History That Doesn't Suck

“Harlem is the queen of the black belts, drawing Aframericans together in a vast humming hive . . . from the different states, from the islands of the Caribbean, and from Africa . . . It is the Negro capital of the world.” 

This is the story of the Harlem Renaissance. 

In the early twentieth century, many Black families and individuals down South are finding that the only way out is up—to the North. Driven by Jim Crow discrimination and harsh economic realities, hundreds of thousands of African Americans head to cities like Chicago (the “promised land”) or Harlem (“Black Mecca”). This Great Migration fosters communities of gifted artists, and eventually, the rest of the country takes notice. 

By the 1920s, Black culture is truly blooming. Up-and-coming writers including Zora Neal Hurston and Langston Hughes are crafting literature we still consume some 100 years later. Master musicians like Cab Calloway and Ella Fitzgerald are scattin’ up a storm in New York clubs. And let’s not forget the visual arts! The Harlem Renaissance features countless artists that contribute mightily to American culture and Black identity: let’s meet just a few. 

(Audio of Cab Calloway was recorded in 1982 at the White Plains Public Library in White Plains, NY, and used with their permission. We are grateful to the library and encourage listeners to support their local public library for the services they provide.)

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“Miller, Lyles, and I were standing near the exit door . . . Blake stuck out there in front, leading the orchestra—his bald head would get the brunt of the tomatoes and rotten eggs.”

This is the story of American musical theater and the dawn of modern Broadway. 

Popular entertainment is evolving fast in the early twentieth century. Minstrel shows just aren’t drawing the same numbers anymore (for good reason), and burlesque and variety shows abound. The earliest “official” musical, The Black Crook takes several notes from these sometimes scandalous shows, as do Flo Ziegfeld’s new “revues.” By the 1920s, composers, writers, and choreographers are experimenting with what a musical production can do: using songs to advance the plot (thanks Hammerstein!), and incorporating new music genres like jazz. 

Big players including George Gershwin, Noble Sissle, and Irving Berlin all play a role in crafting the perfect environment for the American musical to emerge, but the production Show Boat really gives a glimpse of the future of musical theater. It entertains even as it tackles heavy topics, and the score is seriously moving. It’s difficult to anticipate how audiences will receive this new form—less pompous than a European operetta, but definitely more substantial than one of Ziegfeld’s musical revues. So, without further ado . . . take your seat, the show’s about to begin. 

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“Wait a minute, wait a minute, you ain’t heard nothing yet!”

This is the story of the silver screen. 

In the late nineteenth century, technology is advancing rapidly. Eadweard Muybridge’s trip-wire camera work, made famous by a “motion study” of a galloping horse, is giving way to smoother and longer projections. Some see these short films simply as a curiosity, an “invention without a future” as early filmmaker Louis Lumière famously says, but Thomas Edison knows there is serious money to be had. He’s quick to patent his inventions (and to sue anyone trying to circumvent his Motion Picture Patents Company), but even he can’t keep motion pictures under wraps forever. 

Independent filmmakers like Carl Laemmle and William Fox turn their actors into stars and move out to sunny Hollywood to operate far from Edison’s watchful eye. LA explodes in the 1910s and 20s as moviemakers and actors flock to the area, and though their decadent lives and debatable morals worry the public, audiences keep consuming the studio’s silent productions. That is, until synchronized sound enters the scene. 

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Cheers to Professor Jackson’s post Prohibition conversation with distinguished author Daniel Okrent! Dan is the the author of Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition, winner of the American Historical Association’s prize for the year’s best book of American History when it was published in 2011. Last Call was a go-to book in the HTDS bibliography for episodes 157-160 as we researched and selected the stories to tell in these four podcast episodes we’ve just completed.
Dan was also the first Public Editor of The New York Times, where he was charged with being the public’s advocate for accurate and objective journalism by the paper. So Prof. Jackson couldn’t resist the opportunity to get his perspective on the state of news reporting today which, as astute HTDS listeners know, is often called the first draft of history. Spoiler alert: they both agree one must be a critical thinker when it comes to the potential bias of the news media one consumes – helpful tool here from AdFontes.

Dan Okrent is also author of The Guarded Gate: Bigotry, Eugenics, and the Law That Kept Two Generations of Jews, Italians, and Other European Immigrants Out of America, and Great Fortune: The Epic of Rockefeller Center, a finalist for the 2004 Pulitzer Prize in history. 

Before his tenure at the Times, Okrent spent 13 years at Time Inc., where he was successively editor of Life magazine; corporate editor of new media; and corporate editor-at-large. Earlier in his career, he worked extensively in book and magazine publishing in various editorial and executive positions. He has held fellowships at the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism and the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard (where he was, in addition, the Edward R. Murrow Visiting Lecturer in 2009-2010).
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HTDS is part of the Airwave Media Network. 
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From Airship, the studio behind American Scandal, American History Tellers, and History Daily, comes a new true crime history podcast that takes you inside the minds of some of our most notorious felons and outlaws, exploring the dark side to the American dream.

In this new show, host Jeremy Schwartz will introduce you to the picture-perfect brothers who teamed up to kill their parents; the thief who stole babies and ruined countless lives; the crypto king who siphoned off billions in the name of saving the world—and plenty more. From assassins and gangsters, to killers and con artists, whatever the case, whoever the criminal, you don’t know the full story—until now.

Enjoy this look into Al Capone. They have a 4-part series on Scarface himself, so if you want to go more in-depth on this iconic gangster, head over to American Criminal to get more!

Listen wherever you get your podcasts, or to get early, ad-free access to the entire season first, plus hundreds of other ad-free history podcast episodes, subscribe at Into History.
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