\\AmericanLegacy Magazine

Putting together an issue dedicated to one topic is always a bit tough; how do we keep it somewhat comprehensive yet not repetitive? What happens if some of our readers are not interested in that particular topic? Will they just toss the issue aside?

But music is something almost all can appreciate, and since this is our ﬁrst music issue, I’m hoping that you, our readers, will give us some latitude. Knowing that we had a universe of topics to choose from, we decided to make this issue an exercise in catching up. We delved into the lives of people who have been nearly lost to history, such as the stage stars Sissieretta Jones and Florence Mills. Others were eclipsed by those who came after them, as the New Orleans cornet player Joe “King” Oliver was by his “student” Louis Armstrong, and the Grand Ole Opry star DeFord Bailey was by the African-American country singer Charley Pride.

Not long ago a photographer named Anthony Barboza sent us beautiful images from the 1920s and 1930s created by Eddie Elcha, a Harlem Renaissance photographer. The identity of many of the subjects is fairly obscure, as is the life of Elcha himself, but we felt the entertainers and musicians that once thrilled audiences deserved another moment on center stage, this time in the pages of American Legacy.

The decision to feature Sammy Davis, Jr., was not an easy one. I was puzzled by the many contradictions that marked his choices in life. He was certainly very visible in the civil rights movement, yet he managed to alienate many of his fellow blacks by doing things like hugging President Richard M. Nixon—no friend to the African-American—at a youth rally in 1972. But the man’s amazing talent took him through the vaudeville era to become one of America’s enduring superstars. Sometimes forgotten in all of this is that Sammy Davis, Jr., could really sing—often better, in my opinion, than his fellow Rat Packer Frank Sinatra. That alone makes it worth taking another look at the career of an American original.

John Wesley Work III, an ethnomusicologist; the Puerto Rican percussionist Mongo Santamaria; the Last Poets, precursors to rap artists; black country string bands; the folksinger Odetta; the folk-and-blues star Josh White: These are just a few of the subjects we tried to squeeze into this issue, but we ran out of space. We hope to feature all of them in the future.

AUDREY M. PETERSON, Editor


Letter From the Editor...
Playing Catch-up
Putting together an issue dedicated to one topic is always a bit tough; how do we keep it somewhat comprehensive yet not repetitive? What happens if some of our readers are not interested in that particular topic? Will they just toss the issue aside? But music is something almost all can appreciate, and since this is our ﬁrst music issue, I’m hoping that you, our readers, will give us some latitude. Knowing that we had a universe of topics to choose from, we decided to make this issue an exercise in catching up. We delved into the lives of people who have been nearly lost to history, such as the stage stars Sissieretta Jones and Florence Mills. Others were eclipsed by those who came after them, as the New Orleans cornet player Joe “King” Oliver was by his “student” Louis Armstrong, and the Grand Ole Opry star DeFord Bailey was by the African-American country singer Charley Pride. Not long ago a photographer named Anthony Barboza sent us beautiful images from the 1920s and 1930s created by Eddie Elcha, a Harlem Renaissance photographer. The identity of many of the subjects is fairly obscure, as is the life of Elcha himself, but we felt the entertainers and musicians that once thrilled audiences deserved another moment on center stage, this time in the pages of American Legacy. The decision to feature Sammy Davis, Jr., was not an easy one. I was puzzled by the many contradictions that marked his choices in life. He was certainly very visible in the civil rights movement, yet he managed to alienate many of his fellow blacks by doing things like hugging President Richard M. Nixon—no friend to the African-American—at a youth rally in 1972. But the man’s amazing talent took him through the vaudeville era to become one of America’s enduring superstars. Sometimes forgotten in all of this is that Sammy Davis, Jr., could really sing—often better, in my opinion, than his fellow Rat Packer Frank Sinatra. That alone makes it worth taking another look at the career of an American original. John Wesley Work III, an ethnomusicologist; the Puerto Rican percussionist Mongo Santamaria; the Last Poets, precursors to rap artists; black country string bands; the folksinger Odetta; the folk-and-blues star Josh White: These are just a few of the subjects we tried to squeeze into this issue, but we ran out of space. We hope to feature all of them in the future. AUDREY M. PETERSON, Editor