Chelsea Hotel

Description

From the Bowery Boys website:

"Arguably New York's least conventional hotel, the Chelsea Hotel (or rather, the Hotel Chelsea) is the one of New York's counter-culture centers, a glamorous, art-filled Tower of Babel for both creativity and debauchery. From Mark Twain to Andy Warhol, it's been both inspiration and location for artistic wonder. We wind back the clock to the beginnings of Chelsea and to the hotel's early years as one of the city's cooperative apartment buildings. What made the Chelsea so different? And why are people still fighting over this storied structure today?"

Looking for Work: A History of Unemployment

Description

From the BackStory website:

"With the unemployment rate at a 25-year high, BackStory is exploring the phenomenon of joblessness throughout American history. How has the changing nature of employment shaped the experience of not having a job? Have the moral connotations of work evolved? What has it meant for American workers that there are always new immigrants—or poor migrants—who are willing to work for less?

Over the course of the hour, the History Guys speak with historian Alex Keyssar, take calls from BackStory listeners, and hear an imagined testimonial from an itinerant worker in the 'New Northwest' at the turn of the 20th century."

The BackStory site also has a Further Reading page for more information on this topic.

The Kings of New York Pizza

Description

From the Bowery Boys website:

"New Yorkers are serious about their pizza, and it all started with a tiny grocery store in today's Little Italy and a group of young men who became the masters of pizza making. In this podcast, you'll find out all about the city's oldest and most revered pizzerias—Lombardi's, Totonno's, John's, Grimaldi's and Patsy's in all its variations. But if those are the greatest names in New York-style pizza, then who the heck is Ray—Original, Famous or otherwise?"

Boss Tweed and Tammany Hall

Description

From the Bowery Boys website:

"You cannot understand New York without understanding its most corrupt politician—William 'Boss' Tweed, a larger than life personality with lofty ambitions to steal millions of dollars from the city. With the help of his 'Tweed Ring', the former chair-maker had complete control over the city—what was being built, how much it would cost and who was being paid. How do you bring down a corrupt government when it seems almost everybody's in on it? We reveal the downfall of the Tweed ring and the end to one of the biggest political scandals in New York history. It begins with a sleigh ride. ALSO: Find out how Tammany Hall, the dominant political machine of the 19th century, got its start—as a rather innocent social club that required men to dress up and pretend they're Indians."

Taking It to the Streets

Description

From the BackStory website:

"Historian Peter Norton speaks with 20th Century History Guy Brian Balogh about how automobile companies in the 1920s managed to re-define streets as a space for cars, rather than pedestrians. And he explains the little-known history of the term 'jaywalker.'"

No Vacancies

Description

From the BackStory website:

"Historian Susan Rugh describes the discrimination black families faced on America's highways in the 1940s and 50s. Many of those travelers recounted their experiences in letters to the NAACP—letters that eventually helped convince U.S. Senators to pass the Civil Rights Act of 1964."

Puck Building

Description

In this podcast from the Bowery Boys, Greg Young narrates the history of New York's Puck Building, built to house the offices of the turn-of-the-century periodical Puck Magazine.

The Blues, Black Vaudeville, and the Silver Screen, 1912-1930s

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Circular for the Plaza Theatre advertising. . . , c. 1929, The Blues. . . site
Annotation

In the early 20th century, Macon, Georgia's Douglass Theater was one of Georgia's primary entertainment venues for blacks outside of Atlanta. Over the course of its more than 60-year history, the theater featured famous vaudeville acts, singers such as Ma Rainey and Bessie Smith, boxing matches, as well as both silent and talking films. This website features 100 documents from the files of the theater's owner, Charles Henry Douglass, a prominent black businessman in Macon. Letters, financial statements, contracts, theater newsletters, and advertisements shed light not only on events and business transactions at the Douglass Theater, but on the wider business community supporting African American theaters in the South. A good place to begin is the "Introduction to the Douglass Theater in Macon," a detailed background essay with links to a variety of documents from the collection, including account book pages detailing one week's profits in 1923, and a series of letters exchanged between the theater's temporary manager in the late 1920s and his brother documenting the challenges of the theater business. The materials are transcribed and annotated, and browseable by author, date, type, subject, and title.

Lest We Forget: The Triumph Over Slavery

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Image, Frederick Douglass, c. 1817-1895, NYPL
Annotation

This attractive exhibit utilizes essays and more than 140 images to explore the 400-year history of slavery in the Americas. The site reminds us that together "the slave trade and slavery represented one of the longest, most sustained assaults on the dignity and self-worth of human beings in the history of humankind." The site's home page offers an introductory essay that presents the central themes of the exhibit. The site is centered around nine thematic presentations on the forging of common identities in slavery; the enslavement process in Africa; the transatlantic slave trade; slave labor and slave systems; the struggle against slavery and the abolition of slavery; family life and social development; religion; language, literacy, and education; and culture. Each image is accompanied by an explanatory caption. There is no search feature available on the site. An informative overview of slavery in the Americas, the site is also of interest to those studying African-American culture.