Charleston's real 'Porgy'

To any readers who may have heard of American composer George Gershwin, or indeed anyone who has ever heard the song 'Summertime' (hopefully everyone), I've discovered some really interesting things about the opera Porgy and Bess whilst doing this research on Charleston.

Gershwin's famous opera is based on DuBose Heyward's novel, Porgy, a novel set in 1920s Charleston which traces the lives of poor black Charlestonian's. Neither the play or the opera was performed in Charleston until 1970 because of the racial climate which forbade it.




The main character Porgy is based on the black crippled beggar Sammy Smalls who was arrested in 1924 but later released. I've always been a fan of the songs and overture of Porgy and Bess, which now means more to me having visited and studied the city where it was originally set. And The Jenkins Orphanage Band were the band in Charleston that Heyward describes in his novel (I understand the passage is copyrighted so I cannot produce it here).

I've also just learnt that the song 'Summertime' is actually about the feelings of the survivors from the devastating hurricane of 1911.

After world war one, when the rest of the nation was busy building themselves as modern progressive cities, Charleston was alone in the South for wanting to look backwards and preserve its past. The city has always been proud of its heritage, and is willing to accept, and publicize, the large part it played in the slave trade. Walking past the swaying palmetto trees on the seafront and the rich southern planters homes, and comparing them to the rundown parts of Harleston village and the derelict county jail next to the original home of the orphans, you can almost see Sammy begging on the side of the street with his goat cart, and see the disgust of former slave owners adjusting to a world in which cotton and rice were no longer king.
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The county jail:

Below: a few examples of southern planter homes

And, seeing as we're talking about Heyward, he is coincidentally a descendant of one of only four South Carolinian signers of the Declaration of Independence (Thomas Heyward Jr.). Joseph and I signed a version of the document in the 'Old Provost and Exchange' building, and also got to dress up, which I suspect was really an activity for small children. So naturally, photographic evidence was needed.

Saved from the chain gang

So this post isn't exactly what I said my next post would be (a musical analysis of the Jenkins Orphanage band). This is because I haven't had chance to look at enough to write a blog post on, and because I've been busy with other stuff which I think is allowed.

I start my third year in less than two weeks now, I am so excited to get back to Newcastle and see what's on the horizon for me this term. I love Sheffield but most of my friends have gone back to their own University's now and the city is a bit bleak here at the moment! I am going to be doing a work placement this year in the Great North museum where I already volunteer as a library assistant in their wonderful history collections, and am running the administration side of Journey to Justice (as a temporary role; they were struggling to find someone so I said I would try my best alongside my studies and see how I got on.) I am also the new Academic officer of Newcastle University's History society for 2015/16, which involves being the principle contact between lecturers/staff and the society, and planning academic events and talks.

So I have a few things I'll be balancing this year, but I guess that's normal for me. Anyway, the main aim of the blog is my research, which I have been working hard on for the past few days. Proof of me in action (yes it involves highlighters and a magnifying glass) -



So basically I am currently going through all the newspaper articles/advertisements I printed out in the Library of Congress and Charleston's 'Avery Research Center', and making notes on the main themes, how they present the Jenkins orphanage band, who is writing, etc. I've found some really interesting information which highlights the social and economic climate of the US south at the time, and indeed the poor opportunities and help available for black people.

The collection of newspaper articles I have date between 1895, and 1936, though I am concentrating mainly on the 1890s up until around 1920. It is hard not to get sidetracked to look at later years, when so many of the musicians went on to perform for Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Erskine Hawkins and a score of other famous musicians and bandleaders in the big band era. But  that is a whole other research project (and also the subject of the anthology Dr Karen Chandler at the Avery Research Center is currently writing).

(The Avery Research Center today. This building used to be the Avery Normal Institute, was founded at a similar time to the Jenkins Orphanage and was also a great school that taught many of South Carolina's musicians).

A great many of the articles are advertising concerts the band were performing in, and entry prices to these range from 50c to nothing. The geographical range of these advertisements are huge - from Maine and Massachusetts, down the east coast to Florida, across to Tennessee and even as far west as Utah. I also have a few articles from London, UK. Doubtless the band also visited many other cities I haven't yet found records for. Surprisingly I have found very limited sources from Charleston newspapers. My main knowledge of their focus is from quotes from The Charleston News and Courier printed in other newspapers. The majority of articles that mention the Jenkins orphanage band are from northern newspapers - the economic climate of the south after the Civil War was in very bad shape even after reconstruction, and Jenkins probably took the orphans north because that was where most of the money was.

A common theme across the time period is a plea for money and aid to help the 'little destitute orphans.' Language to shock and encourage people to sympathize with the children's cause was often used, such as in a letter from Reverend Daniel Jenkins himself to a New York newspaper in 1897 which stated 'we must raise the remainder [of the funds needed] or let the children die.' Mentions of starvation and illnesses would doubtless have gotten attention and money from mothers/parents etc and those with money to spare.

Many references to Jenkins having saved children from lives of crime and violence are used, and something I found interesting but perhaps not surprising is that in the few relevant women's magazine articles I have read, the godly work of Jenkins and his charitable and humble personality are emphasized, playing on the contemporary view of women as having voluntary and charitable associations, and as mothers with children's best interests at heart.

The only photographs of Jenkins or black musicians that appear in any of the newspapers are in black publications, as might be expected. The African-American newspapers also make little mention of the race of the band- it is probably presumed by the readers that those discussed are black. Yet nearly all of the newspapers published by white people make it clear that Jenkins is a 'negro' and the children are 'darkies' (Lloyd's Weekly Newspaper, London, England, 8th September, 1895), sometimes pointing these out in the headline to catch people's attention.

Jenkins is throughout all of the newspapers portrayed as a very honest, hard-working and good man. Though in some cases the impression is given, such as in Chicago's The Daily Inter Ocean on the 11th July, 1895, that he is a 'good' black and is improving the view people have of his race. Many references are drawn to the 'betterment of his race', or 'the awful conditions of the colored brother of the south' (The Daily Picayune, New Orleans, 11th June 1897), pointing out that black people in post-reconstruction had a much harder day to day life than white people did.

The band's music is hugely praised, and there are many review articles to be found written by both white and black journalists, documenting the names of items, performers, and crowd impressions of the concerts. They are favorably compared to other 'pickaninny bands', and even the Home for Colored Waif's in New Orleans which Louis Armstrong grew up in.

There is no doubt that the orphanage boys and girls were widely loved and praised throughout America and Europe, which just leaves me with a slightly bittersweet taste in my mouth. It is of course wonderful that these talented black children were so widely accepted and their concerts well attended, and yet their parents and other African Americans were at the same time being penalized, trampled on and ignored, implying that only faith, good Christian charity work as was being provided by Jenkins and his administration, and money, could raise their children up from the bottom of an unequal and unjust society and give them a better life than the alternative of the jail or chain-gang could. The children should not have needed 'saving' in the first place. I would like to think that my conclusion would be otherwise but my research on race relations is telling me that learning music was,intentionally or coincidentally, a way out of the negative connotations of being black, and unfortunately not everyone had that opportunity.

I didn't mean to end on such a pessimistic note! Have a nice photograph of the band, courtesy of the Avery of the Avery Research Center for African American History and Culture, College of Charleston, Charleston, SC (apologies for the quality, it's a photocopy of a photocopy).

Showmen

I am so happy to say that I finally have permission to use some of the photographs of the band!

I'm still in the process of gaining permission for one or two of the best ones; and unfortunately I can't get permission for my personal favourite photograph which is very clear, but obviously understandable as the collections at Avery are still largely unprocessed.

Most of the ones I have are undated, and nearly all come from the Charleston Jazz Initiative collections in the College of Charleston (including the one below).

So here is just a taster of one image of the the Jenkins Orphanage Band from the Anglo-American Exposition during 1914...

As is seen here, the conductor was usually always a small boy who often performed tricks such as cartwheels whilst the band played. The band were taught to be great showmen and knew how to attract an audience!

King George V was so impressed with the band that he requested a private concert while they were in London, but unfortunately this had to be called off after Great Britain declared war on Germany.