Cultural History

The 1920s: Americas Golden Age of Sports

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A new book by Michael K. Bohn, Heroes and Ballyhoo: How the Golden Age of the 1920s Transformed American Sports, profiles the great American sports heroes of that era and highlights their roles in turning their sports into the kind of large spectator events they are today. Among them are the standards like Babe Ruth, Bobby Jones, Jack Dempsey, and Knute Rockne, but also those from the fringes of modern sport.

Swimmers like Johnny Weissmuller, who turned Olympic success into a seminal role as Tarzan, and Gertrude Ederle, the first to swim the English Channel are profiled. Helen Wills is here, the winner of 31 Grand Slam tennis titles who the New York Times called &#8220the first American born woman to achieve international celebrity as an athlete.&#8221 Heroes and Ballyhoo also considers the role of tennis player Bill Tilden and golfer Walter Hagen in bringing large audiences to their sports.

Arena sports became a cornerstone of modern American life in the 1920s, after Americans, freed from the burden of World War I and Victorian traditions, seemed to seek out everything that was modern, from bobbed hair, bathtub gin, jazz, Model Ts, movies and radio to fads of all kinds.

The author goes further to explore the people behind the scenes: press agents, and over-the-top sports writers and journalists that helped establish what the publisher calls &#8220the secular religion of sports and sports heroes, and helping bond disparate social and regional sectors of the country.&#8221

Reporters like Grantland Rice and Damon Runyon, are found here, along with modern era promoters like C. C. Pyle and Tex Rickard and agent Christy Walsh, a founder of sports marketing.

Photo: Parade for Gertrude Ederle coming up Broadway, New York City in 1926.

RCHS to Host Monthly Travel and Tourism Book Series

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In a unique collaboration, the New York Council for the Humanities has joined forces with the Rensselaer County Historical Society to offer Reading Between the Lines: Travel and Tourism Narratives of the Empire State, a monthly reading and discussion series that runs from March through June, 2010.

“Reading Between the Lines offers an unusual twist on the standard book group format with focused thematic discussions led by humanities scholars,” says Council Executive Director Sara Ogger. At the Rensselaer County Historical Society, the discussion leader will be Shealeen Meaney, Assistant Professor of English at Russell Sage College.

Meaney will lead four discussion sessions each focused on a book related to the series theme: Legend of Sleepy Hollow & Other Tales, by Washington Irving- The Artificial River: The Erie Canal and the Paradox of Progress, 1817-1862, by Carol Sherrif- The Second Greatest Disappointment: Honeymooning and Tourism at Niagara Falls, by Karen Dubinsky and Taxi! A Social History of the New York City Cabdriver, by Graham Russell Gao Hodges.

Mari Shopsis, Director of Education at the Rensselaer County Historical Society adds: “The Rensselaer County Historical Society is very pleased to host this Reading Between the Lines program. Groups like this provide an important venue for civic engagement and social interaction, and Professor Meaney’s work on women’s travel writing and the Historical Society’s collection of travel diaries, postcards and letters are an interesting counterpart to the books being discussed.”

Participants in the series read works of non-fiction and works of literature that are discussed within an historical context. The program is free and open to the public, although pre-registration is required. The group will meet on the third Thursday of the month – March 18, April 15, May 20, and June 17 from 7-8:30pm at the Rensselaer County Historical Society, 57 Second Street, Troy, NY. For more information on the program, visit http://www.rchsonline.org/programs.htm#RBTL or contact Mari Shopsis at 518-272-7232, x 17 or at [email protected].

Reading Between the Lines is designed to promote lively, informed conversation about humanities themes and strengthen the relationship between humanities institutions and the public. Reading Between the Lines series are currently being held in communities across New York State. The project is supported by the We The People initiative of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

For more information about Reading Between the Lines: Travel and Tourism Narratives of the Empire State, visit www.nyhumanities.org/discussion_groups.

NYS Museum Exhibit: George Eastman House Photos

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&#8220Seeing Ourselves: Masterpieces of American Photography from George Eastman House Collection&#8221 opens February 12 at the New York State Museum and will be on view through May 9 in the Museum’s West Gallery. The exhibit will introduce visitors to historical and contemporary photographic masterpieces. Proving the power of photography, more than 155 images and artifacts tell the story of America over the last 150 years.

The photographers range from professionals such as Lewis W. Hine, Dorothea Lange, Matthew Brady and many others, including several who are unidentified. The images capture America and Americans in various ages and stages. They depict grandeur and simplicity, joy and anger, beauty and grit. A limited number of brochures on the exhibition will be available at the gallery entrance.

The exhibition is drawn entirely from the collection of George Eastman House. It is arranged into five sections: “American Masterpieces,” “American Faces,” “America at War,” “America the Beautiful” and “American Families.” Each section addresses key photographic works documenting the American cultural experience.

The “American Masterpieces” section displays photographs that show outstanding artistry, skill or workmanship. They show that American masterpieces cover a broad spectrum of subject, format, and history. Some photographs began as intentional works of art while others began as something else – propaganda, information, aide memoire, or novelty — and only later achieved iconic status. This section will include “The Steerage” by Alfred Stieglitz, “Nautilus” by Edward Weston, and “Yosemite Valley, Summer” by Ansel Adams.

In the “American Faces” section visitors will see photographs of people that have been used to create celebrity, establish identity, and influence our perceptions. Photographers who have captured these American faces include Mathew Brady, Richard Avedon, Alfred Stieglitz, Dorothea Lange, Edward Steichen, Mary Ellen Mark, and Gordon Parks.

The “America at War” section reminds visitors that of all the information that photography brings us, little is more pressing than news about war. Since the beginning of photography, images have defined our understanding of conflict. Images will include “A Harvest of Death, Gettysburg” by Timothy O’Sullivan- David Douglas Duncan’s “Combat, Korea”- “Reaching Out, The DMZ” by Larry Burrows- and “Vietnam Memorial, Washington, DC” by Hiroshi Watanabe.

Timeless photographs that exemplify the beauty and power of nature and an expanding America are included in the “America the Beautiful” section. On display will be William Henry Jackson’s “Mt Sopris, from Junction of Rock Creek,” “Refugio Beach” by Ansel Adams, “Dunes” by Edward Weston and “Desertscape, Death Valley” by Marilyn Bridges.

The “American Families” section explores the role photography can play in helping to put our own family experience into context and define “family” for ourselves. Included are “Tenement Penthouse” by Weegee, “Italian Family, Ellis Island” by Lewis Hine, “East Harlem” by Helen Levitt and “The Damm Family in Their Car” by Mary Ellen Mark.

Forty-minute Interpretive Tours of Seeing Ourselves, and an open discussion focusing on several photographs, will be held at 1 and 2 p.m. on February 13-14, 27-28, March 20-21, April 24-25 and May. 8-9.

A podcast is available at http://podcast.eastmanhouse.org/discussing-seeing-ourselves/.


Photo: Powerhouse Mechanic, 1920, by Lewis W. Hine. Courtesy George Eastman House.

Adirondack Museum Offers Passion in the Park

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The Adirondack Museum in Blue Mountain Lake wants visitors to discover the romantic side of the Adirondack Park, by joining them for a special Valentine’s Day program that explores love stories happy, melodramatic, and tragic &#8211 all set in the North Country. Museum officials are suggesting you &#8220bring a special loved one and plenty of handkerchiefs&#8221 on Sunday, February 14, 2010 as the Adirondack Museum presents &#8220Passion in the Park&#8221 a Valentine’s Day edition of the Cabin Fever Sunday series with Curator Hallie E. Bond.

The presentation will be held in the Auditorium, and will begin promptly at 1:30 p.m. Cabin Fever Sunday programs are offered at no charge to museum members. The fee for non-members is $5.00. There is no charge for children of elementary school age or younger. Refreshments will be served. For additional information, please call the Education Department at (518) 352-7311, ext. 128 or visit the museum’s web site at
www.adirondackmuseum.org.

Some of the love stories that Bond will share are part of the established folklore and history of the region. Others have recently come to light through research in the Adirondack Museum’s fine collection of diaries and personal letters.

Bond will discuss how the reputation of the Adirondack Mountains as a romantic spot was established in the mid-nineteenth century and share the ways Valentine’s Day was celebrated before the era of cards from Hallmark. The program will be illustrated with charming images of vintage Valentines and photographs from museum collections.

Hallie Bond has been Curator at the Adirondack Museum since 1987. She has curated a number of popular exhibits including &#8220Common Threads&#8221 150 Years of Adirondack Quilts and Comforters,&#8221 &#8220A Paradise for Boys and Girls: Children’s Camps in the Adirondacks,&#8221 and &#8220Boats and Boating in the Adirondacks.&#8221 She has written extensively about regional history and material culture.

Photo: Valentine greeting, ca. 1910. Collection of the Adirondack Museum.

Hodson-Brown Fellowship:Literature, History, Culture, Art Before 1820

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The C.V. Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience and the John Carter Brown Library invite applications for the Hodson Trust-John Carter Brown Fellowship, a unique research and writing fellowship.

The Hodson-Brown Fellowship supports work by academics, independent scholars and writers working on significant projects relating to the literature, history, culture, or art of the Americas before 1830. Candidates with a U.S. history topic are strongly encouraged to concentrate on the period prior to 1801. The fellowship is also open to
filmmakers, novelists, creative and performing artists, and others working on projects that draw on this period of history.

The fellowship award supports two months of research (conducted at the John Carter Brown Library in Providence, R.I.) and two months of writing (at Washington College in Chestertown, Md). Housing and university privileges will be provided. The fellowship includes a stipend of $5,000 per month for a total of $20,000.

Deadline for applications for the 2010-11 fellowship year is March 15, 2010.

For more information and application instructions, please visit the Starr Center’s website at http://starrcenter.washcoll.edu.

2010 Meeting of the American Society for Ethnohistory

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The 2010 Annual Meeting of the American Society for Ethnohistory, will take place at the Lord Elgin Hotel, in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, on October 13 &#8211 17, 2010. The American Society for Ethnohistory (ASE) was founded in 1954 to promote the interdisciplinary investigation of the histories of the Native Peoples of the Americas. The ethnohistorical method, as it has come to be known, involves developing histories informed by ethnography, linguistics, archaeology, and ecology.

The theme for the ASE Ottawa 2010 is titled ‘Creating Nations and Building States: Past and Present,’ focusing on indigenous societies and their relations with expanding colonial and modern state structures of Canada, America, and Latin America. This general theme is intended to initiate discussions on the complex and often fractious relations between Native societies and expanding state structures in the Americas from contact onward.

Papers on instances of ethnogenesis, persistence and transformation of identity, culture and social structures over time are especially welcomed. Since the meeting is being held in Canada’s capital during the 125th anniversary of the second Metis provisional government and resistance movement at Batoche, the organizers are encouraging discussions and reflection on alternative models of indigenous nation building, displacement and violence in the interior, and the vast process of native exclusion in the construction of modern states.

The organizers invite proposals that speak to and think creatively about this year’s theme on the formation and transformation of both state and national entities, but they accept other ethnohistorical topics as well. Complete panel proposals with presenters, and chair are preferred, but individual paper proposals are also accepted.

The firm deadline for applications is April 15, 2010. Note the earlier than customary date of the conference as well as the earlier than usual deadline for the submission of proposals and abstracts. Applicants will be notified of the status of their proposals by June 15, 2010.

It is not necessary to register for the conference in order to have a paper or panel accepted. Once papers and panels are accepted, however, participants MUST register as an ASE member by August 1, 2010.

Click here for conference information.

Special Editor’s Session

The Editors and Editorial Board of Ethnohistory invite proposals for an invited Editors’ Session to be held at the 2010 meeting in Ottawa. They are looking for a session proposal that closely mirrors the theme of the conference “Creating Nations and Building States: Past and Present,” which involves representatives from several regions and disciplinary orientations exploring a common theme. The successful session proposal will be published as a special issue of the journal. Completed papers will be due within six months of the meeting. The session should consist of 6-8 papers. In order to for a session to be considered for the Editor’s Session, submit a session proposal, including a session abstract and abstracts of individual papers by the April 15th deadline. Be sure to check the box &#8221For consideration of the Editor’s Session.&#8221 Submissions not accepted for the Editors’ Session will be considered for inclusion in the regular program without prejudice.

Program questions should be directed to:
ASE Program Committee Chair
Professor Jean Francois Belisle
History Department
University of Ottawa
Ottawa, Ontario
Canada K1N 6N5
[email protected]
1-613-562-5800 #1293

Local arrangements questions should be directed to:
ASE Local Arrangements Committee Chair
Professor Nicole St-Onge
History Department
University of Ottawa
Ottawa, Ontario
Canada K1N 6N5
[email protected]
1-613-562-5800 # 1317

US Cultural History Fellowships Announced

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The Library Company of Philadelphia and Historical Society of Pennsylvania have announced research fellowships in Colonial and U.S. History and Culture for 2010-2011. The fellowships, outlined below, include generally orientated one-month visiting fellowships, and long term dissertation fellowships, and a dissertation fellowship for the study of Early American Literature and Material Texts.

One-Month Visiting Research Fellowships

These two independent research libraries will jointly award approximately thirty one-month fellowships for research in residence in either or both collections during 2010-2011. The two institutions, adjacent to each other in Center City Philadelphia, have complementary collections capable of supporting research in a variety of fields and disciplines relating to the history of America and the Atlantic world from the 17th through the 19th centuries, as well as Mid-Atlantic regional history to the present. For information on the collections, visit www.hsp.org and www.librarycompany.org.

One-month fellowships carry a stipend of $2,000 and are tenable for any one-month period between June 2010-May 2011. Two Barra Foundation International Fellowships, each for $2,500 plus a travel allowance, are reserved for foreign national scholars resident outside the U. S. Some of the short-term fellowships provide for study in specific fields, such as ethnic and immigrant history- history of the book- African American History- visual culture- and economic history (through the Library Company’s Program in Early American Economy and Society). For more detailed information about all of these fellowships, go to www.librarycompany.org/fellowships. We invite inquiries about the appropriateness of proposed topics to [email protected]. The Library Company’s Cassatt House fellows’ residence offers rooms at reasonable rates.

The deadline for receipt of one-month fellowship applications is March 1, 2010, with a decision to be made by April 15. To apply, visit www.librarycompany.org/fellowships, fill out an electronic cover sheet, and submit one portable document format (PDF) containing a resume and a 2-4 page description of the proposed research. One letter of recommendation should arrive under separate cover in PDF format as well. Please email materials to [email protected]. If you wish you apply for more than one fellowship, simply check more than one box on your electronic cover sheet.

Library Company Long-term Dissertation Fellowships

The Library Company also supports dissertation research in residence through the Albert M. Greenfield Foundation Fellowship (on any subject relevant to its collections) and the Program in Early American Economy and Society Fellowship (for research in economic history). The term of these fellowships is from September 2010 to May 2011, with a stipend of $20,000. The awards may be divided between two applicants, each of whom would spend a semester in residence. The application deadline and procedures are the same as for the one-month fellowships as described above, with the addition of a second letter of reference and a writing sample of about 25 pages.

Dissertation Fellowships in Early American Literature and Material Texts

The McNeil Center for Early American Studies, in collaboration with the Library Company, offers two dissertation fellowships in early American literature and material texts, supported by a new grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Fellows will be in residence from July 2010 through July 2011. The stipend for a 13-month term will be at least $28,000. To apply go to www.mceas.org. Deadline, March 1, 2010.

New Book: America in the Sixties

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Sandwiched between the placid fifties and the flamboyant seventies, the sixties, a decade of tumultuous change and stunning paradoxes, is often reduced to a series of slogans, symbols, and media images. In America in the Sixties, Greene goes beyond the cliches and synthesizes thirty years of research, writing, and teaching on one of the most turbulent decades of the twentieth century.

Greene sketches the well-known players of the period—John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, and Betty Friedan—bringing each to life with subtle detail. He introduces the reader to lesser-known incidents of the decade and offers fresh and persuasive insights on many of its watershed events.

Greene argues that the civil rights movement began in 1955 following the death of Emmett Till- that many accomplishments credited to Kennedy were based upon myth, not historical fact, and that his presidency was far from successful- that each of the movements of the period—civil rights, students, antiwar, ethnic nationalism—were started by young intellectuals and eventually driven to failure by activists who had different goals in mind- and that the &#8220counterculture,&#8221 which has been glorified in today’s media as a band of rock-singing hippies, had its roots in some of the most provocative social thinking of the postwar period.

Greene also chronicles the decade in a thematic manner, devoting individual chapters to such subjects as the legacy of the fifties, the Kennedy and Johnson administrations, the civil rights movements, and the war in Vietnam. Combining an engrossing narrative with intelligent analysis, America in the Sixties enriches our understanding of that pivotal era.

John Robert Greene is the Paul J. Schupf Professor of History and Humanities at Cazenovia College. He has written or edited thirteen books including The Limits of Power: The Nixon and Ford Administrations and The Presidency of Gerald R. Ford. He is a regular commentator in the national media, having appeared on such forums as MSNBC, National Public Radio, C-SPAN, and the History Channel.

Note: Books noticed on this site have been provided by the publishers. Purchases made through this Amazon link help support this site.

19th Century Magic at the Adirondack Museum

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In the 19th century, itinerant magicians traveled throughout the Adirondacks delighting local residents with tricks and dazzling illusions as they performed in town halls and local hotels. Prepare to be mystified and amazed on Sunday, January 17, 2010 as the Adirondack Museum at Blue Mountain Lake, New York presents &#822019th Century Magic and Beyond&#8221 a magic show for all ages with Tom Verner.

Tom Verner is both a performer and historian of American magic. His shows include many of the set pieces of magic performed across the United States by magicians in the 1800s. Verner involves children and adults alike in his humorous, entertaining, and intelligent presentations.

Verner has performed magic around the world for thirty years. He has worked with the United Nations for the past eight years, creating magic for more than 400,000 refugee and orphaned children in many of the most troubled parts of the globe. Tom Verner is also a Clinical Psychologist who practices and teaches.

The program will be the first in the museum’s always-popular Cabin Fever Sunday series. Held in the Auditorium, the presentation will begin promptly at 1:30 p.m. Cabin Fever Sunday programs are offered at no charge to museum members. The fee for non-members is $5.00. There is no charge for children of elementary school age or younger. Refreshments will be served. For additional information, please call the Education Department at (518) 352-7311, ext. 128 or visit the museum’s web site at
www.adirondackmuseum.org.

Photo: Tom Verner.

Reminder: 10 Influential People in Adirondack History

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Over at Adirondack Almanack we’re still looking for ideas about who should be included on a list of the Adirondack region’s most influential people. We’ll be offering a list of the people who have had the greatest impact on the Adirondacks on January 18th. Head over to the original post to leave your suggestions in the comments.

Suggestions should reflect the environmental, cultural, and political history of the park, and they need not be residents of the region, provided their impact was significantly felt here.