Archive for the ‘Historical Quagmires’ Category

Inserting Modern Standards into Classic Literature — Cool?

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Laurel Snyder, a local children’s author, has a great discussion on her blog about updating literature to correspond with our current views on racial stereotyping and language.  Bowdlerizing, if you will.

For a museum like ours — literature-driven, historically preserved, and familiar with comments like “I was shocked to hear Mr. Harris wasn’t a racist” (thanks, visitor yesterday) — this hits pretty close to home.

Using modern standards to judge consciences of yore is a tricky business, and there are no shortage of opinons on the matter.  Some argue that if the change doesn’t affect content, it’s a-okay.  For others, myself included (methinks), the idea of making something “appropriate” for the present by erasing its record of the past is a big no-no.

A little guy called “Mark Twain” (maybe you’ve heard of him) sums up my perspective well:

To arrive at a just estimate of a renowned man’s character one must judge it by the standards of his own time, not ours.

- translator’s preface of Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc, 1897

This topic has come up at the Wren’s Nest many times before, mainly surrounding things like Harris’ use of dialect or even the character of Uncle Remus.  For example, would it be crazy to remove Uncle Remus altogether from new versions and just present the stories?

So what do you think?  Is preserving history worth the cost of upholding possible prejudices?

Slavery Mural at the Georgia Department of Agriculture

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Yesterday’s AJC featured an article on the slavery mural that’s prominently featured at the Georgia Department of Agriculture.

The mural is part of a visual timeline that commemorates the history of agriculture in Georgia.  Many have questioned the appropriateness of this particular image, completed in 1956.

The article is well-worth your time, but I’ll go ahead and give you the central question — if the history is painful, should it be treated differently than the history that’s not as painful?

My answer is: of course, dummies!*  This argument is all about context.  If you’re going to, say, the new Illinois Holocaust Museum or the pending Center for Civil and Human Rights Museum, you know what you’re getting into.

If you’re looking to talk to someone about peanuts (or whatever a visitor might do at the Department of Agriculture), an image of slavery might (understandably) be jarring.

This problem would be easily solved with a respectful, permanent, and visible explanation on display nearby instead of a photocopied handout.

In a parallel vein, if our museum didn’t explain anything about the phrase “tar baby,” folks might also infer that the term “reinforces an image of blacks’ subservience to white people.”  But when our storytellers explain that the tar baby stories descend from the African “sticky hair” stories via enslaved Africans, it presents a totally different perspective.

Thanks for the link, jamieg.  And photograph courtesy of Kimberly Smith for the AJC.

* I am, of course, referring to the royal “dummies.”

Historic Tourism and Steve Martin’s King Tut Sketch on Saturday Night Live

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Amelia introduced me to the classic Saturday Night sketch, “King Tut,” with Steve Martin.  Have you seen it? It’s very funny.

Just before the King Tut saxophone solo, the satire really stung me.  Steve Martin sings, “He gave his life …for tourism.”

That line really made me think about what we do at the Wren’s Nest.  Well, that one and “he’s my favorite honky.”

It’s hard to ignore the fact that the Wren’s Nest staff (especially us bloggers) are not unlike what Steve Martin satirizes above.  See–

• “Kids!  Read Brer Rabbit stories.  We’ll give you a tshirt!”
• “Dads!  We have Brer Rabbit golf balls in our gift shop.  They’ll keep you out of the Briar Patch!”
• “Internet!  We have this goofy blog (and now a Twitter account)!”

Sometimes it’s tricky to balance (a) a mission that requires commitment to historic preservation, (b) the need to bring in earned income, and (c) the waning attention span of the public in an increasingly competitive and wired world.  In other words, it’s easy to forget that we’re here to preserve the heritage of African-American folklore and the legacy of Joel Chandler Harris.

Ideally everyone would come clamoring in for tours of an historic home to hear the Brer Rabbit stories, especially since they are such a unique and indispensable part of American culture.  Too bad it doesn’t work that way.

So, I guess my question is this — when we’re competing for tourists and field trips with the likes of the Aquarium and the Coke Museum, are our gimmicks really that bad?

Better yet, have you seen any other museums that’ve successfully raised awareness on the cheap without sacrificing their integrity?  We didn’t have much integrity to begin with, so I guess we have a leg up there.

The Von Trapp Family and the Wren’s Nest Family Aren’t So Different

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Last week the New York Times published an article about the Von Trapp family, made famous by the 1965 movie The Sound of Music. You remember — it’s one of your favorite things.

Turns out the family portrayed in the movie isn’t quite the same as the actual family.  The Von Trapps now run a successful ski lodge in Vermont, and the confusion between film and reality can lead to strain and confusion.

For example, family members bristle when asked which “character” they are.  Especially when their equivalent wasn’t represented in the film family at all.

The Von Trapp’s relationship with the Sound of Music reminded me quite a bit of the Wren’s Nest’s relationship with Song of the South.  On the one hand, we’re thrilled when it brings visitors to the museum, and it’s an important part of film history.

But some people come here ready to expound its virtues, crying that there’s not a racist bone in its celluloid body.  Others let us know all of its sizable problems the moment they enter the home.  Either way, we stand there awkwardly, ready to start talking about Joel Chandler Harris again.

Like the Von Trapps, we don’t want to let down people who love the film.  But it can be a trifle awkward when they find our house museum rather than an homage to Disney.  Or in the case of the Von Trapps, when visitors find an inn instead of the film come to life.

The Von Trapp family is currently working to figure out how to exploit the success of the film to their advantage without exploiting themselves.  Tricky!

Anyhow, take a read.  It’s a good one — Von Trapps United, Without the Singing

Related:

• In Search of Uncle Remus (AJC)
• Song of the South 62nd Anniversary — Your Questions Answered (Wren’s Nest)
• Song of the South History (New Georgia Encyclopedia)

Edit: Wednesday, December 31 — Whoops!  Amelia was the author of this post!  Fixed.  Our bad.

Coca-Cola Sued for Copyright Infringement of Uncle Remus Stories

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From the mailroom–

In 1931 the widow of Joel Chandler Harris sued Coca-Cola for infringing upon the Brer Rabbit “copyright.”

Click the pictures for a better view.  Please pardon the cut-and-paste…the clippings came from someone’s scrapbook and weren’t easily scanned together.

Slow news day, maybe?

I wonder if Mrs. Harris was upset or short on cash.  Probably both, I suppose.

As you might expect, back in the day the success of the Brer Rabbit stories led many companies to to capitalize on the names “Uncle Remus” or “Brer Rabbit” or “Briar Patch.”

Often, the spirit of the branding was, well, not terribly respectful:

Before someone sent me this news clipping, I hadn’t heard of the Coca-Cola lawsuit.

Does anyone out there have any Brer Rabbit – Uncle Remus – Coca-Cola memorabilia?

May Day at the Wren’s Nest and Photo Gallery

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Well, it looks like the Wren’s Nest is bringing back the May Day Festival. I know this because I read it in this morning’s paper.

Also, because we’re helping organize it. Durr.

If you read the article, you’ll note that there was a May Day celebration here at the Wren’s Nest for over 70 years.

Our amphitheater was built in the 1920s for the celebration, and the walkway that leads up to it commemorates each May Queen from 1909 – 1983.

It was a very formal affair, and quite a big deal to the organizations in charge of the Wren’s Nest before our current non-profit board took over in 1984.

In fact, the May Day festival ended up eclipsing Joel Chandler Harris and the Brer Rabbit stories in terms of organizational priorities. From what I can gather, it was done under the guise of “what Joel Chandler Harris would have wanted.” I think it was more “what they wanted,” but oh well.

The same sort of excuse was used to justify segregation of the Wren’s Nest, and as we now know, that claim was absolutely false.

That said, the May Day festival was a pretty neat tradition. There would be a parade down Gordon Street (now R.D.A.), and it would culminate in our back yard.

We’ve got a scrapbook of pictures from each year, and I’ve included one from each decade below. Have fun!

Mary Colcord was the first May Queen of the Flower Festival. Here she is in 1909.

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Before Ludacris, I suppose this is how you dropped dem bows in Atlanta. Look at the size of those things!

Christine McEachern was the May Queen in 1915. She’s surrounded by: (standing, left to right) Mary Gresham, Julia Greene, Louise Nichols, Evelyn Jordan, Maude Foster, Dorothy Brogdon, and (seated) Kathryn Stoy and Margaret White.

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Elizabeth Camp in 1927.

She’s surrounded by (standing, left to right) Sara Harrison, Madeline Wrigley, Beatrice Robinson, and Sara McCormack. Then, seated: Jane Spink, Charlotte Richards, Virginia Dillon, and Celeste Houston.

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Betty O’Kelly was the May Queen in 1932.

Apparently you had to be escorted to the stage by a boy your same age who handed you the “Queen’s Scepter.” I met the guy who did the escorting in 1944, and he said that his lines were, “O Queen! Here is thy scepter!” because the year before the kid said, “Hey lady, here’s ya’ stick.”

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Probably 1948. These girls look like Rockettes in training or something. As you can see here–this was a pretty big deal, apparently.

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Jane Brooke was Queen in 1949. I like the color of the flowers.

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Some of the ones taken in the 50s and beyond were clearly not taken at the Wren’s Nest. This one is Judy Carlsen from 1958.

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Here’s Judy’s stone. All of them look like this with a couple changes in size and font, and each is in a different state of repair.

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Here’s Kathryn LaRose Wright from 1963.

She’s with John Hunsinger, Paul Jenson, Missy Wright, Kitty Gundt, John Chapman, and Julie Hinton.

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Eugenia Marie Conway from 1975. Flower children meet the Flower Festival.

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Not the best picture quality, but Margaret Lynd Rhodes was the final May Queen, in 1983.

The Black Addams Family

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A few months ago, the folks at Sketchworks Comedy asked us if they could use the Wren’s Nest to film a sketch that would play during their live show. We’re pretty cool, so of course we said yes.

The sketch was the Black Addams Family, and it’s just now online–

Given that I like what’s funny and that Joel Chandler Harris is an author whose work has sometimes been called stereotypical and racist, I found the premise of the Black Addams Family at the Wren’s Nest remarkably intriguing.

It’s also really well done. Compare it to the original version, and I think you’ll be impressed–

What made the Black Addams Family even more interesting was a bit of conversation I overheard between some of the cast members who were taking a break. They were talking about the Wren’s Nest–

“Isn’t this place racist or something?”

“I don’t know. I think they’ve got a bunch of tar babies running around.”

The Black Addams Family is a parody that relies on two things: (1) the creepy house that happens to be the home of Joel Chandler Harris and (2) racial stereotypes being funny.

Ironically, it was exactly this type of humor, often used in the 19th century by white writers, that Joel Chandler Harris sought to avoid.

Many writers who wrote stories involving blacks relied on stereotypes through overwrought dialect or blackface-like presentations. (The enormous difference between that and the Black Addams Family is that this time black folks are, of course, in on the jokes.)

Joel Chandler Harris, meanwhile, distanced himself from his peers by presenting a black protagonist, Uncle Remus, in a way that was respectful and meticulously faithful to African American folklore.

For example, when Uncle Remus tells the little boy the story of the great deluge and the little boy mentions Noah, Remus explains that Noah isn’t in the story. It’s significant that Remus doesn’t conform to the Noah’s Ark story accepted by white America–he gives legitimacy to his own, African American version of the story.

This kind of cultural equality was, suffice to say, somewhat rare in the southern United States during the 19th century.

One hundred years later, Harris is often confused with his peers who mostly relied on stereotypes for yuks, and his (along with Uncle Remus’) reputation has suffered.

It’s kinda complicated, but I think that there are three morals here–

1. Go see Sketchworks in Decatur.
2. Historically, Joel Chandler Harris hasn’t had great marketing.
3. When you’re holding a bucket of KFC, a fake illegitimate child, and the afro pick for Cousin It’s hair, it may be the absolute best time to discuss racism. Or maybe it’s the worst. There’s not much in between.

I’m just sayin’.

Is Uncle Remus Racist?

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I’d like to know what you think. Your gut reaction is important.

Feel free to leave a comment, and keep in mind, there’s no right or wrong answer here!

“Uncle Remus has been banned in the United States because it is racist,” one woman said.

Incidentally, the white mothers were the ones who had a problem with the kind of exposure the Wren’s Nest would give their children.

Previously:

Confusion of Joel Chandler Harris and Song of the South

New York Times: Rehabilitating Uncle Remus

Atlanta’s Joel Chandler Harris Streetcar in 1939

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Our neighbors at Westview Atlanta stumbled across this picture of a Joel Chandler Harris streetcar from 1939.

With all the hullaballoo ’round these here parts about a new streetcar, isn’t it funny that Atlanta once had a fairly comprehensive system?

Many of the Marta bus routes follow the same path as the old streetcar lines. Every once in a while you can spot some old track where the pavement has run thin.

I guess it’s like they say–there’s nothing new under the sun. How fitting that this nearly-forgotten streetcar bears the name of Joel Chandler Harris. I’m glad that the legacy of each is being reconsidered.

Speaking of old streetcars and Joel Chandler Harris, has anyone watched Who Framed Roger Rabbit lately?

Incidentally, not only is the film a direct descendant of Song of the South, but it’s also very much about the demolition of Los Angeles’ public streetcar system in the 1940s.

Maybe that’s a stretch and maybe it’s a little random, but maybe the film is next on my Netflix queue.

Even more of a stretch–the film was produced by Steven Spielberg, who is batting 1.000% in terms of being mentioned on our blog over the last two posts. I wonder if he knows anything about Br’er Rabbit.

Zip-a-Dee-Do-Dah-Day

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Looks like we’ve finally gotten our video issues sorted out. What better way to celebrate than with a clip from the ne’er-released-on-home-video film, Song of the South.

Folks call or come to the Wren’s Nest all the time wondering if we are indeed the Song of the South museum.

To these type questions and comments my stock response is this: “Have you heard of Pearl Harbor?” And of course they answer yes. Then, “Well what about Pearl Harbor starring Ben Affleck?” And then–”No, we do not sell the film.”

The degree of conflation of Song of the South (1946) and the Uncle Remus Tales (starting in 1876) is astonishing. With perhaps the exception of Gone With the Wind, the confusion between the source material and the film is unprecedented, in my humble opinion. No doubt this is because very few people have actually seen the film in the last 60 years.

Last weekend in San Francisco Amelia and I happened to eat at a diner that had Who Framed Roger Rabbit on the television.

The waiter behind the counter made it clear that he was a film enthusiast, and I mentioned that this film was a direct descendant of Song of the South, and he said, “Well yeah, but it’s just so terribly racist.”

It was unclear whether or not he’d actually seen the film, but this sort of confident dismissal happens all the time.

I’ve no shortage of opinions on the film, but today I’ll just leave you with some facts–

• The Harris family sold Disney the rights to adapt the Harris versions of the Brer Rabbit stories for $10,000 in 1939.
• Clarence Muse, a black actor and screenwriter, quit working on the film because of the screenplay’s treatment of black characters.
• Song of the South debuted at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta on November 12, 1946.
• Zip-a-Dee-Do-Dah won the Academy Award for Best Song in 1948.
• James Baskett (Uncle Remus) was awarded an honorary Academy Award in 1948 for his portrayal of Uncle Remus.
• James Baskett was the first live actor hired by Disney.
• The film is not banned, it’s just not been made available; Disney has re-released the film in theaters in 1956, 1972, 1981, and 1986. Up until 2001, the film was available for purchase in various international markets.

Have you seen the film? What do you think?

Links for further exploration–

AJC Article on Song of the South and the Wren’s Nest

Song of the South fan page with extensive links

The Wren’s Nest Ramblers versions of the Brer Rabbit stories