is a description of her injuries: “Fracture of November: The Museum of (MoMA) opens twentieth century, he had to study the the third and fourth lumbar vertebrae; in . Abby Rockefeller is one of its fresco painting of Giotto, della Francesca pelvic fractures; fracture of the right co-founders, with friends Lillie P. Bliss and Mary Quinn and Michelangelo. In 1920, Rivera traveled foot; dislocation of the left elbow; Sullivan. through Italy to study the masters of fresco. deep abdominal wound produced by November: Hollywood’s version of gangster life Upon his return to Mexico in 1921, a metal rod entering through the left captivates the nation in the first of many Depression- he began his work as a muralist. Over the hip and exiting through the genitals. era crime movies, Little Caesar. next 27 years, Rivera painted 16 murals in Acute peritonitis; cystic with drainage November: Rivera arrives in . the Americas, six of which were done in the for several days.” Kahlo was con- United States. signed to extensive bed rest during December: Rivera begins work on Allegory of California The six in the United States were: which she began painting to alliviate in San Francisco. her boredom. On August 21, 1929, Allegory of California (Pacific Stock 1931 Frida Kahlo married Diego Rivera. Exchange, San Francisco, 1931), The December: A Diego Rivera Retrospective is mounted at From 1930 to 1933, Kahlo Making of a Fresco, (San Francisco Art The . Institute, 1931), Detroit Industry (The accompanied Rivera to America, first Institute of Arts, Detroit, Michigan, 1932- to San Francisco, then New York and Construction of the 14-building Rockefeller Center 33), (RCA Building Detroit. While in San Francisco, she complex begins during the Great Depression. Over the at Rockefeller Center, 1933, pulverized by met her life-long medical advisor, Dr. next eight years, the massive project will provide the management in 1934), Portrait of Leo Eloesser. In Detroit, as Rivera employment for 75,000 workers. America (New Workers’ School, New York worked on his mural for the Detroit 1932 City, 1933), and Pan-American Unity (City Institute of Arts, Kahlo was hospital- Rivera is commissioned to paint murals for the Garden College, San Francisco, 1940). ized because of severe hemorrhag- Court of the Detroit Institute of Art. A contract is signed In 1922, he joined the Communist ing due to a miscarriage. Shortly between the Founders Society of the Detroit Institute of Party and, in 1927, traveled to the Soviet after, her mother died. These two Arts and Rivera for the extended fresco project, Detroit Union to participate in the Fourth Inter- events influenced some of Kahlo’s Industry, to be funded by Edsel Ford. national and celebrate the Anniversary of most graphic work. A year later, Frida the October revolution. A year later, after received another blow when Rivera 1933 becoming involved in anti-Soviet politics, Rivera was began an affair with her sister, Christina Kahlo. This affair Rivera paints murals in the main corridor of the lobby of asked to leave the Soviet Union. In 1929, he was expelled tore the three of them apart. the RCA building in New York. from the Mexican Communist Party. Rivera applied five While separated from Rivera, Kahlo moved to Helen Wills Moody wins Wimbeldon for the 6th time. times for readmission, but he was not accepted back into New York and painted on her own. When she returned to 1934 the party until 1954. Mexico, she and Rivera reconciled. In 1938, French January 15: While robbing the First National Bank in Rivera was married four times: , a Surrealist Andre Breton visited Mexico and met Kahlo. This East Chicago, Indiana, Dillinger is confronted by Officer Russian painter and political activist, his common-law-wife meeting resulted in the Mexique exhibition in Paris in Jan- William O’Malley, who shoots him several times. from 1910 to 1921, gave him a son in 1916. Little Diego uary. The Louvre purchased her self-portrait entitled The Because he is wearing a bulletproof vest, Dillinger is died of pneumonia at 14 months of age. Rivera aban- Frame. Kahlo returned to Mexico in April, but in the fall she unharmed. He shoots O’Malley and kills him. doned Beloff after returning to Mexico 1921. In 1922, he and Rivera began divorce proceedings. Many specu- married Guadalupe Marin. Their daughters Lupe and Ruth lated that Rivera was upset about her affair with Leon Trot- January 25: The Dillinger gang is arrested in Tucson, were born in 1924 and 1927. He left Guadalupe in 1927 sky. The seperation was very difficult for Kahlo and and Dr. Arizona. Pierpont, Makley, and Clark are extradited to and married Frida Kahlo in 1929. They divorced in 1939, Eloesser persuaded Rivera to return to Kahlo. Kahlo and Ohio for the murder of Sheriff Sarber. Dillinger is extra- after many affairs on both sides, Rivera claiming that Rivera remarried on December 8, 1940, while in San dited to Indiana for the murder of O’Malley. Francisco. Kahlo’s affair with Trotsky was too much. They remarried January 30: Dillinger arrives at the Lake County Jail in Kahlo had only one solo exhibition in Mexico - in in 1940. After Kahlo’s death in 1954, Rivera married his art Crown Point, Indiana, where reporters are captivated the spring of 1953. Her health was very bad at this time dealer, Emma Hurtando, in 1955. That year he also trav- by his charisma and sense of humor. Dillinger poses for and doctors told her not to attend. Minutes after guests eled to Moscow to undergo cancer treatment. Among his a photo with Prosecutor Robert Estill, and places his were allowed into the gallery, sirens were heard outside. lovers he counted Helen Wills Moody, Wina Modotti and arm on Estill’s shoulder. This scandalous photo will The crowd went crazy. Outside there was an ambulance Paulette Goddard. Rivera died on November 24, 1957, in eventually ruin Estill’s career. San Angel, Mexico. accompanied by a motorcycle escort. Frida Kahlo was His life was marked by colossal artistic achieve- carried from the ambulance into her exhibition on a February: The RCA murals are destroyed. ments, personal triumphs and disasters, facts and legend hospital stretcher. She was placed in her bed in the middle March 3: Dillinger escapes from Crown Point. Dillinger intertwining constantly. He was an accomplished artist, a of the gallery. Kahlo told jokes, entertained the crowd, drives to Chicago in Sheriff Lillian Holley’s car. By self-centered mythomaniac and a disastrous infidel. sang and drank the entire evening. Two months later, driving across state lines in a stolen vehicle, Dillinger Kahlo’s right leg was amputated due to gangrene. commits a federal crime, which allows the Federal Until Kahlo’s death on July 13, 1954, she was Division of Investigation (D.O.I.) to pursue him. active despite the many illnesses that plagued her. She taught at the Ministry of Public Education, where she left June 22: Dillinger is informally named America’s first Pablo Picasso: her mark on her students. The Casa Azul, Frida’s birth Public Enemy Number One. minor European painter. home, was opened to the public on July 30, 1958, as the June: Rivera signs a contract to reproduce the RCA . murals on a wall at the in . Calvin Coolidge (1872-1933) July 4: Dillinger moves into the apartment of Anna was the 30th President of the United States. As Vice : Sage, who owns several brothels. President, he took over for Warren Harding in 1923 after July 19: Anna Sage, who is facing deportation back to Twentieth-century painter. Rival of Picasso. the latter’s unexpected death. Coolidge was officially her native Romania, meets with Melvin Purvis, head of elected to the office in 1924, and then declined to run the Chicago D.O.I. office. again in 1928. He served as president for a major portion July 22: Dillinger is killed in an ambush by D.O.I. of the “Roaring 20s” and remains a symbol of that era. special agents. During his presidency, “Silent Cal” (as Coolidge Lucienne Block came to be known) was generally conservative in his was born in Geneva, July: The first round-the-world, solo flight is completed policies. His economic philosophy was that success , in 1909. She by Wiley Post. came to those who worked hard and were honest. He was the first to serve an July: Rivera begins painting at the New Workers was opposed to government intervention and relief for apprenticeship in fresco ‘School. workers, and was predominantly pro-business. In foreign painting under Diego Rivera. She assisted November: Rivera begins his smaller version of the affairs, Coolidge imposed American influence across Diego Rivera on his RCA mural. Latin America. Under his direction, the U.S. interceded in murals in Detroit and a conflict between Chile and Peru in 1923, and dodged December 5: Prohibition is repealed by the 21st New York between 1931 political quagmires in Mexico and Nicaragua in 1927. Amendment. and 1933. During the 1924 was a year of personal tragedy for Coolidge. His controversy over the December: Public showing of the New Workers’ School second son, Calvin, Jr., died of blood poisoning when (Section of mural photographed murals at Rockefeller panels and nightly lectures by Rivera. Rivera and Kahlo blisters he got while playing tennis became infected. by Block) Center, Block smuggled sail for Mexico and, on arrival, move into their newly After his son’s death, President Coolidge remarked, ”The in a Leica camera (concealed in her bosom) and took pic- finished residence in San Angel. power and the glory of the presidency went with him.” tures of the mural.

5 1935 John D. Rockefeller III December: To escape media attention, the Lindberghs John D. was born March 21, 1906, in New York City. He graduat- move to England. ed from in 1929. Construction Will Rogers and Wiley Post are killed in a plane crash began on Rockefeller Center in 1931. He married in Alaska. Rockefeller Jr. Blanchette Ferry Hooker in 1932. In 1947, he served as 1936 president of American Youth Hostels Inc., and from 1952- April 3: At 8:44pm, Bruno Richard Hauptmann is 1971, he was chairman of the Rockefeller Foundation. John D. Rockefeller was born in Cleveland, Ohio, executed at the New Jersey State Prison in Trenton. The year 1956 saw the incorporation of The India Inter- on January 29, 1874, the youngest of four siblings, and the national Center, The Asia Society and Lincoln Center for October: Lindbergh makes his first of five trips to only son born to the founder of Standard Oil. After the Performing Arts, for which John D. III was the leading Germany to investigate and evaluate air power. graduating from Brown University, he married Abby Aldrich, fund-raiser. Groundbreaking for Lincoln Center began in the daughter of U.S. Senator Nelson Aldrich of Rhode 1937 1960. He raised over $175 million by forging an alliance Island, a charismatic woman who loved art and was not January 9: León and Natalia Trotsky arrive at Tampico. between government and private interests, and the Cen- impressed by his money. One thousand guests attended They live in the Riveras’ home. ter still remains the largest cultural center in the world. their wedding, which was touted by newspapers across the His concern for the world’s over population led him to be John D. Rockefeller Sr. dies. At offices, refineries and country as a new alliance between wealth and political an instrumental developer of birth control pills and sex companies that had once comprised Standard Oil, work power. education in schools. During Nixon’s administration, he stops for five minutes. Abby’s influence was particularly apparent in the was chairman of the National Commission on Pop- 1938 couple’s relationship to their children: Abby (known as ulation Growth and the American Future. In 1973, he is named president of Rockefeller “Babs”, 1903), John D. III (1906), Nelson (1908), Laurance founded the Filer Commission for Private Philanthropy Center. (1910), Winthrop (1912), and David (1915). Concerned and Public Needs. John D. Rockefeller III died in a car about the corrupting influence of wealth on his family, accident at age 72 on July 10, 1978. Lindbergh accepts the German Eagle from Hermann Junior was a very severe father. He insisted that the Goering, the Nazis’ second in command. Lindbergh’s children keep ledgers to account for their allowances and their families, evicted from their company homes, spent the reputation is sullied; questions are raised about his that they only spend a third of the money, which was winter in tent colonies in the town of Ludlow. In March loyalty. earned by performing numerous chores (the other two 1914, with the strike still unresolved, John D. Rockefeller 1939 thirds were to be donated and/or saved). Jr., a board member of Colorado Fuel, testified before the World War II begins. In 1896, Junior entered the Standard Oil offices at House Subcommittee on Mines and Mining. He upheld the 26 Broadway. “I feel but little confidence in my ability to fill “open shop” as a sacred ideal. When the strike was The Lindberghs return to the U.S. Charles begins to the position which is before me,” he wrote in a letter to his violently suppressed by local law enforcement (as well as speak against U.S. intervention in the war in Europe. mother, “but know that I am not afraid to work or do what- private “security details”) in April 1914, public opinion Trotsky announces he no longer feels “moral solidarity” ever is required of me, and with God’s help I will do my turned against Junior, blaming him for the deaths of two with Rivera’s anarchistic ideas. best.” Junior endeavored to find a role for himself in his women and eleven children. With the help of labor expert father’s empire, but soon grew disenchanted with the 1940 William MacKenzie King, Junior confronted the crisis and business and the controversies that had erupted around it February: Rivera and Kahlo separate and are divorced. gradually addressed some of the issues raised by the in the early 1900s. In 1910, at the age of 36, he decided to miners. His efforts culminated in a much-publicized visit to June: Rivera arrives in San Francisco. cut all ties with the Standard Oil trust (except for two of its Ludlow and a new labor agreement that improved August: Trotsky is assassinated by Ramón Mercader. companies) and devote himself to philanthropy. conditions at the Colorado mine. The Mine Workers’ strike In 1913, he found himself in the middle of a major against Colorado Fuel and Iron was crushed. Junior how- December: Kahlo comes to San Francisco and is rec- Rockefeller scandal. In September of that year, nine thou- ever, knew that slicker and more effective methods were onciled with Rivera; they remarry on December 8. sand workers at the Rockefeller-owned Colorado Fuel and needed to maintain the rule of the capitalist class. It was at President Franklin Roosevelt names Nelson Iron Company went out on strike for union recognition and this time that Junior discovered the power of public Rockefeller Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs, to better hours, wages and housing. The coal miners and relations. Ivy Lee, one of the founders of this new stem Nazi influence in Latin America. phenomenon, became a member of the Rockefeller stable. Lee put out bulletins claiming that the two women and 1941 eleven children died because of an overturned stove, not Lindbergh joins the America First Committee, an NNeellssoonn RRoocckkeeffeelllleerr because of the Colorado militia’s gunfire. Upton Sinclair, organization that opposes voluntary American entry author of “The Jungle,” called this well-paid hack “Poison into World War II. was born on July 8, 1908, the third of six children of John D. Rockefeller and . As a Ivy.” Poet Carl Sandburg said Lee was “below the level of Pearl Harbor is bombed. The U.S. enters the war. boy, Nelson Rockefeller was a mischievous tyke, flunk- a hired gunman.” Over the years Lee was able to plant Lindbergh resigns his Air Corps commission, then is ing subjects in school, starting food fights at family mountains of pro-Rockefeller material within the capitalist- denied reinstatement after the U.S. enters the war dinners and forever playing practical jokes on his owned newspapers and magazines. A particular triumph unsuspecting family (never on Father though.). He was was getting the Associated Press to write a more favorable 1942 not admitted to Princeton (to the dismay of his father) obituary for John D. Sr. April 3: Lindbergh departs for Detroit, Michigan, to work and settled on Dartmouth. After graduating in 1930 with “Crowds are led by symbols and phrases,” said for Ford building B-24 Liberator Bombers. a B.A. in economics, Rockefeller went to work for the Lee. He would later go on to do public relations work for the 1943 family. He was appointed chairman of the Junior Third Reich, showing America a “more favorable face”. President Roosevelt signs a proclamation establishing Advisory Committee of the newly formed Museum of Junior also enlisted the aid of Mackenzie King. King, a Jackson Hole National Monument in the Grand Tetons, Modern Art. As chairman, he oversaw an exhibit of former Canadian labor minister, imposed a representation Wyoming, following two decades of behind-the-scenes American muralists in 1930. One of the commissioned plan on the CF&I miners in 1915 – thereby creating a lobbying by John D. Rockefeller Jr. murals was called ‘Us Fellas Gotta Stick Together’ “company union” – as a way to prevent a real, independent Al Capone. The mural depicted John D. Rockefeller union from being created. A grateful John D. Rockefeller Jr. 1945 Sr., Herbert Hoover, Henry Ford and J. P. Morgan sit- gave him a $100,000 gift. This was an extremely useful World War II ends. ting with Al Capone. Rockefeller panicked. But the big investment considering that King would later serve 21 1946 boys (Ford, Morgan and Granddad) allowed the exhibi- years as Canadian Prime Minister. Nelson persuades John D. Rockefeller Jr. to purchase tion to open and placed the mural discreetly out of the With the Ludlow debacle behind him, and moved land on New York City’s East River and donate it to the way. Three years later, Rockefeller would panic again. by a sense of stewardship, his deeply held religious beliefs United Nations. In 1935, Rockefeller was appointed to the and his interest in scientific and social progress, Junior initiated and pushed forward a large number of 1947 board of directors of Creole Petroleum Co., a philanthropic endeavors. He collaborated with his father in Jackie Robinson becomes the first African American to subsidiary of Standard Oil. President Roosevelt chose the creation of the Rockefeller Institute for Medical play baseball in the major leagues. Rockefeller to coordinate the Office of Inter-American Affairs in August of 1940. By the end of the war, 75% Research (now Rockefeller University), one of the first 1948 of the world news that reached Latin America medical research institutions in the nation. A year later, he Abby Rockefeller dies at age 74. “originated from Washington, where it was tightly con- established the General Board of Education, dedicated to Rivera completes the Hotel del Prado mural. His trolled and shaped by Rockefeller’s office. This the improvement of the educational system in the South. inclusion of the slogan “God does not exist” creates a education in the management and manipulation of He was responsible for the restoration of Colonial scandal, with the result that the mural is kept from news was to prove invaluable to Nelson Rockefeller in Williamsburg, started in 1926, and changed the layout of public view for nine years. his political career after World War II.” (Epstien) New York City with the construction of Rockefeller Center In 1958, Rockefeller became Governor of (1931-1940). Further additions to New York’s cityscape John D. Rockefeller Jr. sells Rockefeller Center, as well New York, an office he would hold until 1973. During were Riverside Church, symbolic of Junior’s attempt to as the Pocantico family estate, to his sons and begins his reign as governor, Rockefeller refused to negotiate create an interfaith Protestant movement, and The the final disposition of his fortune, giving $73 million to with the inmates during a prisoners’ revolt at the Cloisters, fashioned from elements of five medieval monas- charity and $57 million to the Rockefeller Brothers maximum-security Attica State Penitentiary in upstate teries brought over from Europe to house the Metropolitan Fund. New York. The incident culminated in a major assault Museum of Art’s legendary medieval collection. Eisenhower is elected. A few months later, Nelson joins by the state police, resulting in the death of ten Junior also showed a particular interest in the his administration. hostages and 29 inmates. area of conservation, donating thousands of acres to the He campaigned for President in 1960,1964 Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming and the Acadia 1952 and 1968, but his platform as a Liberal-Republican kept National Park in Maine. In 1946, he gave eight million Rivera paints The Nightmare of War and The Dream of him from the nominations. In 1966, Nelson, in an dollars for the purchase of land for the permanent home of Peace with images of Stalin accompanied by Mao Tse- attempt to draw hard-line Republicans to his corner, the United Nations in New York. His charitable gifts are tung. The Director of INBA, Carlos Chávez, refuses to campaigned to institute his draconian Drug Laws. They estimated to have totaled upwards of $537 million, with the exhibit the work. INBA officials remove the painting became laws in New York state in 1973. The laws largest portion going to general foundations, churches and from Palacio Nacional de Bellas Artes. called for harsh prison sentences for a wide range of religious organizations, historic preservation and restora- 1953 drug offenses. The laws are still in effect today. tion, colleges and universities, parks and conservation, and Frida Kahlo has her only exhibit in Mexico. In 1974, in the wake of Watergate, President libraries and museums. A year after the death of Abby in 1948, Junior 1954 Nixon was forced to resign. President Gerald Ford married Martha Baird Allen, the widow of a former college July 13: Frida Kahlo dies. Suicide is rumored. No offi- nominated Nelson to be Vice President. After grueling friend. The postwar years saw him taking on a less cial autopsy is done. The last words in her diary read: “I confirmation hearings that focused on the Rockefellers’ prominent role. He sold Rockefeller Center to his five sons hope the leaving is joyful and I hope never to return”. wealth, Nelson Rockefeller was sworn in as Vice President. In 1979, Nelson A. Rockefeller died of a in 1948, and handed down some of his fortune through numerous financial gifts to them. He continued his Lindbergh wins the Pulitzer Prize for The Spirit of St. heart attack. He was 71 years old. And, as the legend philanthropic activities, however, up until his death Louis. goes, he died with a smile. in Tucson, Arizona, May 11, 1960, at the age of 86.

6 MY HEROS WERE BLACK AND WHITE Readers’ Responses 1955 Television came to stay at my house in 1951. It April: Anne publishes Gift from the Sea. It is a massive We asked friends of Irondale to send us their brought along baseball, live drama, and my heros. Clayton commercial hit. thoughts on heroes. Here are some of their Moore was The Lone Ranger, George Reeves was Super- July: Rivera marries Emma Hurtado, his art dealer responses. man, Roy Rogers came as himself, and Al Hodge was Captain Video. since 1946. Each week I watched in fascination as my heros Nelson plays a pivotal role in the Eisenhower- What happened to heroines? went places and had adventures Tom Sawyer would have Khrushchev summit in Geneva. Along with Henry ? envied. I saw them overcome evil and the unknown with- Kissinger, he orchestrates the proposal for mutual Susan B. Anthony out fear or hesitation. They took on villains and problems aerial inspection of Soviet and U.S. military ? Anne Morrow Lindbergh simply because that was what they did. The idea of turning establishments, dubbed “Open Skies.” Maria Curie away never came up. They weren’t flawless by any means. Their plans Nelson resigns from the Eisenhower administration and Norma P. Munn got discovered, and they got knocked out and tied up, but returns to assume chairmanship of Rockefeller Center. by the end of the episode, or sometimes the series, the 1957 In response to your question – My hero was towns were saved, the evil-doers were locked up, and the Rivera dies in his San Angel studio. He is buried in the F.D.R. Growing up in the 1930’s – there was a depression heros were already gone, off to right new wrongs and seek Rotonda de Los Hombres Ilustres at the pantheon of – although I was too young to work – the struggle of my new adventures - “Say, who was that masked man? He left Dolores, Mexico City. parents and relations was very obvious. We debated as to before I got a chance to thank him.” 1958 whether $26 a month was too much rent to pay – 1936 Everything about the shows was black and white. Nelson enters New York’s gubernatorial campaign as a was Hitler in his heyday – the Jews were in peril – The characters, the plots, and the sets had a nearly car- Republican. He runs a dynamic campaign and beats democracy the same – we depended on Roosevelt to toon-like simplicity. Good was good, evil was evil, and that the Democratic opponent by more than 500,000 votes. save us – the 30’s – no money, no jobs – it was bare times was that. The heros didn’t smoke, didn’t drink, didn’t lie. to grow up – WWII saved me, you and the world – FDR They didn’t kill the villains, they shot the guns out of their 1960 was the guy. hands. In all The Lone Ranger episodes, no one was ever Construction of Lincoln Center begins. John D. Murray Braunstein killed. The heros had a moral code that sometimes came Rockefeller III is the leading fund-raiser for the through even to eight-year olds. “I would never order one construction of New York’s ambitious new complex of I have a hero; my father. It takes a great deal of of my Video Rangers to do something I wouldn’t do.” facilities for the performing arts. nerve to be willing to wed a widow with three kids - one on That particular lesson stuck with me. I was never John D. Rockefeller Jr. dies at age 86. the brink of being a teenager (not my best years). What able to tell someone else to do something I wouldn’t do was he thinking? myself. The dirty job, the unpopular presentation, the Nelson embarks on a brief run for the Republican Party But any man who during the depression confrontational interview, were all subject to the test - nomination for President, but loses to Richard M. Kerouaced his way across the country and back, walking, would I do it myself? More than once I did a nasty job Nixon. thumbing, and riding the rails, probably wasn’t afraid of myself rather than face the moral dilemma of delegating it. 1961 much. Add to this to his having seen action in Africa, Sici- Was I a better person for it? I don’t know, but I think I may Nelson announces that he is divorcing his wife of thirty ly, Omaha Beach and the Battle of the Bulge, always up sleep more easily. years. Two days later, he receives news that his son front building bridges or clearing mines ahead of the army. At the age of eight, I had trouble realizing the Michael has disappeared in New Guinea while He was just an ordinary person doing actors were different from the heros they played. I conducting anthropological research. Michael’s body extraordinary things and thinking it was no big deal. expected them to have their hero’s skills and ethics. Some will never be found. That’s my definition of a hero. of the actors also identified closely with their heros. Dottie Knapp Because the Lone Ranger was never seen without a mask, 1962 Clayton Moore always wore one during public Nelson is easily re-elected to a second term as appearances. Other actors found themselves typecast as Governor of New York. Help Us Count 50,000 Stars heros and had trouble getting other roles. Al Hodge was 1963 rarely able to act again and died in 1979 with little left but We are pleased to announce the second May: Nelson marries Margaretta “Happy” Murphy, the his Captain Video memorabilia. I sometimes wonder about former wife of a family friend. The wedding jeopardizes Irondale Starry Night Challenge! Any contribution his last years. Did he see himself as a failed actor, or as a his presidential aspirations. received before June 30, 2002 will be matched part time hero who thrilled his audience and whose exam- November: President John F. Kennedy is assassinated. dollar-or-dollar up to $50,000 by the Starry Night ple helped more than one boy be a better man? I hope it Fund. This money goes to support our produc- was the latter, because he left before I got a chance to November: Nelson decides to run for President. Lyndon tions Peter Pan and The Murals of Rockefeller thank him. Baines Johnson is elected President, defeating Center as well as the programs we run for New Malcolm Knapp Goldwater with 61% of the popular vote. York City’s public schools, the “crisis education” 1966 programs for youth-at-risk and the support of our Nelson is re-elected to a third term as Governor of New When you explore heroes, you explore the York. permanent ensemble of artists, who are complexity of human beings. This is why it is so juicy. employed for 42 weeks each year by Irondale. Thomas Jefferson is an American hero who owned slave; 1968 Our permanent company makes the kind of work MLK is an American hero who had multiple affairs. A fire- April: Martin Luther King Jr. is assassinated. you see here possible. fighter who ran up the stairs at WTC may abuse his wife. April 30: After President Johnson’s withdrawal from the We tend to think of heroes for specific acts and some- Make your contribution twice as effective by race, Nelson decides to enter the Republican primaries. times willing to suspend the rest. This leads to mytholo- He will lose the nomination to Nixon. making it now! Please make checks payable to gy, which all cultures have and build their values and Irondale Productions, Inc. and mail to PO Box practices upon. American culture is no different in its June: Robert F. Kennedy is assassinated. 150604 Brooklyn, NY 11215. Make sure you selective viewpoints and mythological past. A childhood 1970 indicate “Starry Night Challenge” on your check hero for me was typical: Sandy Koufax. Imagine not Nelson is re-elected to a fourth term as Governor of memo line. All contributions are tax deductible to pitching n the World Series because of the Jewish New York. the full extent of the law. The skies look bright, Holidays. More deeply, I was stunned by M. L. King and his courage. 1971 thanks to your generous support. Andy Ackerman May: Anne Morrow Lindbergh’s Bring Me a Unicorn, Diaries and Letters, 1922-1928 is published. September: Nelson refuses to negotiate with the Thanks to everyone who made our 2001-2002 Annual Gift Campaign and this inmates during a prisoners’ revolt at the maximum- security Attica State Penitentiary in upstate New York. year’s Starry Night Matching Fund Drive such a success. Your gifts make our 1973 education programs possible. We look forward to your continued support. Nelson proposes harsh drug laws to the New York State legislature that call for lengthy prison sentences for Adele Steiner Carol and Merle Gile Andrew and Robin Ackerman Roy and Nancy Thorton petty crimes. Jerry Bilton Susan Stix Michael & Eileen Posnick Sue Jenney and Frank Baier Rita Long Dorian and Sara Poole The Metzger Family Steven and Diane Jacobson Nelson announces his resignation from the William Stowe Florence Wheeler Leon and Nancy Golub Joseph and Marilyn Scherzer governorship. Brian Johnston Paula Freedman Nancy and David Giffey The Firm of Tonachel & Lewis, PC Martin B. Davis Robert Zuckerman Al and Muriel Perle Steve and Anne Marie Gold 1974 Judi Bendewald Anthony Tassi Hani and Jerome Light Leon and Florence Perahia August 8: Nelson Rockefeller is sworn in as Vice Vera Aryeh Marilyn Rothenberg Arthur M. Bernhang, P.C. Karl and Roberta Budmen Judy Segal Gwen Anderson Renata Hinrichs Kathryn Grant & Ed Sertrakian President of the United States. Julie Coulter Richard Blumenthal Marian Markham Mr. and Mrs. Edgar Braunstein Greg McCaslin Charles Fleischmann Kennon Rothchild Jennifer and Tom Schumacher August 26: Lindbergh dies of cancer at his island Pfizer Corp. Susan Fleminger Daniel Rubin New York State Council on the Arts retreat in Maui, Hawaii. Suzanne Ehly Sue Kuralt Nancy Arie and Elliot Sclar The Art Development Committee Fund Ted Kazanoff Taylor Headrick Timothy and Karin Terranova Sonnet Takahisa and Hollis Headrick 1975 Anonymous Michalann Hobson Andre and Theresa Tremper The Ken and Nina Rothchild Foundation President Ford chooses Bob Dole over Nelson as Chuck Noell Wallace B. Knapp Marjorie Hudgins Richard and Maryetta Sachs running mate. David Wolitzky The Starry Night Fund Lynn Fisher The Laurie Tisch Sussman Foundation Terry Baker Thomas Adams Alan and Jackie Roland National Endowment for the Arts 1978 Pheroze Wadia John Berman David Wolitzky Andy Lewis and Lizbeth Andresen John D. III dies in a car accident at age 72. Elin Diamond Barry Axelrod Ambac Corporation Phil and Lynn Lilienthal Emily Niesen Doug Balder The Spencer Trust The New York City Center for Arts Education Lisa Walker Jeanette Caurant The Ninihret Foundation (The Annenberg Foundation) 1979 Caroline Thomas Jack Cushman Burton and Sandra Freeman Bernard and Judy Robinson January: Nelson dies of a massive heart attack at age R. McMahon Marjorie Martin Mr. and Mrs. Marvin Carlson New York City Department of Cultural Affairs 71 under scandalous circumstances, while in the Jon Groetzinger Vicki Moeser Rory and Jill Greiss Mr. and Mrs. Peter Bloom company of a young female assistant. Peggy Myers Steven Oliva Mr. and Mrs. Bill Britten Company Foundation Morton Glickman Sue Pellowe Paul and Barbara Schwarz ARTNY/Andrew Mellon Foundation – 1985 Anne Delaney Robbin Swartz Sidney and Sheila Bloom Arts Relief Fund Bart Levine Camp Winnebago Barbara Mackenzie-Wood Lowa Foundation for Education and the Arts – Rockefeller Center is designated a National Historic Ethel Keshner Robert Finely Malcolm and Dottie Knapp in memory of David Bellin Landmark. Hilda Baumol Liam Gilmore-Greiss Mark and Diane Wladis Paul Gottlieb and Barbara Rosenberg Louis Proyect Vicky Greiss Barbara Hauben Ross Mrs. John Groetzinger 2001 Jane Rosis Johnny Stanko Anne Morrow Lindbergh dies in her sleep at age 91 in .

7 Something To Think RONDALE PRODUCES YOUTH THEATER FROM I About... MAINE IN ORIGINAL MUSICAL. Mural Under Fire for Klan Depiction March 22, 2002 - Today, the chancellor of the Bloom- During the run of The Murals of Rockefeller Center, Irondale is pleased to host and present the Maranacook ington campus of Indiana University will rule on the Community School Interactive Theater of Readfield, Maine, Maranacook Community School, a high school in Maine, future of a mural by Thomas Hart Benton. University to provide a powerful evening of musical theater. After a year in the writing process, the new musical, Nothing Again students, led by the Black Student Union, have - An Interactive Musical, is ready to hit the road. Don’t let the name scare you, the audience is not expected to sing. charged that a mural segment depicting a Ku Klux Klan The musical follows a few weeks in the life of Jeremy, a loner who is new to a school. He becomes quickly rally is painful to students and demanded that it be embroiled in a nest of antagonizing rumors that leave him few choices. Another student, Sonya, also becomes removed or covered. Others say that the mural reflects entangled in the rumor net throughout the course of the drama. It is clear by the end of the first act that these honestly on Indiana’s history, including its relationship students must contend with their challenges - the question is how. The play explores high school peer relationships with the Klan, and should remain on display. and adult/ teen relationships. It begs the questions: How do we support each other in mutually respectful and helpful ways? What is the cost of friendship? When are we enough and what do we need to get there? How can adults assist teens? What is the price of rage? How is that cost exacted? Rockefeller Center continued from page 1 During the second act, act one is revisited to illuminate the conflicts to determine how the audience could Debevoise firm explained the motives in a private have made different choices for more positive results for all involved. The structure of the play requires the collective, memorandum after the deal collapsed. collaborative wisdom of the audience to change the world - at least the world created in the first act. It is a “Rockefeller Center originated as a limited real challenging, thought-provoking, insightful, at times humorous, musically-powerful evening that showcases the estate project with the idea, in the main, of leasing ground performance potential of high school students. areas to others, who would build and finance their own The play is performed by MCSIT (pronounced mix it - Maranacook Community School Interactive Theater) buildings. The management of such an enterprise would and was written and directed by its director, Peter Duffy. MCSIT is a group of high school students trained in have been comparatively simple and would have required Augusto Boal’s Theater of the Oppressed techniques. These techniques solicit audience participation to rehearse comparatively limited financing. The functions of the possible solutions to real problems in our communities and lives. All actors and musicians (with the exception of Peter corporation would have been to prepare a general plan Duffy, the creator and music director) are between the ages of 15 and 18. The group hails from Readfield, Maine, for the whole development and to clear the general area where they provide workshops on diversity, violence, creating positive school climates, bullying, name calling, of existing leases in order to assure a harmonious and sexuality, peer-pressure, media exploitation of youth markets, and many other school-and-teen-based issues across economic development and to collect the rents.” the state (and now New York). A major hitch in the deal occurred just after the Please join MCSIT hosted by the Irondale Ensemble Project at the Theater for the New City, Crash of 1929, when the Metropolitan Opera withdrew Saturday, May 5 at 2 PM and Sunday, May 6 at 7PM. For reservations, please call Irondale at (718) 488-9233. from the project for financial reasons. John D. Junior at first attempted to find ways to keep the partnership alive, but had second thoughts once it was explained to him that the opera has seasons, negating its ability to function as a year-round draw to the area. THE COMPANY John R. Todd, who had successfully developed We’re All Still Here! Jim Niesen the Greybar Building next to Grand Central, wrote to As we present you with this latest version (never Terry Greiss Winthrop Aldrich, John D. Junior’s uncle: say finished) of The Murals of Rockefeller Center, we’d like Ken Rothchild “The opera house would be a dead spot and greatly to bring a few things to your attention. Michael-David Gordon reduce shopping values in all the property facing it. I am 1) This piece has been in development for 3 years Maria Knapp saying this because I am hoping so keenly that the matter will not be reopened, and am enclosing a copy of 2) Patrena Murray We have maintained a full-time acting company for this letter and asking if you think well of it that you will 12 years, and through this, the most difficult Damen Scranton Jack Lush pass it on to Mr. Debevoise.” (Tom Debevoise was on of funding year in our history, not one member of the the few people John D. Jr. regarded as a peer.) company has been laid off! Sven Miller Randy Glickman Having committed to the leases with Columbia 3) We have kept education programs going in and with the project now falling apart, the Rockefellers Marcelle Belgrave schools, whether or not they had the money to pay were faced with the prospect of paying the University a us, in the face of Board of Education budget cuts Josh Bacher yearly rental of $3.6 million for the next twenty-one years. (likely to reach one billion dollars by the next school Danny Bacher John D. Jr. decided to move to plan “B”: developing the year). Melissa Jayme property himself. He authorized the construction of office T. Michael Hall buildings on the site whose rents would defray the None of the above makes sense if we look at the bottom annual ground rental payments due Columbia. This, how- line. It only makes sense if it’s worth doing! WITH ever, meant that in addition to the $3.6 million yearly rent We survive only because of the people in this The Walter Thompson Orchestra the Rockefellers now had a $49 million dollar mortgage room: the artists who make the commitment to achieve BOARD OF TRUSTEES and 4 million square feet of as yet unrented office space. excellence and the audiences and donors who believe that Barbara Hauben Ross, President In order to attract tenants to the location, John D. such commitment deserves to be supported. encouraged by his wife Abby Aldrich Rockefeller, Andrew Ackerman We’ve kept our promises this year, because you embarked on a plan to fill the walls of the main building have been there for us. We’ll ‘keep on keeping on’ if you Gwen Anderson with murals by some of modern art’s leading painters. can too. The support you give (buying a ticket, making an Charles Mackenzie Fleischman After being rejected outright by both Picasso and Matisse, annual gift, supporting a specific production or educational Michael-David Gordon the Rockefellers turned to the well-known Mexican outreach program) means that we’ll all sit in this room Rory Greiss muralist Diego Rivera, the English painter Frank Brangwyn again next year. The conversation will be different, Terry Greiss and the Spanish painter Jose Maria Sert. Rivera’s work because the world will be different—again, but it will be just Andrew D.Lewis would occupy the most prominent position, on the center as important to have! Help us continue our important Jim Niesen wall behind the main information desk facing the skating mission. Help us continue to create socially-relevant rink and the Channel Gardens. theater that has the power to provoke, to change and to So bad were renting conditions in the U.S., how- heal! The activist voice that makes Irondale necessary to ever, that the family began to scour the globe for its community, can only exist by holding on to our A Word About Our Box Office Policy... prospective tenants. To fill the smaller buildings facing 5th permanent company. Your gift is fully tax deductible and Avenue, the family approached various foreign will stretch a lot farther than your typical corporate bail-out. This year our ticket price will be $25 for a general admis- governments. Today these buildings are known as the sion seat. To those of you who are used to paying $35-$50 International Building, the Palazzo d’Italia, La Maison for an Off-Broadway ticket, this will seem cheap, and we Francaise, and the British Building. What is now the Special Events during are pleased to be able to offer you inexpensive quality International Building was supposed to house commercial theater. We also know that there are many (if not most) of space rented by the Third Reich. John D. Jr. had hoped you who will bridle at the fact that we’ve had to raise our that Mussolini himself would rent the Palazzo d’Italia. In a The Murals of Rockefeller Center price. To you we say: “Have no fear – you can get dis- letter to John R. Todd, he indicated that he felt he was We have two special events during counts if you need them.” In fact, we have raised our full- close to a deal. price tickets in order to qualify for more of the discount “I am a sincere friend of Italy and a great admirer of one great weekend! ticket programs available, like TDF (Theatre Development Benito Mussolini whose every effort I have always Fund). It is still our firm belief that anyone who wants to followed with keenest interest. Upon this man today rests On Friday, May 3 at 6 PM, there will be a attend theater should be able to afford it. Therefore we the eyes of the entire world. He has the marvelous gift of have settled upon the following ticket prices: special performance of The Murals of being able to instill real life and zeal in every undertaking Rockefeller Center to benefit Irondale’s Thursday night – Still and always “Pay What You Can with which he is associated. From him, we received keen educational programs. The curtain is at 7 Afford” – that means no minimum and no maximum – your inspiration for the ultimate triumph of our initiative.” choice! PM, followed by a reception with the entire The deal ultimately fell through and local Italians rented the building. A lasting trace of the Rockefeller ensemble. Tickets are $50.00 All other performances – $25 general admission. If you’re a student with valid ID or a senior citizen, your dis- flirtation with the fascist regime can still be found on the walls of what is now known as the GE Building. After On Saturday, May 4 at 2 PM and Sunday, count ticket price is $15. Call TDF to find out about group sales and discount prices for our productions. using air hammers to remove Diego Rivera’s Marxist May 5 at 7 PM, the Maranacook Commu- mural of workers taking over the means of production, nity School Interactive Theater will perform With costs of productions totaling $100,000 and a poten- with Lenin looking on, John D. Jr. commissioned Jose Maria Sert, Franco’s ambassador to Italy. Sert replaced their original musical Nothing Again-An tial audience capacity of 2000, we would have to sell out every night at $50 a seat to break even. That is something Rivera’s mural with an unmistakable fascist tableau. Interactive Musical. Tickets are “Pay What we will not do. The “entertainment marketplace” is not a Completed in 1940, the painting shows the towers of You Can Afford” game we choose to play. We are committed to bringing Rockefeller Center looming in the background symbolic of you provocative, challenging and innovative theater. We modern America. In the foreground the “Man of Action” look forward to the participation of a diverse and exciting (painted to resemble Mussolini) dwarfs Lincoln and To make reservations for these events, audience. We hope our ticket prices make it possible for Emerson who are shown helping him deliver the fasces to please call (718) 488-9233. everyone. a grateful American people who reach out to grab them. Sert’s mural endured World War II and still stands.

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