{"id":3514,"date":"2019-06-08T12:48:15","date_gmt":"2019-06-08T12:48:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/fourwallspublishing.com\/BlogMChaney\/?p=3514"},"modified":"2019-06-26T15:52:56","modified_gmt":"2019-06-26T15:52:56","slug":"1917-river-jazz-w-c-handy-and-fate-marable-in-the-northern-delta","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/fourwallspublishing.com\/BlogMChaney\/?p=3514","title":{"rendered":"1917 River Jazz: W.C. Handy and Fate Marable in the Northern Delta"},"content":{"rendered":"

Thirty-First in a Series<\/em><\/p>\n

By Matt Chaney, for ChaneysBlog.com<\/p>\n

Posted Saturday, June 8, 2019<\/p>\n

Copyright\u00a0\u00a92019 for original content and historical arrangement by Matthew L. Chaney, Four Walls Publishing<\/em><\/p>\n

Cairo, Ill., remained a place of converging forces, of conflict and collaboration, creation, even as the old river town struggled in early 20th<\/sup> century.<\/p>\n

New railroads and a bridge bypassed Cairo, crossing the Mississippi near Cape Girardeau. Paved highways were routed elsewhere, establishing automobile traffic through southeast Missouri and western Kentucky. Aircraft flew overhead but only stunt pilots landed at Cairo, marshy tip of southern Illinois.<\/p>\n

River commerce had been reduced to barge freight and local packets, to showboats and excursion rides. Timber and grain drove Cairo industry but supplies were shrinking from southeast Missouri, booming itself through deforestation, draining and settlement of vast bottom lands. Bootheel crop farmers, burgeoning in number, stored and sold harvests through new elevators on their side of the river. Sikeston\u2019s high-rise grain elevator, a concrete cluster of 12 towers, held 800,000 bushels.<\/p>\n

Cairo was fading in significance, increasingly cut off in the northern delta. This confluence of great rivers, merge point of the Mississippi and Ohio, wasn\u2019t so important anymore.\u00a0Town population peaked at about 15,000 during the 1910s, outset of the First World War. Talk of Cairo as a budding metropolis was over, and meanwhile the pressing concern, as for a century, remained flood protection. Cairo\u2019s survival had relied on federal aid and development since the Civil War. Only government could maintain the huge levees, river gates and pumps for repelling catastrophic river surges.<\/p>\n

Entertainment and show business, and complementary vice, endured as Cairo\u2019s consistent economy\u2014and community pride or infamy, depending on perspective. Many citizens were fed up with the \u201clive town\u201d reputation.<\/p>\n

\u201cCairo\u2019s future depends, in one important sense at least, upon the people of the city themselves,\u201d wrote John M. Lansden, attorney and local historian. \u201cThey cannot change its geographical features, nor its topographical features very much; but they can and should make it a place from which good and desirable people will not turn away.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Cairo always relied on show business and nightlife, even illicit gambling, said advocates. And brothels and unlicensed saloons were incidental problems, not a plague, they said. More outside folks were attracted than not for Cairo’s entertainment scene; positives outweighed negatives, advocates argued.<\/p>\n

Local culture for performing arts was special, undeniably. Historic Cairo still attracted major shows and talent while nurturing young musicians, dancers, actors and comedians.<\/p>\n

The circus was tradition for generations here, since Dan Rice and Spalding\u2019s Floating Palace on the Mississippi. Circuses no longer wintered around Cairo but big shows visited into the 20th<\/sup> century, including Barnum and Bailey, Sells and Downs, Hagenbeck-Wallace, and Ringling Brothers. The modern circus arrived by railroad in the night, \u201cawe-inspiring for the ease with which it flits from hither to yon,\u201d remarked a columnist. \u201cA circus carrying a thousand people and 500 varieties of fierce and fragrant beasts will slip into a town at 4 a.m. and by breakfast time will have set up 10 acres of tents and will have its calliope fired up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Showboat lore traced to the floating barges of Ludlow, Chapman and Lennox, and the steamer tug\u00a0Banjo<\/em> of Spalding, in period of early to mid-1800s on the rivers. The 1900s showboats, like predecessors, set up at Cairo wharf and across the way at Bird\u2019s Point. Modern vessels were spectacles on water, a football field in length and electrically illuminated, led by Markle\u2019s Goldenrod<\/em> and Emerson\u2019s Cotton Blossom<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Classical drama and opera waned in popularity but remained trademarks of Cairo, drawing enough regional audience to support major shows and performers. Famed Lillian Russell appeared here in twilight of her stage career, 1913. Cecille B. DeMille and Marguerite Clark made acting runs at the Opera House prior to entering silent movies, he as a director. Helena Modjeska, acclaimed tragedian, made a farewell appearance at age 67.<\/p>\n

But the crowds turned out for song, dance and laughs, from stars like vaudevillians Lew Dockstader, Max Bloom and Al. H. \u201cMetz\u201d Wilson, showing at the Opera House.<\/p>\n

Music was popular as ever in Cairo and the riverine delta. American genres had emerged, pure native styles with hot beats, along with technology like the phonograph player. Entertainment infrastructure expanded along automobile routes, adding live venues. And black artists impacted music in facets such as song composition, instrumentals, stage performance and marketing.<\/p>\n

Pioneer blues singer Ma Rainey played Cairo, starring for the Rabbit\u2019s Foot Minstrels, while soprano Matilda Sissieretta Jones visited on numerous dates, leading her Black Patti Musical Comedy Company. Jones was a songbird of range from grand opera to pop, known as \u201cBlack Patti\u201d in deference to Italian great Adelina Patti. In 1911 Jones\u2019 troupe advertised \u201c40 Colored Comedians, Vocalists and Dancers\u201d at Cairo.<\/p>\n

The Smart Set Company packed showplaces in the South and North, from Cairo Opera House to the Lafayette Theatre in New York. The Smart Set was a \u201cblack vaudeville\u201d institution for decades with lead men such as Tom McIntosh, Sherman H. Dudley, and the Whitney brothers, Salem Tutt and J. Homer Tutt.<\/p>\n

In 1915 a \u201cNegro Renaissance\u201d was apparent in the arts. James Reese Europe, Afro-American composer and conductor, said contemporary spotlight trained on black performers because of \u201cmodern dances, and the consequent demand for dance music of which the distinguishing characteristic is an eccentric tempo. Such music usually takes the form of a highly syncopated melody, which in the early period of its development was known as \u2018ragtime\u2019 music.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPerhaps it is fair to say that the negro has contributed to American music whatever distinctive quality it possesses,\u201d Europe said. \u201cCertainly he is the originator of the highly syncopated melody so much in favor today [jazz].\u201d Europe headed an association of black musicians in New York City, where they endured prejudice and royalties theft from music publishers but likewise dominated jobs for shows and dances. \u201cOur negro musicians have nearly cleared the field of the so-called gypsy orchestras,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Jim Europe highly admired W.C. Handy of Memphis, the bandleader who composed early blues songs that burst barriers and captured mainstream audience, endearing white fans and black. Handy was a pioneer of American music whom dancers should thank for the fox trot, Europe said in Harlem, adding, \u201cboth the tango and the fox trot are really negro dances, as is the one-step.\u201d<\/p>\n

Handy stood revered in the lower Mississippi and Ohio valleys, already, and across the South.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Memphis Blues<\/em>\u00a0is known all over this country and its composer is almost as well known,\u201d remarked a Nashville critic. \u201cDown in Memphis town Handy reigns almost supreme at most of the dances, his music being the one big boast that the Memphians have.\u201d An Atlanta paper saluted Handy\u2019s band as \u201ca Memphis musical institution.\u201d A Texas advertisement touted \u201cDance Music That Will Make You Kick Back The Rugs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Atlanta reporter Britt Craig was struck that hundreds of whites turned out with blacks to see Handy\u2019s band. \u201cThe variety demonstrated the democracy of ragtime,\u201d Craig stated. \u201cThe applause that greeted the livelier ragtime numbers, especially The Memphis Blues<\/em>, shook the rafters. Handy was compelled to render the Blues<\/em> three times when he first played it, then later by special request.\u201d<\/p>\n

The self-effacing Handy credited blues music to multi-ethnic artists preceding him along the Mississippi: \u201cNegro roustabouts, honky-tonk piano players, wanderers and others of their underprivileged but undaunted clan from Missouri to the Gulf.\u201d A son of slaves, Handy drew inspiration from experience, his past of incidents and encounters. \u201cThere was what we called the folk blues,\u201d he recalled. \u201cIt seemed to me I\u2019d always heard them. Our people talked of \u2018singing the blues,\u2019 but that was just a phrase. Blues wasn\u2019t written music then. There would be just a snatch of song among my people. It was music from the heart.\u201d<\/p>\n

Handy appeared frequently in the northern delta during the 1910s, particularly at Caruthersville and Cairo. He conceived a classic melody on visit to St. Louis, jotting notes in a riverfront saloon. A century later, the BBC recounted: \u201cIn 1914, Handy followed up Memphis Blues<\/em> with his next hit\u2026 called St Louis Blues<\/em><\/a>. It was even more popular and influential than its predecessor and it went on to become a jazz standard.\u201d<\/p>\n

As America was drawn into world conflict, W.C. Handy played Cairo on multiple occasions, with varying combinations of his Memphis players. The term \u201cjass\u201d or \u201cjaz\u201d was just surfacing in the northern delta. A reporter described the music, close kin of ragtime and blues, as \u201cthat peculiar brand of ultra-syncopation.\u201d For longtime ahead, many would refer to jazz as ragtime, \u201craggy\u201d tunes.<\/p>\n

\u201cA jass band is composed of oboes, clarinets, cornets, trombones, banjos and always a drum,” commented a New Orleans musician in 1917. “But the music is a matter of ear and not of technique. None of us knows music. One carries the melody and others do what they please. Some play counter melodies, some play freak noises, and some just play. I can\u2019t tell you how. You got to feel jass. The time is syncopated. Jass, I think, means a jumble.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jazz was long heard in locales besides New Orleans, according to Elijah “Lige” Shaw, legendary drummer born in Tennessee south of Cairo, 1900. \u201cWe just called it music, not jazz,\u201d Shaw recalled of boyhood in Jackson, Tenn., where he earned money dancing and playing drums in his father\u2019s saloon.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo this music, everybody says that this music comes from New Orleans, but that isn\u2019t necessarily true, because I\u2019ve been hearing it all my life and I didn\u2019t know New Orleans existed. But it’s the same music as the older musicians that I would follow around as a little boy, getting a whooping every night for staying out because I was out and around where the musicians were.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shaw had 15 siblings and left Jackson as a teen, after his mother died. He landed at Memphis and in 1915 joined a network of musicians and bands supervised by Handy. Shaw toured at age 16 with the Dandy Dixie Minstrels, operating from Cotton Plant, Ark. The outfit played Cairo theaters and tent shows. \u201cWe\u2019d make a different town every day,\u201d Shaw said. \u201cThere was always excitement; every day you could count on a laugh and a change of scenery.\u201d<\/p>\n

Handy appeared twice at Cairo in 1917, when Columbia Records released his Jazz Dance Blues<\/em>\u2014\u201cweird and super-syncopated strains… compelling call to the dance floor\u201d\u2014in national distribution. Handy ended each show with St. Louis Blues<\/em>, packing the floor of dancers and ensuring encores. Cairo couples enjoyed modern dancing, controversial moves, some considered taboo, of names like the tango, fox trot, turkey trot, bunny hug, grizzly bear, shimmy and toe wiggle.<\/p>\n

A modern dancer moved \u201cwith every part of one\u2019s body\u201d\u2014alarming churchmen locally.\u00a0Methodist minister Curwen Henley denounced dancing in \u201cmost ardent\u201d fashion, reported the Bulletin<\/em>. \u201cI am set against the practice of dancing,\u201d said Henley. \u201cI do not believe in being a sanctimonious church member in Cairo and a dancer on the boat. The modern dances are of death.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reverend Henley had penchant for making headlines, including as a leader of the Anti-Saloon League. Illinois elders of the Southern Methodists assigned Henley to Cairo, where he admonished the community for \u201clawlessness and anarchy.” The pulpit firebrand equated locals to hedonists and vowed to fight evil \u201cwith every drop of blood in my veins.” Pastor Henley condemned Cairo for infidelity and divorce, alcohol consumption, dancing, gambling and more ills. Given Cairo alone, the \u201csecond coming of Christ seems near,\u201d he cried.<\/p>\n

Newsmen covered Sunday sermons of Henley, harvesting quotes that grabbed attention on frontpage. \u201cWhy should Cairo be the only open town for miles around?\u201d Henley pleaded, championing the Temperance Movement for banning alcohol. \u201cWe are surrounded by dry territory; should we continue open so as to invite all the vile here? We will never build up our city that way. Shall we stay open just to be conspicuous?\u201d<\/p>\n

In spring 1917 Preacher Henley headed into a showdown. The Handy band was fantastic for dancers at an Elks party, thrilling Cairo generally, but dance opponents felt differently, and the annual picnic for Sunday schools was coming up. The gathering was multi-denominational and this year featured a river excursion aboard the palatial Steamer Saint Paul<\/em>\u00a0of the Streckfus Line. Many anticipated trouble with Henley around, since the boat offered dance tunes from bandleader Fate Marable and his jazzy players.<\/p>\n

Marable pushed the issue straight away, on morning of the event, a May Saturday, by broadcasting calliope music from atop the Saint Paul<\/em> moored at Cairo wharf. Gangplanks were opened and church picnickers came rushing. The side-wheel steamer was 300-feet long, wooden hulled, four stories tall, painted bright white with latticework from stern to bow. Tall black stacks streamed thin smoke as the Saint Paul <\/em>got up steam for the excursion run. Launch was in a half-hour.<\/p>\n

Marable, 27, refined pianist and master calliope player, hit notes on the steam organ like none other\u2014\u201cwhen Fate allows his fingers to wander dreamily over the brass keys all lovers of ragtime sit up and take notice,\u201d gushed a river listener. And as 600 church people boarded Marable’s boat, toes were tapping and fingers snapping, especially among youths.<\/p>\n

At a quarter past 9 o\u2019clock, Marable left his calliope perch under the smokestacks. He headed downstairs to the second deck, with its 200-foot hardwood dance floor, to join his musicians. Marable was an Afro-American of light complexion and red hair, native of nearby Paducah, fronting a band of black players from his hometown. In final minutes until boat launch they played catchy melodies, snatches of their advertised \u201cspecial dance program,\u201d to stir the crowd.<\/p>\n

Gangways were withdrawn onto the Saint Paul<\/em> and moorings untied, ropes reeled in. Deckhands signaled up to the pilot house for departure. At 9:30 sharp the captain gripped the brass handle on the ship\u2019s telegraph mount, a porcelain dial of throttle commands for the engine room. He pushed the dial from STAND BY to SLOW AHEAD, and engines fired below. At rear of the ship the big paddle wheel turned forward, churning water.<\/p>\n

The Saint Paul<\/em> pulled away from Cairo wharf, billowing dark smoke, horn blaring, and made a wide U-turn on the Ohio to point upriver. Straightening out, the pilot ordered steam power to FULL AHEAD; pouring on the coals, the boat glided toward picnic grounds 20 miles up the channel.<\/p>\n

Marable’s band played loudly on the dance deck, and there was action. Many churchgoers would dawdle no longer. \u201cAlthough they knew there would be objection, a large number of the young people succumbed to the lure of the music,\u201d the Bulletin<\/em> later reported, \u201cand the magnificent dance floor was soon filled with swaying couples.\u201d<\/p>\n

But the band was interrupted, told to stop by churchmen, and Reverend Henley and Fate Marable came face-to-face. Marable wouldn\u2019t relent, informing the anti-dance crusaders his band would continue, with or without couples on the floor. And music resumed.<\/p>\n

\u201cInstantly the floor was again filled with dancers, and several numbers were played with the same result,\u201d the Bulletin<\/em> reported. Henley and company halted the music, once again, but Marable remained determined to perform. Henley mentioned sacred songs as proper for the gathering, and, perhaps to his surprise, Marable agreed.\u00a0 Now only hymns would be heard from the bandstand.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor a while it was thought the dancers had been defeated,\u201d the Bulletin<\/em> relayed, \u201cbut first one and then another couple returned to the floor. It was found that music of hymns, when properly played by an orchestra accustomed to furnishing dance music, was just as good as ragtime for their purposes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Music and the fox trot rolled on. The nifty collaboration between Marable and churchy dancers had won out, their resorting to\u00a0Bringing In The Sheaves<\/em> and such. Preacher Henley fumed over the sacrilege, leading his disciples at edge of the floor.<\/p>\n

\u201cCharges of desecration were hurled at the dancers by the outraged objectors and many personalities were indulged in, but as long as the music continued, some remained on the floor,\u201d the Bulletin<\/em> reported. \u201cThey flung back a challenge to make them stop and told their criticizers they were bigoted and narrow-minded.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe dance or not to dance at a Sunday school picnic\u2026 was never settled.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reverend Henley was perturbed that night in Cairo. \u201cNo person truly a Christian can endorse or favor the dance idea,\u201d he said. \u201cThe dance never builds character but destroys it. It never builds the constitution but undermines it.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 1918 Fate Marable and his steamboat musicians were billed as the Kentucky Jazz Band by Streckfus Steamers. The next year Marable retained only one Paducah musician, Boyd Atkins, while hiring a host of New Orleans players, including Warren “Baby” Dodds and teenager Louis Armstrong.<\/p>\n

The group,\u00a0known as Marable’s Jaz-E-Saz Band, toured the rivers on Streckfus steamers Saint Paul<\/em> and\u00a0Sidney<\/em>. Armstrong performed his first trumpet solo from a boat at Caruthersville. Marable nicknamed the kid “Satchmo,” and decades later Armstrong credited the pianist \u201cfor lots of us youngsters getting a start.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were the first hot band to come up on the boats and people thought we were really something out of the ordinary,\u201d Armstrong said. \u201cBaby Dodds used to play on the rims of the drums, y’know… we really had ’em jumpin’. Deedy, we used to make ’em swing.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 1918 Reverend Henley left Cairo, reassigned to Murphysboro by the Southern Methodists. Soon after he saw a cherished cause become federal mandate in the 18th<\/sup> Amendment, which outlawed the manufacture, sale and consumption of alcohol in the United States.<\/p>\n

Prohibition of booze didn\u2019t last. Jass<\/em> did.<\/p>\n

Writer and consultant Matt Chaney is compiling a book on historical song and dance, tentatively titled <\/em>Stories from River Music to Rock in the Northern Delta<\/a>. For more information, including\u00a0<\/em>Chaney\u2019s previous books, visit\u00a0<\/em>www.fourwallspublishing.com<\/a>.\u00a0 Email:<\/em>\u00a0mattchaney@fourwallspublishing.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Afloat With A River Show. (1895, July 28). Chicago Tribune<\/em> IL, p. 34.<\/p>\n

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Foard, A.I. (1919, Dec. 2). Land of ditches and riches. Caruthersville Democrat<\/em> MO, p. 3.<\/p>\n

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\u201cFrench\u2019s New Sensation\u201d To Be Scuttled, But Show Boat Business Is Still Booming. (1930, Dec. 31). Oshkosh Northwestern<\/em> WI, p. 8.<\/p>\n

General Local items. (1879, June 25). Cairo Bulletin<\/em> IL, p. 4.<\/p>\n

General News Of City & County. (1901, Oct. 1). Caruthersville Democrat<\/em> MO, p. 3.<\/p>\n

Godsey, R. (1924, Feb. 22). Southeast Missouri agricultural empire. St. Louis Post-Dispatch<\/em>. In Sikeston Standard<\/em> MO, p. 5.<\/p>\n

Good Music But Shimmy\u2019s Barred On The St. Paul. (1919, Sept. 13). Moline Dispatch<\/em> IA, p. 3.<\/p>\n

Good Roads. (1919, May 19). Missouri Herald<\/em>, Hayti MO, p. 5.<\/p>\n

Graham, P. (1951). Showboats: The History of an American Institution<\/em>. University of Texas Press: Austin TX.<\/p>\n

Grand Offering at Opera House. (1908, March 30). Cairo Bulletin<\/em> IL, p. 4.<\/p>\n

Hacker, J.S. (1915, Sept. 7). News Of The Rivers. Cairo Bulletin<\/em> IL, p. 6.<\/p>\n

Hacker, J.S. (1916, July 1). News Of The Rivers. Cairo Bulletin<\/em> IL, p. 3.<\/p>\n

Handsome St. Paul To Give Excursion. (1917, May 15). Paducah News-Democrat<\/em> KY, p. 6.<\/p>\n

Handy, W.C. (1916, Dec. 7). How I came to write the Memphis Blues. New York Age<\/em> NY, p. 6.<\/p>\n

Handy\u2019s Band Coming. (1923, Sept. 12). Springfield Missouri Republican<\/em> MO, p. 8.<\/p>\n

Handy\u2019s Famous Jazz Band Here At Rudy\u2019s Store. (1919, Dec. 18). Paducah Evening Sun<\/em> KY, p. 9.<\/p>\n

Hardwoods. (1919, July 12). Cairo. Southern Lumberman<\/em>, 53 (1242), pp. 42-43.<\/p>\n

Harrell, M. (1865, Sept. 11). The Cairo that was: Number VI. Cairo Evening Times<\/em> IL, p. 1.<\/p>\n

Harris, Mrs. C.M. (1947, Feb. 7). Remember When: 30 years ago in Sikeston. Sikeston Standard<\/em> MO, p. 14.<\/p>\n

Hennessey, T.J. (1973). From jazz to swing: Black jazz musicians and their music, 1917-1935<\/em>. [Doctoral thesis.] Northwestern University: Evanston IL.<\/p>\n

High-Class Vaudeville. (1904, Aug. 24). Cairo Bulletin<\/em> IL, p. 8.<\/p>\n

Hopkins, G.W. (1924, Dec. 24). Handy Orchestra Week\u2014January 2 to January 9. [Promotional correspondence.] Columbia Graphophone Company: New York NY. In Greenwood Daily Commonwealth<\/em> MS, p. 4.<\/p>\n

Houck, L. (1893, Sept. 9). Missouri Day [speech]. In Cape Girardeau Democrat<\/em> MO, p. 3.<\/p>\n

In The Show Business. (1904, July 18). Cairo Bulletin<\/em> IL, p. 8.<\/p>\n

Interest Is Shown. (1907, Jan. 5). Cairo Bulletin<\/em> IL, p. 2.<\/p>\n

Is Modern Dancing \u201cSheer Devilization\u201d As One Minister Says? St. Louis Post-Dispatch <\/em>MO, p. 49.<\/p>\n

Items From Cairo, Ills. (1855, Sept. 11). Evansville Courier<\/em> IN, p. 2.<\/p>\n

Jass Music The Latest. (1917, March 24). Great Bend Tribune<\/em> KS, p. 6.<\/p>\n

Johnson, J.W. (1915, Sept. 23). Views And Reviews: \u201cThe poor white musician.\u201d New York Age<\/em> NY, p. 4.<\/p>\n

June First Will Mark The Beginning Of Herculean Labor Of Making Cairo Levee System Absolutely Impregnable Against Future Floods. (1913, March 23). Cairo Bulletin<\/em> IL, p. 1.<\/p>\n

Kenney, W.H. (2005). Jazz on the river<\/em>. University of Chicago Press: Chicago IL.<\/p>\n

Lansden, J.M. (1910). A history of the city of Cairo, Illinois<\/em>. Southern Illinois University Press: Carbondale IL.<\/p>\n

Last Excursion To Paducah. (1918, Sept. 19). [Advertisement.] Cairo Bulletin<\/em> IL, p. 4.<\/p>\n

Lennox Dramatic Temple. (1848, Dec. 27). Evansville Daily Journal<\/em> IN, p. 2.<\/p>\n

Lew Dockstader Presents Great Musical troupe. (1911, Dec. 12). Cairo Bulletin<\/em> IL, p. 7.<\/p>\n

Lillian Russell To Be Invited To Take Aerial Ride. (1913, Dec. 6). Cairo Bulletin<\/em> IL, p. 4.<\/p>\n

Local And Personal. (1914, June 19). Jackson news. Cape Girardeau Weekly Tribune<\/em> MO, p. 6.<\/p>\n

Local And Personal. (1919, May 29). Pemiscot Argus<\/em>, Caruthersville MO, p. 5.<\/p>\n

Local Intelligence. (1848, Aug. 26). Cincinnati Enquirer<\/em> OH, p. 3.<\/p>\n

Ludlow, N.M. (1880). Dramatic life as I found it<\/em>. G.I. Jones and Company: St. Louis MO.<\/p>\n

Many Good Shows. (1909, Aug. 20). Cairo Bulletin<\/em> IL, p. 3.<\/p>\n

Martin, P.R. (1921, Oct. 7). A visitor\u2019s view. Illinois Journal of Commerce<\/em>. In Cairo Bulletin<\/em> IL, p. 2.<\/p>\n

Max Bloom, With \u201cA Winning Miss.\u201d (1911, April 1). Cairo Bulletin<\/em> IL, p. 3.<\/p>\n

Mayne, I.M.R., with Strout, R.L. [Ed.] (1939). Maud<\/em>. Macmillan & Company: New York NY.<\/p>\n

Memphis-New Orleans Highway Planned. (1916, Feb. 14). Crowley Signal<\/em> LA, p. 1.<\/p>\n

Meeting Of The Red Ribbonites Last Night. (1880, Jan. 24). Cairo Bulletin<\/em> IL, p. 4.<\/p>\n

Ministers Start New Campaign To Stop Social Evil. (1915, Oct. 9). Cairo Bulletin<\/em> IL, p. 4.<\/p>\n

Minstrels At Airdome. (1910, July 19). Cairo Bulletin<\/em> IL, p. 4.<\/p>\n

Moonlight. (1918, Sept. 17). [Advertisement.] Caruthersville Democrat<\/em> MO, p. 3.<\/p>\n

Moonlight Excursion. (1918, May 16). [Advertisement.] Hickman Courier<\/em> KY, p. 8.<\/p>\n

Moonlight Steamboat Excursions This Spring. (1912, May 5). Cairo Bulletin<\/em> IL, p. 4.<\/p>\n

Mosedale, J. (1957, April 14). W.C. Handy tells his story of \u2018St. Louis Blues.\u2019 Decatur Daily Review<\/em> IL, p. 23.<\/p>\n

Music As An Aid In The Development Of Character. (1916, Jan. 26). Adair County News<\/em>, Columbia KY, p. 6.<\/p>\n

New 800,000-Bushel Elevator Which Has Been Constructed At Sikeston, Mo. (1919, May 24). St. Louis Post-Dispatch<\/em> MO, p. 4.<\/p>\n

New Kimmel Theatre Opens. (1912, Sept. 10). Cairo Bulletin<\/em> IL, p. 6.<\/p>\n

Noted Negro Composer Here With Orchestra. (1916, Feb. 22). Nashville Tennessean<\/em> TN, p. 7.<\/p>\n

Notes Afloat. (1901, May 1). Caruthersville Democrat<\/em> MO, p. 1.<\/p>\n

Now Famous Gymnast Once Concert Artist. (1918, Aug. 31). Mlle. Leitzel, noted performer, coming with Ringling Bros. Cairo Bulletin<\/em> IL, p. 3.<\/p>\n

One Day Only. (1906, Sept. 23). [Advertisement.] Cairo Bulletin<\/em> IL, p. 2.<\/p>\n

Only Big Show Coming. (1914, Oct. 23). [Advertisement.] Cairo Bulletin<\/em> IL, p. 3.<\/p>\n

Origin Of Vaudeville. (1901, Feb. 22). Lyon County News<\/em>, Emporia KS, p. 2.<\/p>\n

Owsley, D. (2006). City of Gabriels: The history of jazz in St. Louis, 1895-1973<\/em>. Reedy Press: St. Louis MO.<\/p>\n

Pastor Scored By Clergymen For Whistling. (1907, Nov. 16). Washington Times<\/em> DC, p. 6.<\/p>\n

Pastor Would Have fewer Divorces If He Were A Judge. (1917, June 25). Cairo Bulletin<\/em> IL, p. 1.<\/p>\n

Plan Big Day At The Open Of Thebes Bridge. (1905, April 29). Cairo Bulletin<\/em> IL, p. 8.<\/p>\n

Plans Made For Sunday Schools Picnic May 19. (1917, May 1). Cairo Bulletin<\/em> IL, p. 1.<\/p>\n

Personal Matters. (1904, Jan. 26). Cairo Bulletin<\/em> IL, p. 3.<\/p>\n

Prima Donna, Who Is A Member Of \u201cJolly\u201d John Larkin\u2019s Troop Of Funmakers. (1911, Nov. 22). Cairo Bulletin<\/em> IL, p. 3.<\/p>\n

Profilet, F.M. (1920, July 23). Social And Personal. Cairo Bulletin<\/em> IL, p. 4.<\/p>\n

Rev. Henley Back From Lecture Tour. (1915, Oct. 30). Cairo Bulletin<\/em> IL, p. 8.<\/p>\n

Rev. Henley Will Go To Washington Today. (1917, Dec. 7). Cairo Bulletin<\/em> IL, p. 2.<\/p>\n

River News. (1909, Sept. 13). River ripplings. Paducah Sun<\/em> KY, p. 8.<\/p>\n

River News, &c. (1858, June 24). Vicksburg Daily Whig<\/em> MS, p. 3.<\/p>\n

River News, &c. (1858, Nov. 5). Vicksburg Daily Whig<\/em> MS, p. 3.<\/p>\n

River Riplets. (1912, July 19). Rock Island Argus<\/em> IL, p. 9.<\/p>\n

Road Enthusiasts To Take Party To Sikeston, Mo. (1917, April 22). St. Louis Post-Dispatch<\/em> MO, p. A3.<\/p>\n

Sanderson, B. (1966, Nov. 2). Jazz fans agree that Nat Story\u2019s music hath charm. Paducah Sun<\/em> KY, p. 4.<\/p>\n

Second Coming Of Christ Seems Near Says Rev. Henley. (1917, March 26). Cairo Bulletin<\/em> IL, p. 1.<\/p>\n

Setting The Pace. (1917, Aug. 21). Caruthersville Democrat<\/em> MO, p. 4.<\/p>\n

Shrine Excursion Biggest Success Of The Season. (1921, May 13). Paducah Evening Sun<\/em> KY, p. 6.<\/p>\n

Social And Personal. (1911, Feb. 4). Personal mention. Cairo Bulletin<\/em> IL, p. 6.<\/p>\n

Social And Personal. (1911, Sept. 12). Is successful actress. Cairo Bulletin<\/em> IL, p. 4.<\/p>\n

Social And Personal. (1917, April 18). Elks to give dance. Cairo Bulletin<\/em> IL, p. 4.<\/p>\n

Social And Personal. (1917, Dec. 26). Elks give Christmas dance. Cairo Bulletin<\/em> IL, p. 4.<\/p>\n

Society. (1915, Sept. 8). Concert band at country club. Paducah Evening Sun<\/em> KY, p. 5.<\/p>\n

Society, Personal. (1913, Aug. 1). \u201cTango\u2014Bunny Hug\u2014Bear.\u201d Cairo Bulletin<\/em> IL, pp. 4, 6.<\/p>\n

Southeast Missouri. (1916, Sept. 29). Caruthersville Democrat<\/em> MO, p. 4.<\/p>\n

Southeast Missouri\u2019s Dismal Swamp Converted Into A Vast Farming Area. (1919, Oct. 12). St. Louis Post-Dispatch<\/em> MO, p. C5.<\/p>\n

Spalding\u2019s Monster Circus. (1848, March 22). Louisville Courier<\/em> KY, p. 2.<\/p>\n

Special Local Items. (1880, March 25). Cairo Bulletin<\/em> IL, p. 4.<\/p>\n

Stallings, R. (1940). The Drama in Southern Illinois (1865-1900). Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society<\/em>, 33, pp. 190-202.<\/p>\n

Start, C. (1941, Feb. 2). Louis Armstrong\u2014Came up the river with jazz. St. Louis Post-Dispatch<\/em> MO, p. 59.<\/p>\n

Steamer Saint Paul Has Jaz-E-Saz Band. (1919, May 18). La Crosse Tribune<\/em> WI, p. 4.<\/p>\n

Stepenoff, B. (2015). Working the Mississippi: Two centuries of life on the river<\/em>. University of Missouri Press: Columbia MO.<\/p>\n

Streckfus Steamboat Line. (1911, Sept. 19). [Advertisement.] Cairo Bulletin<\/em> IL, p. 4.<\/p>\n

Strong Sermons In Opposition To The Open Sunday Saloon. (1915, Dec. 20). Cairo Bulletin<\/em> IL, pp. 1, 6.<\/p>\n

The Amusement Question. (1916, June 14). Shelbina Democrat <\/em>MO, p. 2.<\/p>\n

The \u201cBanjo\u201d En Route. (1859, May 28). New Orleans Times-Picayune<\/em> LA, p. 3.<\/p>\n

The Emerson. (1917, July 22). [Advertisement.] Cairo Bulletin<\/em> IL, p. 6.<\/p>\n

The Flappers Who Put On The \u201cShimmy\u201d And The \u201cToe Wiggle.\u201d Sikeston Standard<\/em> MO, p. 2.<\/p>\n

The Great Cotton Blossom Floating Theater. (1909, Aug. 27). [Advertisement.] Caruthersville Democrat<\/em> MO, p. 2.<\/p>\n

The Handy\u2019s Orchestra Jazz Dance Blues<\/em> On Columbia Records. (1918, Jan. 2). [Advertisement.] St. Louis Post-Dispatch<\/em> MO, p. 12.<\/p>\n

The Mississippi Valley Fleet. (1896, July 12). Salt Lake Herald<\/em> UT, p. 10.<\/p>\n

The Negro Musician. (1915, Sept. 30). New York Age<\/em> NY, p. 6.<\/p>\n

The New Road Law Pleases Everybody. (1921, Aug. 9). Sikeston Standard<\/em> MO, p. 1.<\/p>\n

The Ohio Flood. (1890, March 1). The report from Cairo. St. Joseph Herald<\/em> MO, p. 8.<\/p>\n

The River News. (1901, June 20). Paducah Sun<\/em> KY, p. 2.<\/p>\n

To Close Season At Cairo. (1914, Oct. 23). Malden Merit<\/em> MO, p. 8.<\/p>\n

Tomorrow Is Ringling Day. (1914, Oct. 23). Cairo Bulletin<\/em> IL, p. 3.<\/p>\n

Town And County News. (1914, Nov. 27). Caruthersville Democrat<\/em> MO, p. 3.<\/p>\n

Town And County News. (1916, Jan. 4). Caruthersville Democrat<\/em> MO, p. 3.<\/p>\n

Town And County News. (1917, Feb. 9). Caruthersville Democrat<\/em> MO, p. 5.<\/p>\n

Travel By Rail Was Impeded. (1897, March 6). St. Louis Post-Dispatch<\/em> MO, p. 1.<\/p>\n

Van Osten\u2019s Mound City Band. (1909, Oct. 27). Cairo Bulletin<\/em> IL, p. 5.<\/p>\n

Veteran Jazz Durmmer Traces Career To Minstrel Show Days. (1962, Oct. 31). St. Louis Post-Dispatch<\/em> MO, p. 79.<\/p>\n

Wall-Southall Nuptials. (1909, April 14). Cairo Bulletin<\/em> IL, p. 3.<\/p>\n

Walton, L.A. (1915, Sept. 30). The negro renaissance. New York Age<\/em> NY, p. 6.<\/p>\n

We See By The Columbus Statesman. (1849, Oct. 23). Cincinnati Enquirer<\/em> OH, p. 2.<\/p>\n

What Press Agents Say Of Their Attractions. (1917, Feb. 7). Lansing State Journal<\/em> MI, p. 3.<\/p>\n

Will Give A Concert. (1905, Oct. 6). Cairo Bulletin<\/em> IL, p. 3.<\/p>\n

Wm. F. Desimoni Dies After A Long Sickness. (1912, Aug. 13). Cairo Bulletin<\/em> IL, p. 1.<\/p>\n

You Can Buy This. (1914, Oct. 11). [Advertisement.] St. Louis Post-Dispatch<\/em> MO, p. 35.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Thirty-First in a Series By Matt Chaney, for ChaneysBlog.com Posted Saturday, June 8, 2019 Copyright\u00a0\u00a92019 for original content and historical arrangement by Matthew L. Chaney, Four Walls Publishing Cairo, Ill., remained a place of converging forces, of conflict and collaboration, creation, even as the old river town struggled in early 20th century. New railroads and … Continue reading 1917 River Jazz: W.C. Handy and Fate Marable in the Northern Delta<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":""},"categories":[283,374],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4ywFp-UG","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/fourwallspublishing.com\/BlogMChaney\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3514"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/fourwallspublishing.com\/BlogMChaney\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/fourwallspublishing.com\/BlogMChaney\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/fourwallspublishing.com\/BlogMChaney\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/fourwallspublishing.com\/BlogMChaney\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3514"}],"version-history":[{"count":65,"href":"http:\/\/fourwallspublishing.com\/BlogMChaney\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3514\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3594,"href":"http:\/\/fourwallspublishing.com\/BlogMChaney\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3514\/revisions\/3594"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/fourwallspublishing.com\/BlogMChaney\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3514"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/fourwallspublishing.com\/BlogMChaney\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3514"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/fourwallspublishing.com\/BlogMChaney\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3514"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}