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Harlem Nocturne

Page 21

by Farah Jasmine Griffin


  John Cage Trust, 51

  Johnson, James P., 144

  Johnson, Lutie, 88, 96–97

  Johnson, William H., 103

  Johnston, Toosie, 76–77

  Jones, Bill T., 76

  Jones, Hank, 149, 150fig

  Jones, Max, 161–162

  Josephson, Barney, 44, 45, 46, 49, 50, 52, 73–76, 139, 152, 153, 157, 160, 168, 174, 176, 194

  Journey of Immersion, 55

  Judeo-Christianity, 11

  Julius Rosenwald Foundation, 16, 72

  Kent, Rockwell, 62–63

  Kern, Jerome, 22

  King, Martin Luther, Jr., 177

  Kirk, Andy, 147

  Kurath, Gertrude Prokosch, 39

  Kykunkor, 29

  LaGuardia, Fiorello, 95–96, 100, 120

  Lane, Anna Houston. See Petry, Ann

  Lane, Bertha James, 82

  Lane, Peter Clark, 82

  Larsen, Nella, 11, 95

  Laundry Workers Joint Board, 97

  Lawrence, Jacob, 37, 104

  League for Political Education, 166

  Lee, Canada, 74

  Left, 8–9, 10, 46, 93–94, 115

  Leftists, 30, 99, 136

  Lenin, V. I., 8

  Levien, Julia, 39

  Levy, Herbert Mont, 75

  Lewis, Norman, 103

  Lewis, Sinclair, 114–115

  Liberals, 8, 30, 99

  Liberty, 9

  Life magazine, 53, 174

  “Like a Winding Sheet” (Petry), 114

  Lincoln, Abbey, 50, 131

  Lincoln, Abraham, 90

  Literature, 77

  education and, 114

  Left and, 115

  movement in, 16

  society, reform of and, 114

  sociological novel and, 115–118

  See also Petry, Ann

  Little, Malcolm. See Malcolm X

  Lloyd, Margaret, 42

  Louis, Joe, 113, 176

  Lunceford, Jimmie, 136

  Lynching, 63, 64, 91, 145

  Mabry, Iris, 39

  Mainstream press, 13, 106, 113

  Makeba, Miriam, 50

  Malcolm X, 35, 111, 112, 170

  Manchild in the Promised Land (Brown), 173

  Manhattan, NY, 33, 63

  Mannings, Muriel, 48

  March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom (1963), 4

  March on Washington movement (1941), 6–7

  Martin, David Stone, 144, 155–156

  Martin, John, 13, 24–25, 39, 46, 52, 53

  Martinique, 40

  Marx, Karl, 10

  Marxism, 10–11, 116

  Mary Lou Williams: Circle Recordings, 183

  Mary Lou Williams’s Piano Workshop (radio program), 13–14, 157

  Mayfield, Roland, 146

  Mays, Benjamin, 177

  McBurnie, Beryl, 38–39

  McCarthy, Joseph, 74, 93, 130

  McCarthyism, 16, 37, 61, 74, 130, 189

  McDowell, Deborah, 192–193

  McGarity, Lou, 52fig

  McKay, Claude, 182

  McKayle, Donald, 65–66, 191

  McRae, Carmen, 119

  Mead, Margaret, 71

  Merriwether, Louis, 131

  Migrants, migration, 5, 7, 17, 28, 32, 55, 100, 119

  Miles College, 59

  Military, 6, 12, 88–89, 91, 111–113

  Monk, Thelonious, 13, 33, 150, 159, 160

  Moore, Audley, 136

  Morrison, Toni, 117, 192

  Morton, Jelly Roll, 144

  Mostel, Zero, 45, 74

  Moten, Benny, 147

  Motley, Willard, 114

  Movement, 16–17, 24–25, 29, 42, 55, 67, 68, 69, 101

  Murray, Albert, 113

  Music

  bebop, 11, 13, 123, 150, 159–162, 179, 180, 181

  black, 143, 164, 180

  boogie-woogie, 180

  classical, 165

  forties and, 5

  in Harlem, NY, 11–12

  jazz, 13, 143, 157, 164, 166, 179, 181

  movement in, 16

  in New York City, NY, 11–12

  rhythm and blues, 11

  swing, 11, 15, 159, 179, 180

  See also Williams, Mary Lou

  “Music and Progress” (Williams), 179–180

  NAACP. See National Association for the Advancement of Colored People

  The Narrows (Petry), 88, 105, 192

  Nash, Joe, 48

  National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), 96, 113, 168

  National Association of Colored Graduate Nurses, 98

  National Association of Graduate Nurses, 98

  National Black Nurses Association, 98–99

  National Council of Negro Women, 113

  National Maritime Workers Union, 35–36, 47

  National Medical Association, 98

  National Negro Congress (1936), 8

  National Urban League, 96, 113, 120

  National Youth Administration (NYA), 36–37

  Native Son (Wright), 84–85, 113, 116

  Naylor, Gloria, 192

  Nazism, 6, 30

  Neel, Alice, 188fig, 189

  Negro Bar Association, 98

  Negro Digest, 106, 113

  Negro Freedom Rally (1943), 17, 19, 21–24, 28, 30, 50, 52–53, 55, 60, 62

  Negro Liberator, 135

  Negro People’s Front, 8

  Negro Quarterly, 106

  “The Negro Speaks of Rivers,” 53, 66

  Negro Story, 106

  “Negro Women Have a Vote—How Shall They Use It?,” 99

  Negro Women Incorporated (NWI), 87, 99–101, 109

  “Negro Youth’s Heritage in Dance” (Jackson), 59

  New Dance Group, 37–40, 68, 72

  New Negro movement, 21–22, 119

  New Republic, 149

  New York City, NY

  artists in, 1–2, 11–12

  culture in, 2

  obstacles to freedom in, 12–13

  Petry, Ann and, 12–13, 85–87, 185

  politics in, 2

  Primus, Pearl and, 29, 185

  racism in, 12–13

  Williams, Mary Lou and, 12–13, 17, 168–169, 185

  New York Daily News, 91, 93

  New York Post, 120

  New York Public Library, 85, 101, 162

  New York Times, 13, 23, 39, 125, 126, 137, 166, 191, 193

  New York University, 36, 71

  Nichols, Herbie, 161

  Notes of a Native Sun (Baldwin), 120

  Novak, Kim, 104, 129

  “The Novel as Social Criticism” (Petry), 115–118, 128

  Nunn, Bill, 176–177

  NYA. See National Youth Administration

  Oberlin College, 58

  O’Brien, Peter, 182

  O’Neal, Frederick, 101–102

  “On Saturday the Siren Sounds at Noon” (Petry), 81

  On Strivers Row (Hill), 102, 103

  Opportunity, 106, 113

  Orent, Milton, 150fig, 156, 162, 166

  Organized labor, 5, 6, 8

  Parker, Charles, 166

  Parks, Gordon, 174

  People’s Voice newspaper, 10, 84, 86, 90–96, 98, 130, 137

  Perske, Betty, 46

  Petry, Ann, 80fig, 81, 149

  aesthetic concerns of, 3, 7, 95, 114, 115–118

  ANT and. see American Negro Theater (ANT)

  appearance of, 84

  audience of, 84–85

  background of, 2, 81–84

  birth of, 2

  Communist Party and, 10–11, 90, 129–130

  Davis, Benjamin J., Jr. and, 138

  democracy and, 3, 10

  Double V Campaign and, 5

  education of, 14–15, 82–84, 103, 104–105

  everyday people, portrayal of by, 2

  Harlem, NY and, 2, 9, 79, 81, 89, 90–91, 98, 110, 170, 189

  Harlem Riots (1943) and, 90, 118–127

  Harle
m Riots and, 17

  “In Darkness and Confusion” of, 118

  as intellectual, 3, 14–15, 82–83

  as journalist, 81, 84, 90–96, 97–98

  legacy of, 15, 192–193, 196–197

  “Like a Winding Sheet” of, 114

  The Narrows of, 105, 192

  New York City, NY and, 2, 12–13, 85–87, 185

  “The Novel as Social Criticism” of, 115–118, 128

  NWI and, 99–101

  People’s Voice and, 10, 84, 90–96, 98

  personality of, 2

  political activism of, 3, 7, 9, 10, 11, 14, 81, 83, 89–90, 94–96, 97–101

  Popular Front and, 8

  Reformist Left and, 8

  relationships of, 86

  reputation of, 15, 79

  screenwriting of, 104, 129

  segregation and, 98–99

  short stories of, 81, 106, 114, 192

  significance of, 3, 11, 15

  social problems and, 84–85, 97–98

  social realism and, 114, 117

  “Solo on the Drums” of, 102

  The Street of, 81, 88, 96–97, 107–114, 128–129, 192, 193

  See also Literature

  Petry, Elisabeth, 82, 83, 87, 88, 192

  Petry, George David, 85–86, 88, 104, 107, 111, 112, 127, 128–129

  Philadanco, 68

  Phylon, 113

  Pittsburgh Courier, 20, 140, 176–177

  Plessy, Homer, 27

  Plessy v. Ferguson, 6

  PM newspaper, 8, 106

  Politics

  art and, 2–3, 12, 14

  Cold War, 4, 15

  dance and, 23–25, 27, 32, 38, 53

  Double V Campaign and, 6–7

  forties and, 5

  militant, 4

  Petry, Ann and, 3, 7, 10, 11, 14, 81, 83, 89–90, 94–96, 97–101

  Popular Front and, 5, 45

  Primus, Pearl and, 7, 10, 14, 29–31, 38, 57–62, 69

  progressive, 38, 155

  protest, 83

  radical, 25, 32

  Reformist Left and, 9

  tactics and, 4

  war years and, 4

  Williams, Mary Lou and, 3, 7, 10, 14, 139–140, 175–178

  Popular Front, 5, 7–8, 30, 45, 106

  Powell, Adam Clayton, Jr., 21–22, 45–46, 87, 91, 92, 101, 110, 118, 120, 129, 137, 153, 154

  Powell, Bud, 13, 150, 160, 161

  Premice, Josephine, 68

  President’s Fair Employment Practices Committee, 6

  Press. See Black press

  Primus, Pearl, 26fig, 41fig, 52fig, 138, 175

  aesthetic concerns of, 3, 7, 24–25, 30–31, 49, 51, 52

  Africa, trip to of, 3, 16, 31, 57

  afrocentricity and, 31

  appearance of, 47–50

  audiences, relationship with of, 42–43, 50

  background of, 2, 28, 29, 31–32, 33–34

  birth of, 28, 33

  black press and, 43

  on Broadway, 63, 67

  Café Society and, 2, 44–48, 50–53, 60, 152, 153

  choreography of, 25, 43, 50, 53, 67, 77, 190

  collaborations of, 2, 50–52

  Communist Party and, 10, 60, 62, 74, 75

  democracy and, 3, 10, 76

  Double V Campaign and, 5, 30, 53

  Dunham, Katherine and, 13, 40, 42–44

  early career of, 35–37

  education of, 14–15, 24, 33–35, 36, 69–73, 190

  FBI investigation of, 3, 16, 17, 58, 59–62, 68, 73–76

  firsthand accounts of, 65–66

  Five Dancers performance of, 39–40, 44

  friendships of, 2

  Harlem, NY and, 2, 9, 95

  “In Darkness and Confusion” of, 122–127

  as intellectual, 3, 14–15, 30, 31, 34, 44, 54, 55, 69–73, 85

  legacy of, 15, 190–192, 196–197

  marriages of, 53–54, 190

  Negro Freedom Rally (1943) and, 17, 23–24, 28, 30, 50, 52–53, 55, 60, 62

  nervous breakdown of, 62–63

  New Dance Group and, 37–40, 68, 72

  New York City, NY and, 2, 12–13, 29, 185

  personality of, 34, 51

  political activism of, 3, 7, 9, 10, 14, 29–31, 38, 57–62, 69

  Popular Front and, 8, 30

  reputation of, 13, 15

  reviews of, 39–40, 42

  segregation and, 24, 27, 43

  SNYC and, 57–60

  social realism and, 31, 110

  South, trip to of, 54–57, 63–65

  as teacher, 68–69, 72

  white supremacy and, 9

  Williams, Mary Lou and, 2, 50–51, 67, 152, 168

  See also Dance

  Racism, 6, 61, 139

  Black Americans and, 28

  black press and, 92

  Communist Party and, 62

  dance as protest against, 53

  democracy and, 10

  employment and, 22, 35–36

  Harlem, NY and, 79

  housing and, 22

  New York City, NY and, 12–13

  South and, 28

  Radicalism, 8, 25, 32, 94

  Rahman-Ndiaye, Andara Koumba, 191

  Randolph, A. Philip, 6–7, 19, 124

  Realism, social, 11, 31, 110, 114, 117

  Reckling, Frances Kraft, 86–87, 88

  Renaissance, Harlem, 11–12, 21, 95

  Republican Party, Republicans, 90

  Richards, Lloyd, 102

  Roach, Max, 166

  Roberts, Lucky, 136

  Robeson, Paul, Jr., 37

  Robeson, Paul, Sr., 22–23, 37, 45, 48, 74, 75, 130, 135, 137

  Robinson, Bill “Bojangles,” 23, 118

  Robinson, Dollie, 87–88, 98–99, 110

  Robinson, Mabel Louise, 104–105

  Rockefeller, Nelson, 46

  “Roll ’Em” (Williams), 147–148

  Roosevelt, Eleanor, 46, 53, 176

  Roosevelt, Franklin D., 6, 36, 92, 93

  Rorty, Richard, 8–9, 46, 114–115

  Rosenkrantz, Timmie, 167

  Rosie the Riveter, 4

  Rowley, Hazel, 156

  Russell, Curley, 166

  Rustin, Bayard, 6–7

  Sapphire, 76–77

  Saturday Evening Post, 106

  Savage, Augusta, 37

  Savoy Ballroom, 29, 35, 46, 95–96

  Schoenberg, Arnold, 163

  Schurman, Nona, 39

  Scott, Hazel, 12, 45, 46, 47, 74, 75, 91, 136, 137, 153–154, 157, 175

  Scottsboro Boys, 135

  Scruggs, Mary Elfrieda. See Williams, Mary Lou

  Second Great Migration, 5, 7, 28

  Segregation, 24, 94, 98

  black migrants and, 28–29

  black press and, 91

  dance and, 25, 27

  democracy and, 29

  Democratic Party and, 90

  Double V Campaign and, 6

  in employment, 7

  Harlem, NY and, 79

  in housing, 7

  in military, 6, 12, 91, 111–113

  Petry, Ann and, 98–99

  Primus, Pearl and, 25, 27, 43

  professional organizations and, 98–99

  protest against, 25

  racial, 19, 28

  transportation and, 25, 26–27, 29

  Williams, Mary Lou and, 175–177

  Shange, Ntozake, 192

  Show Boat (musical), 22, 67

  Sierra Leone, 29

  Simms, Hilda, 54

  Simone, Nina, 50

  Simons, John, 52fig

  Six Men and a Girl (Williams), 160

  Smith, Bessie, 11

  Smith, Ferdinand, 136, 138

  Smith, Lillian, 176

  Smith, Marvin, 95

  Smith, Morgan, 95

  SNYC. See Southern Negro Youth Congress

  Social justice, 10, 14, 24, 30, 151

  Social movements, 15, 17

  Social realism, 11, 31
, 110, 114, 117

  “Solo on the Drums” (Petry), 102

  “Souls of Black Folk” (Du Bois), 57

  South, 32, 73

  Primus, Pearl trip to, 54–57, 63–65

  racism in, 28

  Williams, Mary Lou and, 144

  “Southern Landscape,” 63

  Southern Negro Youth Congress (SNYC), 57–60

  “Southland,” 63

  Soviet Union, 59, 62

  Spirituality, 10, 11, 15, 140, 142, 178, 185, 191, 193–194

  Stalin, Joseph, 93–94

  Steinbeck, John, 114–115

  Stereotyping, 8, 89, 96, 115

  Stormy Weather (film), 42, 118

  Stowe, Harriet Beecher, 115–116

  “Strange Fruit,” 45, 53, 63–66, 67, 77

  Stravinksy, Igor, 163

  Strayhorn, Billy, 146, 154

  The Street (Petry), 13, 81, 88, 96–97, 105, 107–114, 128–129, 170, 192, 193

  “Study in Nothing,” 67

  Sugar Hill, NY, 110, 133, 140, 149

  Tamiris, Helen, 137

  Tatum, Art, 136, 163

  Taylor, Billy, 164

  Teagarden, Jack, 149, 150fig

  That Hill Girl (Petry), 104, 129

  Thenstead, Adolph, 67

  Time magazine, 48, 153, 181

  Tolson, Melvin, 114

  Toomer, Jean, 55

  Town Hall, 14, 165, 166

  Train, Arthur, 104

  Trilling, Lionel, 128

  Uncle Tom’s Cabin (Stowe), 116

  Unions, 5, 6, 8

  United States

  capitalism in, 9

  culture of, 3

  democracy in, 3, 10

  equality in, 19

  racism in, 10

  Urban Bush Women, 68, 191

  Urban League, 113–114

  Urban renewal, 130–131, 133, 189

  Vaughan, Sarah, 12, 119

  Walker, Alice, 192

  Walker, Margaret, 12, 114

  “Walking with Pearl . . . Southern Diaries,” 66–67, 191

  Washington, Booker T., 83

  Washington, Dinah, 12, 128

  Washington, Fredi, 91, 135, 136, 137

  Waters, Ethel, 118, 168

  Webster, Ben, 156, 163, 166

  Weeks, James, 63

  Weidman, Charles, 38, 69

  Weingarten, Gray, 154, 163, 168, 178

  Welles, Orson, 176

  Wells, Ida B., 27

  West Africa, 3, 16, 24

  White, Charles, 37, 114

  White, Josh, 23, 45, 50, 67, 74, 75, 77, 94–96, 137, 138

  White, Walter, 45, 96

  White supremacy, 9, 28, 30, 69, 70, 108

  Wilder, Austin, 68

  Wilkerson, Doxey, 93

  Williams, Cootie, 118–119

  Williams, Johnny, 147

  Williams, Mary Lou, 138, 141fig, 150fig, 158fig

  aesthetic concerns of, 3, 7

  as arranger, 14–15, 147–148, 181–182

  audiences, relationship with of, 42–43, 50

  audiences of, 7

  background of, 2, 142–147

  bebop, birth of and, 13, 159–162

  birth of, 2

  Café Society and, 2, 45, 139, 140, 152–154, 160

  career resurgence of, 15–16

  collaborations of, 2

  Communist Party and, 10, 139–140

 

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