Henry Ford had begun making cars in the 1900s, and had already developed the Model T, a "car for the masses", by 1908. It was October 7, 1913, however, that shaped Henry Ford's future and the future of manufacturing as well.
Before the assembly line, car manufacturing was expensive and time consuming. Teams of workers would rotate among stations with a single car, which meant each worker had to be trained in the manufacture of the entire car. Upon the invention of the assembly line, one car traveled among workers instead, with each worker contributing one part to the whole. A 3,000 part machine was broken down into 84 steps performed by these groups of workers. The change was "immediate and significant". In 1912, Ford Motor Company produced 82,388 Model T's sold for $600 each. By 1916, production had reached 585, 388 Model T's at $360 per car. Production time for one vehicle dropped from 12 hours to just 90 minutes. Production cost for one vehicle dropped from $850 to less than $300. He also raised minimum wage for Ford factory workers from $2.34 for a nine hour day to $5 for an eight hour day. This change began what is known as "the Great Migration" of workers from around the world to the industrial mid-west, specifically to work for Ford. Ford's $5 work day also enabled his workers to actually buy the vehicles they built. This created both loyalty and the rise middle-class consumerism among workers.
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Mother said He is well-spoken and conducts himself as a gentleman. I see nothing wrong with it. When Mr. Roosevelt was in the White House he gave dinner to Booker T. Washington. Surely we can serve tea to Coalhouse Walker Jr.
In October 1901, Theodore Roosevelt invited his adviser, Booker T. Washington, to dinner at the White House with Roosevelt and his family. The day after the dinner, the White House released a statement titled, "Booker T Washington of Tuskegee, Alabama, dined with the President last evening". Southern press and politicians responded viciously, attacking the character of both Washington and Roosevelt. Senator Benjamin Tillman of South Carolina said, "we shall have to kill a thousand n*ggers to get them back in their places". Northern press were more accepting, highlighting the accomplishments of Washington and suggesting that the dinner was Roosevelt's attempt to show he was everybody's president. Even the black community was divided over Washington's appearance at the White House. Some responded positively, while others painted Washington as a hypocrite for agreeing to the dinner in the first place.
After this reaction, no other African American was invited to dine at the White House for nearly thirty years. Legendary ragtime composer, Scott Joplin, wrote his first opera about this polarizing event, entitled A Guest of Honor. To this day, no copy of the score has been found, and it is considered lost. Coon songs are meant for minstrel shows. White men sing them in black face. This is called ragtime. Ragtime, like jazz, is a musical genre that is hard to define. The most agreed upon definition according to the Library of Congress is "a genre of musical composition for the piano, generally in duple meter and containing a highly syncopated treble lead over a rhythmically steady bass. A ragtime composition is usually composed of three or four contrasting sections or strains, each one being 16 or 32 measures in length." Some also observe that ragtime is often composed for an audience, not meant for dancing, unlike "coon songs" or cakewalks, other syncopated music seen in minstrel shows of the time. While cakewalks were often written in 2/4 or 6/8 meter, ragtime was only in duple meter. This led to "smaller and more gyrating dance steps", like animal dances such as the grizzly bear, bunny hug, turkey trot, and more.
The term "ragtime" is a contraction for "ragged time", describing a style of music in which the melody is broken up into short rhythms while a steady overall beat is played. This name predates the premier ragtime musicians of the day, such as Scott Joplin, Charles Hunter, or Tom Turpin. The origin of the syncopated beat that is so common in ragtime music is thought to be a surviving influence of African drumming and slave spirituals. Ragtime music found its heart in Missouri, specifically St. Louis because of the city's position on the river. Black entrepreneurs prospered in St. Louis, such as John L. Turpin who opened a saloon in 1887. Turpin's son, Tom, opened his own saloon in 1897; the same year, Tom composed "Harlem Rag" which became a ragtime standard that inspired future composers. Using the money earned from "Harlem Rag", Tom opened another saloon and brothel called Rosebud which became a destination for ragtime pianists hoping to learn from Tom Turpin himself. The pioneer spirit of Missouri combined with the constant flow of visitors to the riverside city made Missouri and Rosebud the capital of ragtime. Because ragtime required such technical skill to play, "classic rags" were often not bestsellers. A less subtle, more popular form of ragtime music filled vaudeville houses, music boxes, and piano-playing contests across the country. Critics looked down upon this overwhelming popularity; ragtime was called 'unmusical rot' by the American Federation of Musicians, 'virulent poison' by music magazine The Etude, and 'sacrilege' by the Brooklyn Daily Eagle. As jazz gained popularity around 1917, ragtime faded from the popular ear. A musical style that had defined an era became largely forgotten. The technical aspects of ragtime piano remained influential through 1920, creating its own genre called "novelty piano" or "novelty ragtime" by today's scholars. Find examples of ragtime music under Videos. Thank you to this page from the Library of Congress for helping me make sense of the musical lingo! Head here for a more detailed history of ragtime music. |
Dramaturgy for the Ragtime musical and novel.© Eliza Pillsbury, 2018. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Eliza Pillsbury with appropriate and specific direction to the original content. Categories
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