Thomas Green Wiggins: Pianist and Composer

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Thomas Green Wiggins: Pianist and Composer

Thomas Green Wiggins also is known as Thomas Wiggins or “Blind Tom,” became the highest-paid pianist of the 19th century and was one of the best-known American performing pianists. Thomas also made history by becoming the first black person to perform in the White House. His repertoire included Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Bach, Chopin, Verdi, Rossini, Donitzetti, Meyerbeer, and many others.

Photo Credit: I have researched many untold black stories, but this one, unlike any others, gets under my skin. As I write this blog, I am listening to Thomas’s composition entitled’ Battle of Manassas (1861). This is Tom’s most famous piece. He is reconstructing an eyewitness account of that Confederate battle complete with notes to imitate cannon shots, troop train whistles, and other battle sounds. I am trying to envision an autistic, blind, slave boy playing this during the era of racism and injustice in which he may have not even knew existed. I can not call this beautiful gift of a man, “Blind Tom,” I will call him Tom or Thomas the name his mother gave him.

Thomas Green Wiggins Early Life

Blind from birth and born into slavery on May 25, 1849, in Columbus, Georgia. Tom became well known for his piano virtuosity. When Thomas was born, his master, Wiley Jones, was unwilling to bear the costs of maintaining a ‘worthless runt’ as it was said and wanted him dead. When Thomas was nine months old, his master decided to put the blind infant, his two sisters, and his parents up for auction, individually. Thomas’ mother, Charity, approached a neighbor, General James Bethune, and begged him to save her family from the auction block. He rejected the offer, but the day of the action, The Wiggins family was sold to General James Neil Bethune. A lawyer from Georgia and an editor of a newspaper in which he openly advocated secession.

Photo Credit: Mark Twain Photo Credit: Mark Twain

Blindness

Although legally blind, Tom had some light perception. ‘When he was around three or four years of age, it was observed that he passed most of his time with his face upturned to the sun as if gazing intently upon it. He was occasionally passing his hand back and forth with a rapid motion before his eyes.’ ‘When five or six years of age, it was discovered that within a tiny space, he could see any bright object. They had hoped that in time, his sight would improve.

Autism

Tom had a sensitivity to sound. He could repeat others’ conversations. He deliberately would drag chairs around, bang pots together, and provoke his siblings to scream so he could hear the noises again and again. Though undiagnosed at the time, Tom demonstrated unusual behavior. A doctor declared him as non compos mentis, which translated from Latin means “not having control of one’s mind.” But as the knowledge of autism improved long after his death, it became clear that Tom was an autistic savant.

Early Career

The Bethune family had seven musically gifted children who played the piano or sang, and Wiggins stood by, rapt, as the children practiced. According to the family’s account, one day, when the Bethunes had company, one of the daughters entertained them by playing the piano. As she finished playing a rigorous selection, lunch was served. After the group sat down at the table, the strains that the Bethune daughter had finished a few minutes earlier came from the supposedly empty parlor. The group rushed in to find the little Tom, playing the piano, repeating the difficult piece he had just heard.

Tom learned how to memorize sounds very quickly. He would mimic the piano playing of Bethune’s daughters and repeated their music from memory. Piano lessons were provided for him by several Italian and German music teachers, and Tom’s ability quickly surpassed that of his teachers. With Beethoven-like precision, he learned to play a piece of music after hearing it just once. One of his teachers even said that Tom’ repulsed her’, but she taught him because of the pay ($5.00, a high salary for music teachers at the time).

Thomas Wiggins reportedly wrote his first composition, “The Rain Storm,” at the age of five based on experiencing a thunderstorm that day. When he was ten, he was given a grand piano by famous piano manufacturer, William Knabe, which had the inscription ‘a tribute to a genius’. At the age of eight, the boy whose stage name became, “Blind Tom”, was “loaned” to Perry Oliver, a concert promoter who toured with him throughout the U.S. Performing four times a day, Tom was earning up to $100,000 a year (equivalent to $1.5 million in 2004), more than any known pianist at the time. All of Tom’s earnings went to his owner and his promoter. He nor his family received not a dime. He was still a slave, and racism was very much alive. When Tom went on tour in the South with Bethune, many of his performances were canceled due to racist hostility.

In 1860, Tom became the first Black person to perform at the White House, in front of President James Buchanan. And later, President Abraham Lincoln in the Union’s service, and Mark Twain was one of his most frequent attendees.

[youtube=://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6vLl-55szE&w=854&h=480]

Twain wrote about his impression of Thomas Wiggins by saying:

“Some archangel, cast out of upper Heaven like another Satan, inhabits this coarse casket; and he comforts himself and makes his prison beautiful with thoughts and dreams and memories of another time… It is not Blind Tom that does these wonderful things and plays this wonderful music–it is the other party.”

Legal problems

Tom’s parents had an arrangement made with Tom that Bethune would have custody of him until he turned 21 years old. This agreement would provide him with room and board and $20 a month, and the parents would receive $500 a year plus food and shelter. However, when Tom finally turned 21 years old, Bethune had Tom declared legally insane. He then appointed himself his legal guardian, effectively continuing the profitable relationship. They spent the next eight years on U.S. tours, including summers spent in New York.

John married Eliza Stutzbach in 1882, but after John left for eight months on tour, Eliza sued for divorce, claiming she had been deserted. Before the divorce was finalized, John died in a railway accident in 1884. Tom was returned to stay with General Bethune, who was then living in Virginia. Tom’s mother, Charity, stated, ‘They stole my boy away from me!’. She tried to appeal in court to be able to be with him longer and keep some of the money he earned.

 Before Bethune’s death, his will banned Eliza from any inheritance, calling her a “heartless adventuress who sought to absorb my estate.” The courts objected to her request. In 1865, slaves were “officially freed” however ‘newly freed slaves, but many remained slaves. Many black slaves or former slaves were made to ‘entertain” their owners by play music. Tom’s mother had been made to dance for her owners in this way.

Eliza married her attorney, Albrecht Lerche, and managed Tom’s career until his health began to fail in 1904. Tom died on June 14, 1908, at Eliza’s home in Hoboken, New Jersey, The headline in the New York Times read, “Blind Tom, Pianist, Dies of a Stroke – a Child All His Life.”

Released in 2000, A New York pianist John Davis has professionally recorded 14 of Blind Tom’s original compositions on a CD entitled John Davis Plays Blind Tom (Newport Classics NPD85660).

[youtube=://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPkbvbzTbiQ&w=640&h=480]

Thomas Wiggins Key Points

  • Tom was a black, blind, autistic slave

  • became the first African-American to be invited to perform at the White House, in front of President James Buchanan

  • He could imitate any animal with incredible accuracy, and apparently, he could repeat conversations 10 minutes long.

  • When Tom went on tour in the South with Bethune, many of his performances were canceled due to racist hostility.

  • Tom was earning up to $100,000 a year (equivalent to $1.5 million in 2004), more than any known pianist at the time.

Work Cited

“Blind Tom,” born a slave, at the age of 10 became the …. https://www.thevintagenews.com/2018/01/05/blind-tom/

A 19th Century Marvelous Musician – Wisconsin Medical Society. https://www.wisconsinmedicalsociety.org/professional/savant-syndrome/profiles-and-videos/profiles/blind-tom-a-19th-century-marvelous-musician/

Musings: BILL P.’S LEGACY – macblogphd.blogspot.com. https://macblogphd.blogspot.com/2019/04/bill-ps-legacy.html

“Blind Tom,” born a slave, at the age of 10 became the …. https://www.thevintagenews.com/2018/01/05/blind-tom/

Blind Tom Wiggins: Black Neurodivergent Excellence | NOS …. https://nosmag.org/blind-tom-wiggins-black-neurodivergent-excellence/

The 19th Century’s Highest-Paid Piano Player Was A Blind Slave. https://allthatsinteresting.com/blind-tom-wiggins

A sad song from the past: Blind Tom | News | fauquier.com. https://www.fauquier.com/news/a-sad-song-from-the-past-blind-tom/article_85827a4a-ba1f-11e9-8fad-07464bd4bd6a.html

What should black Americans know about Ghana?

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In this episode, Vanessa speaks with a woman from Ghana, asking her perspective on what she thinks about black Americans and what we should know about Ghana.
Photo Credit: Buzz Ghana

Photo Credit: Buzz Ghana

Teller: This is Gladys, from Ghana.
What do you learn about black Americans growing up?
Gladys: They were slaves
What should black Americans know about Africa?
Gladys: I know that white men came to the country and took us here.
What should we know about Africa for those that have not traveled there or Ghana?
Gladys: Ghana is a good country. We are free and friendly. We are good for black Americans. When you come to Ghana we will receive you nicely. The Queen Mother of her town. We get the goodness from white people.”
What made you want to come to America?
Gladys: I wanted to come here to see how America is and what is going on with Americans.
Should black Americans travel to Africa and why?
To know your people
What do you think of people here called African-Americans?
You were here from slavery and that’s why you are called African-Americans.
Are you okay with us being called African-Americans?
Yeah. I’m okay.
What do you want to be called? African, Ghanaian or African-American
I am an American citizen so I can be called African American
How many languages do you speak in Ghana?
We speak so many languages……Akan, Ewe, Ga, English, Abron. It depends on the tribe. I’m from the Ashanti Tribe region. You can say Thank you in Ghana is….”Me daa si”
Me daa si
Thank you!

The Power of a Mother’s Faith: A tribute to Laura!

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Podcast Notes
Intro Music: SOLO BLUES CONTES
Janelle, also known as “Janelle Ja” is the teller for this week. The discussion is on “The Black Church and Christianity in the Black community.” She discusses the role of her mother and how she played a significant role regarding her faith today.
About the teller
Janelle is was born a graduate of Columbia College Chicago.  She attended The New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts and is being trained by AGI Entertainment in Atlanta.  She is an actress, singer, and entrepreneur. She recently started Chocolate Janelle Ja.
Website: Janelleja.com
Facebook: Janelleja
Chocolate Janelle Ja
IG: Chocolatejanelleja
Twitter: ChocolateJja
Knowing God
Janelle’s grandmother, Laura Washington (middle photo) raised her while her mother raised 8 other siblings.  Her grandmother grows up in the South and picked cotton and always told Janelle the stories of her past. She dedicated her music EP to her called, Laura’s Daughter”.   Ms. Laura believed it was Janelle’s gift to sign.
Laura always said and would say if she was here today:
“Put God first”
“Pray about it”
“You can be old fashion with a modern kick”
“It’s such a beautiful day”
Psalms 31
Proverbs 3:6
“In all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.”
  What do you think has happened now with the church and its attendance?
–    Janelle responded that young mothers are having kids at a young age and not making wise decisions and not bringing God into your life.
Photo Credit: RNS (Religious News Service) Photo Credit: RNS (Religious News Service)
  • What we teach our kids will follow from generation to generation. Janelle learned about God and how to pray from her grandmother, who raised her.
  • “We are virtuous women. It’s in the Bible,” Janelle said. “We, as mothers have the most important role.”
  • The teller stated that “The younger generation is not seeking out the older generation. Respect the elderly. They can help out a lot. They have the best wisdom.”
What can we do? Advice from Janelle:
  • Mentor others. Young mothers and just mother’s in general.
  • Pray for other kids and tell them they are beautiful. Encourage them.
  • Teach kids to know how to pray!
Janelle concludes the podcast with her advice to unbelievers.
Closing Music: Wolf

Meet a substantial contributor to the study of cardiovascular disease and the first black Ph.D. in Chemistry.

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Meet a substantial contributor to the study of cardiovascular disease and the first black Ph.D. in Chemistry.
Courage is like a habitus, a habit, a virtue: you get it by courageous acts. It’s like you learn to swim by swimming. You learn courage by encouraging.
– Marie Maynard Daly
Photo Credit: STEMtrix Photo Credit: STEMtrix
Marie Maynard Daly was not only the first black person to receive a Ph.D. in Chemistry, but she also made scientific contributions to the study of cardiovascular disease.
Overcoming Hurdles of racial and gender bias Marie Maynard Daly is the first black woman to receive a Ph.D. in Chemistry in the United States. Daly made significant contributions to research: the chemistry of histones, protein synthesis, the relationships between cholesterol and hypertension, and creatine uptake by muscle cells. In addition to her historical research, she was committed to developing programs to increase the enrollment of minority students in medical school and graduate science programs.
Interest in Science
In 1921, Daly was born in the Corona neighborhood of Queens, New York. Her father, Ivan C. Daly, emigrated from the West Indies as a young man and her mother, Helen Page, from Washington D.C. Before Marie was born, her father attended Cornell University to study Chemistry. Unfortunately, he had been forced by economic circumstances to drop out of school. Her mother came from a family of readers, and she spent long hours reading to her daughter about science and scientist. Daly became an avid reader like her mother. Her father’s love of science inspired her. She was captivated by Paul De Kruif’s famous bookÂ, The Microbe Hunters, which partially influenced her decision to become a scientist.
Education
Daly attended Hunter College High School, an all-female institution, where they supported her ambition to become a chemist. After graduating high school, Marie stayed at home with her parents to save money for college, where she later attended Queens College, New York, where she majored in chemistry. She graduated magna cum laude from Queens College with her bachelor’s degree in chemistry in 1942. She was named a Queens College Scholar, an honor to the top 2.5% of the graduating class. That college offered her work right away as a part-time lab assistant. A separate fellowship allowed her to study for her Master’s at New York University, which she obtained in 1943. Daly worked for a year tutoring chemistry students at Queens College
Daly wanted to return to school for her Ph.D., but the programs were costly. She received a fellowship to work at Dr. Mary Caldwell’s lab at Columbia University. Caldwell (1890-1972) received her Ph.D. at Columbia in 1921 and went on to become its first woman chemistry professor—Caldwell, is known for her research that made her a world authority on the digestive enzyme amylase. Daly worked at the lab to save money for her Ph.D., but that’s when World War II’s demand for new scientists intervened. With the help of Caldwell, Daly obtained funding from the university to help in her full-time chemistry study. Caldwell was pivotal in supporting and mentoring a woman of color to succeed in STEM.
For two years, Daly taught at Howard University in Washington, DC. However, she received a grant from the American Cancer Society to support her postdoctoral research, joining Alfred E. Mirsky, a pioneer in molecular biology, at the Rockefeller Institute in New York. At Rockefeller, she studied cell nuclei and their contents. Before Watson, Crick, and Franklin had discovered DNA structure in 1953, and Hershey and Chase confirmed its role as the carrier of genetic information in 1952.
In 1960, she became an assistant professor at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine at Yeshiva University. In 1971, Daly was promoted to associate professor of Biochemistry. There she published journals in Circulation Research, Lipid Research, and the American Journal of Physiology.
Photo Credit: Ebony Magazine online Photo Credit: Ebony Magazine online
Research
Daly researched how compounds produced in the body affect and participate in indigestion. Her dissertation was titled “A Study of the Products Formed by the Action of Pancreatic Amylase on Corn Starch.” She received her doctoral degree in 1947, only three years after enrolling in the program.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE FIFTY-FOURTH ANNUAL MEETING OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR CLINICAL INVESTIGATION, INC., HELD IN ATLANTIC CITY, N. J., APRIL 30, 1962
A study of the products formed by the action of pancreatic amylase on corn starch.
SYNTHESIS OF PROTEIN IN THE PANCREAS
She worked on the composition and metabolism of components of the cell nucleus, among other studies, for seven years. Then Daly took a new position teaching biochemistry at the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University. In 1960 she became a professor at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. During her time there, she worked in the research laboratory of Dr. Quentin B. Deming. Her research efforts focused on the crucial relationship between cholesterol and heart attacks. Daly and Deming published three peer-reviewed papers during their research collaboration in the Journal of Experimental Medicine, the Journal of Clinical Investigation, and the Journal of Laboratory and Clinical Medicine.
She also studied the effects of sugar on arteries and cigarette smoking on lung tissue. Daly established a scholarship fund for black students studying physics or chemistry at Queens College in 1988. Upon her retirement Daly and her husband, Vincent Clark, whom she married in 1961.
Marie Maynard Daly Clark died on October 28, 2003. In 2016, the Founding Principal of the new elementary school P.S.360Q, Mr. R. Emmanuel-Cooke, announced that the school would be named “The Dr. Marie M. Daly Academy of Excellence” in honor of the Queens resident.
Memberships: American Chemical Society; American Society of Biological Chemists; American Heart Association; Harvéy Society; National Association for the Advancement of Colored People; National Association of Negro Business and Professional Women; New York Academy of Sciences Board of Governors.
Awards: Phi Beta Kappa; Sigma Xi; Queens College Scholar; fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science; American Heart Association.
MARIE MAYNARD DALY- African American Scientist Timeline created by Jillian F. In History
Why is Marie Maynard Daly important?
  • Making medicine to help the effects of smoking
  • Making medicine for heart attacks
  • Making medicine to help the breakdown of the circulatory system
  • It gave Black women the courage to do what they want
  • First female Black person to earn a pH.d. in chemistry in the united states
Ivan C. and Helen H. Daly Scholarship Endowment
Daly Scholarship is to be awarded to a student majoring in the physical sciences. Preference is given to candidates with a demonstrated interest in issues related to minorities in science or African American studies or history, as measured by the applicant’s activities, academic concentration(s) or letters of recommendation. This is a merit-based scholarship.
Work Cited
Dr. Marie Maynard Daly Archives – Harlem Film Institute. https://www.harlemfilminstitute.com/tag/dr-marie-maynard-daly/
Marie Maynard Daly | Science History Institute. https://www.sciencehistory.org/historical-profile/marie-maynard-daly
Michelle Zitofsky Attorney Profile | Queens, NY | Simon …. https://www.simgil.com/About/Michelle-D-Zitofsky.shtml
Marie Maynard Daly (1921-2003), America’s First Black …. https://womenyoushouldknow.net/marie-maynard-daly-first-black-woman-chemist/
10 Black Scientists You Should Know – HowStuffWorks. https://science.howstuffworks.com/innovation/scientific-experiments/10-black-scientists8.htm
Marie Maynard Daly – Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie_Maynard_Daly
“A Freedom March in Downtown Indy.” Indianapolis Business Journal, vol. 40, no. 7, IBJ Corporation, Apr. 2019, p. 6A.
Nancy L. Zimpher, Former Chair of the New York Academy of …. https://www.nyas.org/news-articles/academy-news/nancy-l-zimpher-former-chair-of-the-new-york-academy-of-sciences-board-of-governors-to-receive-honorary-doctorate/
Unsung: Marie Maynard Daly – Undark. https://undark.org/article/unsung-marie-maynard-daly-women-stem/

The First Celebrity Chef in America was enslaved! Chef Hercules

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The First Celebrity Chef in America was enslaved! Chef Hercules

My husband and I are “foodies.” We love to try various cuisines, from hidden mama and papa dives to food trucks and even fine dining. We know our Chefs, and I am a Food Network “junkie.” However, before Wolf Gang Puck, Anthony Bourdain, James Beard, Marcus Samuelsson, or even B. Smith, there was Chef Hercules, also known as “Hercules,” “Uncle Harkless,” or “Hercules Posey.” 

Hercules Posey was the first celebrity chef in America. He was not just a cook; he was a slave who gained fame as a “Chef of fine French cuisine” and “simple Frontier cooking” for President George Washington at his Mount Vernon home in the 1780s, and his Philadelphia home, in the early 1790s.

Family Life

Hercules was born in 1733 in Washington. He had married a dower slave, Lame Alice, a seamstress at Mount Vernon, and they had three children, Richmond (born 1777), Evey (born 1782), and Delia (born 1785). Alice died in 1787, leaving Hercules to raise the young children.

George Washington’s Connection to Chef

George Washington may have purchased Hercules in 1767 when he was a 13-year-old. Hercules worked in the kitchen learning under the first lady, Martha Washington’s longtime slave cook, Old Doll, and her daughter Lucy. 

The Washington family appreciated Hercules’s cooking expertise, and he had special privileges. He made “from one to two hundred dollars a year” by selling the leftovers from the presidential kitchen. Hercules, unlike other Slaves, would enter and exit through the “front entrance” in Pres. Washington’s Philadelphia home. It is believed that Hercules, though still a slave, would have enjoyed occasional company with Black Freemen. Thomas Jefferson’s Cook James Hemings’ was not your average slave; Others would see Hercules walking in the streets of Philadelphia, sporting a velvet waistcoat and gold-handled cane.

“Chef Hercules was a very proud and confident man, whose culinary skills and status were recognized throughout the nation, he demanded perfection from his staff in the presidential kitchen, and he commanded attention and respect from the public as well,” something unheard of for enslaved laborers of his period.” According to historian Kelley Fanto Deetz, author of Bound to the Fire: How Virginia’s Enslaved Cooks Helped Invent American Cuisine.

George Washington’s step-grandson and family members would call him Uncle Heckless. 

Writing from George Washington Parke Custis 

“The chief cook would have been termed in modern parlance, a celebrated artiste. He was named Hercules and familiarly termed Uncle Harkless.
He was a dark brown man, little, if any, above the usual size, yet possessed of such great muscular power to entitle him to be compared with his namesake of remarkable history.” – George Washington Parke Custis 

 Culinary Mentors

Hercules also had a culinary mentor named “Samuel Fraunces.” Historians at this time do not know what race Samuel was.

Thomas Jefferson’s Chef, James Hemings, learned to fuse this new Virginian cookery with fine French Cuisine, which he knew while in Paris. That became another level to Southern cuisine. It was the unique James Hemings fusion that both Washington and Jefferson preferred. Hercules must have learned something from James Hemings to have the title “Chef of Fine French cuisine” and “Simple Frontier cooking.” Jefferson’s residence in Philadelphia was just down Market Street from the President’s house.

Mount Vernon The kitchen in Mount Vernon (pictured) where Hercules used to cook for George Washington

Foods Prepared

Chef Hercules and the first lady of the kitchen prepared hoecakes and smoked hams and started “British fusion cooking,” which includes more than 1,000 years of English, Irish, Welsh, & Scottish cooking and a hint of Roman influence. They incorporated Native cooking traditions, seasoning it with African spice, flavor, and ingenuity, creating colonial Virginian cookery.

Mount Vernon

Hercules was about 36 when he moved from the kitchen at Mount Vernon to the Philadelphia kitchen in about 1790. A White Chef, “Chef John Vicar,” has been dismissed from Head Chef and Hercules. He worked with eight people, including presidential steward Samuel Fraunces, some assistant cooks (including his enslaved teenage son Richmond), and several waiters. He cooked in a large hearth, a fireplace filled with cooking equipment. Before residence in Philadelphia, the Pennsylvania state legislature had enacted the Gradual Abolition Act of 1780. This law freed any enslaved person who stayed on Pennsylvania soil for longer than six continuous months. To skirt the law, Washington sent all of his slaves back to Mount Vernon every time the six-month deadline was about to toll. They would stay at the plantation for a few weeks and then return to Philadelphia to restart the “freedom clock.”

His Escape

A Birthday Shock from Washington’s Chef by Craig LaBan

Hercules did not escape from his privileged post in Philadelphia in early March, as widely believed. But in 1796, his son Richmond was accused of stealing money from a visitor’s saddlebags. Washington was immediately suspicious because slaves didn’t have money, although Chef Hercules made about $200 a year selling leftovers that the President approved. Hercules felt it was time to escape with his son. On President George Washington’s 65th birthday- 2/22/1797, Hercules decided to escape Slavery and leaving son Richmond and the other children behind, and he did.

Key Points:

  • Hercules was the first celebrity chef in America. 
  • Hercules is also known as “Hercules,” or “Uncle Harkless” or “Hercules Posey.” 
  • He was not just a cook. He was a black slave who gained fame as a “Chef of fine French cuisine” and “simple Frontier cooking” for President George Washington.
  • When his wife died, Hercules raised their young children.
  • George Washington may have purchased Hercules in 1767 when he was a 13-year-old
  • his son Richmond was accused of stealing money from a visitor’s saddlebags.
  • Hercules made about $200 a year selling leftovers that the President approved.
  • On Washington’s birthday, Hercules fled Washington’s Virginia plantation, where he had been transferred and put on hard labor.
  • According to Craig LaBan, Philadelphia Inquirer, it is said that the painting (see photo at top) is maybe Chef Hercules’s portrait, supposedly painted by Gilbert Stuart. Experts have recently dismissed those attributions, and both the subject and painter are now unknown.

Listen to our Podcast

Work Cited

Hercules, Chef to President Washington — James Hemings …. https://www.jameshemingsfoundation.org/blog/2017/3/7/hercules-chef-to-president-washington

Hercules (chef) – Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hercules_(chef)

Hercules, Master Chef (c.1755 – d.) – Genealogy. https://www.geni.com/people/Hercules-Master-Chef/6000000018933399344

The man who fed the first president — and hungered for …. https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/food/the-man-who-fed-the-first-president-and-hungered-for-freedom/2017/02/24/7897d572-f475-11e6-b9c9-e83fce42fb61_story.html

The man who fed the first president — and hungered for …. https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/food/the-man-who-fed-the-first-president-and-hungered-for-freedom/2017/02/24/7897d572-f475-11e6-b9c9-e83fce42fb61_story.html

Meet Hercules, One of America’s Early Celebrity Chefs …. https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/hercules-celebrity-chef-george-washington

Slaves in the President’s House: Hercules. – US History. https://www.ushistory.org/presidentshouse/slaves/hercules.php

Hercules, il cuoco di George Washington. Con Gilbert …. https://aaaaccademiaaffamatiaffannati.blogspot.com/2016/09/hercules-il-cuoco-di-george-washington.html

The First Celebrity Chef in America was enslaved!

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In this episode, Vanessa tells the incredible story of the first celebrity Chef in America. He was not just any Chef, he was a slave of President George Washington.

Being a Black Teacher in America

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Being a Black Teacher in America
For this episode, Vanessa discusses the article and reality of “The Burden of Being a Black School Teacher in America.”

Sister Rosetta Tharpe, the inventor of Rock and Roll

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Sister Rosetta Tharpe, the inventor of Rock and Roll
Listen to the podcast about Sister Tharpe

Our future is lost if we fail to recognize the past. I hope that generations today and the future will come to know Sister Rosetta Tharpe of her greatness and influence on rock and roll. I love all types of music, past and present, and when I came across the music and story of Sister Rosetta Tharpe, I was dumbfounded. Please take a listen to her music. This woman was the inventor of Rock and Roll; even Elvis insisted on that. A gospel singer who could play the guitar is the true mother of Rock and Roll. It brings me joy to share her story with those who do not know her. However, it also proves there is a problem with our history books.

Who is Sister Rosetta Tharpe?

Sister Rosetta was the first to cross over successfully into mainstream popular music. She introduced the spiritual passion of gospel into the secular world of rock’ n’ roll, inspiring greats like Chuck Berry, Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Little Richard. Tharpe was an inventive, innovative and pioneering songstress and an influential guitarist credited with being the first to experiment with heavy distortion on an electric guitar. Her guitar-playing technique profoundly influenced the development of British blues (Muddy Waters, s Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, and Keith Richards).

Her life and church

The child of a destitute cotton picker, Sister Rosetta, was born in Cotton Plant, Arkansas in 1915. At age six, her evangelist mother Katie Bell took her to Chicago, where they joined the Church of God in Christ on the city’s south side.

Rosetta later married a Church of God preacher named Thomas Tharpe after she became a renowned gospel musician in the church community. After a few years, she moved to New York City to pursue her music career without her husband. Her husband said she used her to bring in a larger congregation. They later divorced, but she kept the surname as her stage moniker.

Her connection with secular music

In New York City, she started singing secular songs. Her willingness to play “God’s music” in the devil’s den of nightclubs and music halls caused an uproar. Many but not everyone, loved her sound. Tharpe was snubbed by religious circles who thought her music was evil and that playing the guitar was a sin. Tharpe pushed spiritual music into the mainstream and helped start the rise of the pop gospel. She performed at venues such as the Cotton Club and Cafe Society, where Duke Ellington and Cab Calloway recognized her. Tharpe was later asked to play on stage with both of the artists. She toured across the country. It was frowned upon for white and black musicians to perform together. However, Tharpe didn’t let that stop her, so she performed with the all-white singing group, The Jordanaires group.

Record Deal

In 1938, Sister Rosetta signed a contract with Decca Records and recorded the first gospel song 1938 called “Rock Me.” Her music became the first gospel music ever to top Billboard’s “race” charts which later became known as R&B. She later saw talent in a 14-year-old boy named Little Richard Penniman, so she put him on stage. He decided that night to become a performer.

Breaking barriers in music

She saw Marie Knight perform at a Mahalia Jackson concert in New York in 1946. Tharpe recognized a unique talent in Knight. Tharpe suggested they tour together. They did the gospel circuit for several years, recording hits such as “Up Above My Head” and “Precious Memories.” Knight and Tharpe were talented with their instrument-playing skills; they were the only headliners. This tour was revolutionary and controversial because it was unheard of to have two women touring together alone with no men. It helped to boost her pioneer status. She was doing what was unheard of and looked down upon, but the tour was hugely successful. In Gayle Wald’s 2007 biography of Tharpe, “Shout, Sister, Shout!” the author wrote that Tharpe and singer Marie Knight became lovers in an “open secret.” They lived openly in the relationship until it ended in 1951.

Tharpe returned to her gospel roots and performed in packed churches and theaters in the United States and Europe. She became one of America’s most distinctive recording artists on radio and television during the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s.

Tharpe died during a recording session on October 9, 1973.

Her contributions

  1. During the 1992 Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, Johnny Cash said she was his favorite singer growing up. Little Richard called her his greatest influence. Chuck Berry said his entire career was just “one long Rosetta Tharpe impersonation.” In December 2017, Tharpe was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for her contributions.

2. Tharpe is also known as the ‘forgotten mother’ because she wasn’t recognized for her contributions, maybe because she was black perhaps because she was a black woman, or perhaps because she was a bi-sexual.

3. Almost 15 years later, on July 15, 1998, the United States Postal Service issued a 32-cent commemorative stamp to honor Tharpe.

4. Tharpe’s 1944 release “Down by the Riverside” was selected for the National Recording Registry of the U.S. Library of Congress in 2004.

5. Governor Edward G. Rendell has proclaimed January 11, 2008, as “Sister Rosetta Tharpe Day” in the State of Pennsylvania.

6. In 2011, BBC Four aired a one-hour documentary, Sister Rosetta Tharpe: The Godmother of Rock & Roll, written and directed by U.K. filmmaker Mick Csaky.

7. In 2013, the film was shown in the U.S. as part of the PBS series American Masters.

Photo Credit: Smothsonian Postal Museum Photo Credit: Smithsonian Postal Museum
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Work Cited
Detroit Public brings the story of Sister Rosetta Tharpe to …. https://www.encoremichigan.com/2018/02/detroit-public-brings-story-sister-rosetta-tharpe-motown-rock-roll-tenderness/
Sister Rosetta Tharpe – Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sister_Rosetta_Tharpe
Caldwell, Rachel. “Tennessee Triumph.” Dance Teacher, vol. 38, no. 8, Dance Media LLC, dba Macfadden Performing Arts Media, LLC, Aug. 2016, p. 122.
The Godmother of Rock n Roll: Rosetta Tharpe – Black Music …. https://blackmusicscholar.com/the-godmother-of-rock-n-roll-rosetta-tharpe/
Sister Rosetta Tharpe | PureHistory. https://purehistory.org/sister-rosetta-tharpe/

A short Black Music History Lesson

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Closing Music: Wolf
Mr. Smith gives us a short black music history lesson.
“History goes back to Africa. They had their guitars and musical instruments like the drums and brought to the United States,” he says.
The music today is about making money and not about quality work. Mr. Smith is excited that the rap world is creative and that it is a universal art form. The rap world has cursing and violence that he isn’t familiar with growing up, but it has a “feeling” standpoint, they express themselves their reality and maybe not all of ours.
“They use to say black music was the devil’s music. What does that say about today’s music- metal, rap, etc? Some say jazz artists feel threatened because of the popularity of R&B and other music, and not the pure music of jazz.” It’s essential to bring black music into our black history teaching in schools. It was always a part of our History. Start with teaching kids at home by playing music from our past.
What can these current hip hop artists do for the black community? Kanye, for example, and his wife is helping the community giving people out of prison and more. LeBron James in sports started a school in Ohio. Beyonce also and JayZ do a lot, although we don’t hear a lot about what they are doing.

A Reflection!

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Intro Music: SOLO BLUES CONTES
Closing Music: Wolf
In this episode your host Vanessa reflections on her week filled with family health issues. She expresses the importance of what we eat. “There are many things we can not control, but eating is one. Our community needs to have healthier options and better decisions and education on what we eat. Also, we need to know our past generation and information about our ancestors so that we can also help prevent many health concerns that may be genetic.
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