Dramaturgy

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People
Harlem
It occurred to Father one day that Coalhouse Walker Jr. didn't know he was a
Negro. The more he thought about this the more true it seemed. Walker didn't act or
talk like a colored man. He seemed to be able to transform the customary deferences
practiced by his race so that they reflected to his own dignity rather than the
recipient's."
-- E.L. Doctorow, Ragtime (Chapter 21)

The end of Reconstruction came
only two decades before the turn of the
century. The abolishment of slavery
gave certain legal rights to black people,
but neither those rights nor their basic
human rights were always respected.
This was especially visible in the South,
but was in no way unusual in the North,
as many newly freed black people
would learn when they migrated to the
North searching for opportunity. In the
North, even in cities, there werent
enough jobs for everyone to be employed, and those that were available went to
cheap immigrant labor. Whenever a black person did acquire a job, they were
usually paid half as much as white workers, an already dismal amount. While
explicit slavery was abolished, many black people were being arrested on dubious
claims and then sent to prison, where they would be leased out to mine owners,
farms, logging companies, and others for no pay.
There were some positives, however. After forced 100 percent illiteracy
during slavery, and 95 percent illiteracy immediately after the civil war, the turn of
the century saw illiteracy rates in black people down to 44.5 percent. A number of
people were attending black-only technical colleges, which would eventually allow
them to find better jobs and higher places in society. While black people faced
severe racism, persecution, and prejudice from larger society, the culture, art, and
music within black society was flourishing.

Immigrants
They were despised by New Yorkers. They were filthy and illiterate. They stank of
fish and garlic. They had running sores... But somehow piano lessons began to be
heard. People stitched themselves to the flag. They carved paving stones for the
streets. They sang. They told jokes."
-- E.L. Doctorow, Ragtime (Chapter Three)

The Third Wave of immigration was a period of increased immigration from
Europe to the United States between 1880 and 1920. Most immigrants made the
journey based on promises of a better life in the U.S., though few would actually find
it. As immigrants usually lacked training or education (that employers would
acknowledge, at least) the majority of the work available for them was
manufacturing or hard labor jobs. There were no labor laws yet, and the
industrialists in charge usually decided that wages should be set according to the
market (which drove them lower and lower) so the amount of time at work required
to make anything close to a living wage usually meant the working class worked for
twelve hour days six days a week. In
addition to this, the vast majority of
immigrants in New York City lived in run-
down tenements with barely any light, only
occasional running water, and never any
heating in winter. One-third of people living
in cities were thought to be close to
starvation regularly, and the terrible living
conditions and weakened immune systems
meant that typhus and tuberculosis were
rampant.
In response to these terrible living
and working conditions, many immigrants
worked and protested for better safety
measures and better pay. A number of labor
strikes and protests were enacted, and while
many of them were violent and ended
poorly for the strikers, housing codes and
labor laws were eventually put. This was made more difficult by the fact that the
prevailing upper class attitude was that the working class complained too much, and
that anyone in America could raise themselves up through hard work and
determination. (The prevailing working class attitude about that was that the upper
class was greedy, soft, and had far too much leisure time.)


New Rochelle
There seemed to be no entertainment that did not involve great swarms of people.
Trains and steamers and trolleys moved them from one place to another... Everyone
wore white in the summer... There were no Negros. There were no immigrants."
-- E.L. Doctorow, Ragtime (Chapter One)

The turn of the 20th century saw an emphasis of patriotism and optimism
among upper-middle class white people. The rising wealth of the middle and upper
classes and the invention of labor saving technology allowed for an increase of
leisure time such as picnicking, listening to the radio, or going to a baseball game.
The majority of leisure entertainment was conceived and executed in the home,
which was, for those who had the money, more and more likely to be in the suburbs
surrounding major cities. The increasing prevalence of better transportation (the
train, and Fords Model T), faster communication (through the telegram and
telephone), and home delivery through things like mail-order catalogs meant that
suburbanites could conduct most of their everyday lives away from the city.
This was, of course, what most of
them wanted. The increase of
immigration from Europe, migration
from the South, and the manufacturing
jobs available for the people that came
with those movements meant that cities
were becoming the domain of poor
factory workers. These were exactly the
kind of people upper class whites
wanted nothing to do with, unless they
were doing their laundry or making
their appliances. A larger portion of the
upper-class was starting to focus on self-
improvement through education and the church, and the fact that the working class
had neither the time nor the money to participate in either area mean that people
like the Family wouldve viewed poor immigrants as lazy, immoral, and
unintelligent. (The irony of the working class immorality here is that the poor had
neither the means nor the opportunity to engage in many sins aside from envy,
while the upper class had both the means and the time.)



Historical

Emma Goldman
If I had not been born with a love of freedom and the intense hatred of injustice, I
do not believe that I would have become what I am."
-- Emma Goldman, Emma Goldman Papers

Emma Goldman was an international anarchist who promoted the ideas of free
speech, womens equality, and union organization. Goldman was born in Lithuania
in 1869. Though her formal education was limited, she read as much as she could
and, when her family moved to St. Petersburg, associated with a radical students
circle. Goldman immigrated to the United States in 1885, where her dreams of a
better world turned into a more distressed reality working in clothing factories.
It was here that she came into contact with socialist and anarchist groups among
her fellow workers, which would greatly influence her when she moved to New
York City and began lecturing publicly. Goldmans noteriety was such that, though
the two had never met, Leon
Czolgosz cited Goldmans
influence in why he
assassinated President
McKinley, though by that time
Goldman had revoked her
support of violence as a means
to social change. Goldman
continued to lecture and
publish in the United States up
until she was deported, after
which she became much more
prominent in European social
movements. At the time of her death, Goldman was working for the anti-fascist
cause in the Spanish Civil War.
Goldmans life was spent advocating for anti-capitalist, anarchist, and anti-
government sentiment. She was a prominent proponent of womens rights, birth
control, and free love, by which she meant the freedom of all people to participate
in mutually agreed relationships not sanctioned by the government or the church.
Once World War One broke out, Goldman also protested the military draft. This
exercise of public speech against the government, along with widespread anti-
communist sentiment, would lead to Goldmans deportation in 1919.

Around Ragtime
Before the turn of the century, Goldman was giving lectures on anarchism
and feminism all over the country. In 1901 she was forced into hiding by the anti-
anarchist feelings following the assassination of President McKinley. Leon Czolgosz,
the assassin, made specific claims that Goldman's lectures and idea had influenced
his decision, though no evidence has shown the two actually knew each other.
 Goldman published the first issue of Mother Earth, her anarchist journal, in
1906. She continued publishing the journal until she was jailed for 'disloyalty' to the
government in 1917. For the seven years before her imprisonment, Goldman took
up lecturing again, and published Anarchism and Other Essays (1910) and The Social
Significance of Modern Drama (1914) outside of her journal.

Born
June 27, 1869 in Kaunas, Lithuania
Died
May 14, 1940 in Toronto, Canada
Family
Taube Bienowitch (Mother), Andrew Goldman (Father), two half-sisters, three
brothers, Jacob Kershner (Husband 1887-1888), James Colton (Husband 1925-
1936)
Political School of Thought
Anarchism

Notable Facts
Emigrated to the United States in 1885, where she worked in clothing
factories and came in contact with anarchist beliefs.
Arrested in New York City in 1890 for inciting a riot of unemployed workers,
and in 1916 for lecturing in support of birth control.
Deported at the end on 1919 due to the 'Red Scare' that followed the end of
World War One.

Related Reading
Emma Goldman (1987) by Martha Solomon (Hunt, Amazon)

Much of Goldman's writing can be found here. The following are some specific
recommendations:
Mother Earth (1906)
'The Tragedy of Women's Emancipation', Anarchism and Other Essays (1910)
The Social Significance of the Modern Drama (1914)


Harry Houdini
I knew, as everyone knows, that the easiest way to attract a crowd is to let it be
known that at a given time and a given place some one is going to attempt
something that in the event of failure will mean sudden death. "
-- Harry Houdini, The Life and Many Deaths of Harry Houdini

 Harry Houdini was a magician known for his extravagant and unbelievable
escapes. Houdini was born to a rabbi and his wife in Hungary, though shortly after
the family would immigrate to Wisconsin. At an early age, Houdini took to sports
and physical activity, including becoming a trapeze artist. He preformed in trapeze
shows until 1882, when he settled in New York City in an attempt to be a success in
vaudeville. Though Houdini had moderate success as a magician, his fame took off
when he began to garner recognition for his extravagant escapes full of danger.
Houdinis stunts brought him incredible fame
and success.
As he grew older, Houdini became more
and more interested in spiritualism and the
paranormal. Doctorow attributes this shift to a
want to communicate with his much-beloved
mother, but in any case, Houdinis passionate
want for concrete evidence of an after life lead to
his campaign against many charlatans that
claimed paranormal power. He arranged a secret
phrase with his wife to be communicated as
proof should one of them return after death, but
his widow declared the experiment a failure
shortly before she died in 1943.

Around Ragtime
Starting in 1900, the 'King of Handcuffs' began to
tour Europe for around five years. Throughout
this time, Houdini pulled off impossible stunt
after impossible stunt, frequently clashing with
people who believed he was a fraud. In 1905, he bought a brownstone in Harlem
and settled down to continue his stunts in the United States. The more famous of
these include an escape from a prison in Washington D.C., the manacled bridge
jump, and the milk can escape, where Houdini was handcuffed and sealed inside a
milk can full of water. As the tagline of the show said, "failure means drowning to
death!"
Starting in 1906, Houdini also began creating and showing films of his
outdoor escapades as part of his act. Shortly after, he started releasing feature films
that were mostly just a loose story justifying Houdini's numerous stunts.
In 1910, Houdini made three flights at a suburb of Melbourne, Australia. At
the time, this was reported as the aerial flight in Australia, though this was later
disproved. Houdini legally changed his name in 1913, and continued performing
well into the 1920s.

Born
March 24, 1874 in Budapest, Austria-Hungary
Died
October 31, 1926 in Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Family
Rabbi Mayer Samuel Weiz (Father), Ceclia Stenier (Mother), six brothers and
sisters, Wilhelmina "Bess" Rahner (Wife)
Occupations
Illusionist, magician, escapologist, stunt performer, actor, historian, film producer,
pilot, debunker

Notable Facts
Houdini's birth name was Erik Weisz. He first changed it to Ehrich Weiss (the
German spelling) at Ellis Island, and later to Harry Houdini when his career
as a professional magician took off.
Claimed his birthplace was Appleton, Wisconsin.
Was accused of fraud by a German policeman, only to win in court when he
accused the police officer of slander and revealed the method to selected
tricks.
"The Master Mystery", Houdini's first film, premiered in 1918.
Houdini and Arthur Conan Doyle, though initially friends, has a falling out
when Houdini's crusade against spiritualism went against Conan Doyle's
beliefs.

Related Reading/Videos
Houdini's Straight Jacket Escape
Rope Escape
Encyclopedia Britannica Article on Conjuring by Houdini