Listen for the If the beat catches you, If the beat snatches you ... ; . Turns your insides round about, •~. Turns your one heart inside out ... That's jazz, Ladies and gentlemen ... That's jazz!!!!! Anna Bishop from her book Dedicated Poetry © 1987 / TO THE FUTURE... In thinking about the dedication for this project we pondered about Thelbert and Judy, whose fate we pray will not befall any others in our midst, or ''Rusty" Bryant whose unflagging spirit gave hope to all who knew him, or Earl Hood, who gave the project depth with his willingness to share his wealth of information, or Eddie Beard, who battled sickness to be with us at the premiere of the first edition, or Ronnie Kirk, who became "Rah­ saan" in a dream. Oh yes, and what about Archie Gordon, who "Stomped" his way to fame, or Christine Kittrell, who was wounded in Viet Nam, or Jean­ nette, who sang her first solo at the age of five ... Somehow, no matter how rich or emotional the past is, it is the future for which this book is intended. The book is a gift to the people who, through genera­ tions to come, will learn about and appreciate the contributions of Columbus based artists through this effort. So, to the future .. may one child be touched, may his or her life be changed by the contributions included in this book. May just one child learn to play or stand up and sing and the effort will have been worth all of the years of work. C.LWatkins In 1942, the Mt. Vernon School Drill Team posed on the steps of their school. In the second row, on the far right stands Jimmy Rogers, some­ day to be "Stix" and to hold the World Record for his legendary drum marathon Listen for th£ Jazz . Key Notes in Columbus History Copyright© 1990 A.F.0.0.T. First Edition 1990 Cover photo by Rae Ann Johnson Second Edition 1992 Cover photo by Kojo Kamau The organizers' greatest fear is that someone will get left out or that information will be incorrect. This problem has arisen from the first edition and will most probably continue. To those of you who feel that we missed you or got some facts wrong, we apologize. Please send corrections or additional information to the address listed below and someone will personally get in touch with you. Arts Foundation of Olde Towne 787 East Broad Street Columbus, Ohio 43205 614-221-4411 I lI 1 Listen for the jazz '. .. INTRO RAP This book is the combined effort that others will pick up where of many people and the result of this document leaves off and years spent researching, inter­ that this will not be the last viewing and collecting. The effort of its kind. Rusty Bryant organizers of Listen for the Jazz summed it up best when he said: are aware that this document Those that go back that far kind of only represents a portion of the rel,ate to the younger ones .. what a rich musical heritage that is ball we had in those days, before we present in this community. The had to bother with things like crack time period involved is roughly and dope and thievery and stealing 1890s to 1960. The book's focus and all that. It was just pretty much is the jazz scene in and around solid music right then in the east the Near East Side of the City of end, around Olde Towne. We'd like Columbus. The book is an to reminisce about those days. attempt to plant seeds of interest not only in this subject matter So ... for those of you who would but in the documentation of like to reminisce about the old cultural history as a whole.Those days, we offer this book. involved in this project hope Listen for the jazz 1 ... ' EAST BY NORTHEAST by Ed Lentz The part of Ohio known as Columbus has been occupied and settled for at least ten thou­ sand years. Long before the City of Columbus came into being, ~ .' ~ people passed through this area ~.,--· . ' 't as they travelled between the I ~ - "'- Scioto and Muskingum Rivers. By the Fifth Century AD, the "moundbuilder" culture was well established in central Ohio. A mound forty feet tall stood at the intersection of Mound and High Streets. Trees three feet Joel Wright 's 1812 drawing for the City of Columbus across reportedly stood on this mound in 1800. A smaller began looking for a new home The town grew relatively mound stood at the present more centrally located than the slowly at first, and the land near location of Bryden Road and then current capital at Chillico­ Long Street was occupied by Champion Avenue. In later the. After a spirited competition, homes and garden lots until years, a Mingo Indian village was the site selected was "The High­ after the Civil War. In the earli­ established at what is now the banks opposite Franklinton at est days of the city's history, most Ohio Penitentiary site on Spring the Forks of the Scioto known as of the African-American popula­ Street. And as late as the 1890s, Wolfs Ridge." Columbus was tion lived in a neighborhood human remains were found in born as a capital city. near Fulton and High Streets. the downtown area as utility The original town was Over the years, that area had excavations exposed ancient laid out by one Joel Wright in an been built up by business, and burial sites, especially in the area area bounded by Parsons Ave­ the residential base had dis­ around the Center of Science nue (called E. Public Lane), the persed over various parts of the and Industry, where a series of Scioto River, Nationwide Boule­ city. natural springs reached the vard (called N aughten Street), After the Civil War, the surface. and Livingston Avenue (S. newly perfected railroad net­ In 1795, a man named Public Lane). The original map work led to the opening of huge Lucas Sullivant laid out a town of the city was lost, and Wright coal and timber resources in the on the west bank of the place redrew it from memory many Hocking Valley. Industries using where the Olen tangy met the years later. By that time, Long these materials sprang up in Scioto River. He named it Fran­ Street had its current name and Columbus, and large numbers of klinton, and in a few years it had with it the story that it was people migrated to the city. By begun to prosper. His home still named for William Long, an 1870, an identifiable business stands in Old Franklinton. In early mayor (1829-1932 term) of district had emerged on Long J 1810, the Ohio Legislature Columbus. Street near High Street. Over 1 1 Listen for the jazz 2 the next thirty years, that district than had been possible in the grow rapidly with the coming of began to move to the east, as earlier "walking city." With the even more industry during downtown businesses were streetcar, the city expanded in World War I, large numbers of consistently rebuilt and rebuilt all directions and large "street­ people left the South and the again to meet the needs of the car suburbs" sprang up along an rural Midwest to come to the growing population. extended Long Street and cities. This new urban working The single most impor­ Mount Vernon Avenue as well as class occupied the "streetcar sul:r tant technological innovation in on the side streets connecting urbs." the late nineteenth century was them. In 1881, Garfield School By 1922, an article in the streetcar. Until this time, was built at Garfield Avenue and "The Crisis," the newspaper of people walked or rode horses Mount Vernon Avenue. In 1893, the NAACP, noted that East and buggies everywhere. Pow­ the streetcar line was built to go Long street at Garfield Avenue ered first by horses and later by to the Old State Fairgrounds, was the commercial heart of the electricity, the streetcar permit­ straight out Fair Avenue to Columbus African-American ted people to live considerably today's Franklin Park. community. Mount Vernon farther from their workplace As the city continued to Avenue was developing at the 011[0 Y."'r'"A , • .,... ..\~ f.,. COI.IHt1Jl U S Omo. Outline map of Columbus, 1872 Listen for the jazz 3 ., 1990 map of the Near East Side same time but at a somewhat less Avenue, Hamilton Park and ued segregation of most institu­ rapid pace. Between 1918 and Miami Avenue between Broad tions and the neglect of the 1922, the city's African-American and Long Streets. Many of the community by government, population more than doubled. best commercial establishments there is truth here. East Long Street in the and entertainment halls were During the 1920s, the 1920s was indeed the commer­ nearby as well. Near East Side of Columbus cial center of the African-Ameri­ During the "noble experi­ emerged with an identity of its can community. Commercial ment" of Prohibition in the own. Prior to this period, the areas existed in other parts of 1920s, some of the most famous major groups holding the com­ the Near East Side, most notably speakeasies and nightclubs in munity together had been the along the Main Street and central Ohio were located in this churches and the schools. While ; Livingston Avenue corridors. commercial area. The area was a these institutions continue to be But Long Street - and later thriving, integrated community. important to this day, the Twen­ Mount Vernon Avenue - was To many people who can ties saw the rise of a commercial, the vital nexus of the commu­ still remember it, the 1920s was social and political base within nity.