1 00:00:01,280 --> 00:00:04,320 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,360 --> 00:00:14,600 Speaker 1: of iHeartRadio. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Tracy V. 3 00:00:14,760 --> 00:00:18,480 Speaker 1: Wilson and I'm Holly Fry. You may have heard that 4 00:00:18,560 --> 00:00:22,320 Speaker 1: this year, which is twenty twenty three, is being marked 5 00:00:22,320 --> 00:00:25,279 Speaker 1: as the fiftieth anniversary of hip hop. There's been a 6 00:00:25,400 --> 00:00:29,760 Speaker 1: musical tribute at the Grammy Awards, and new museum installations 7 00:00:29,760 --> 00:00:33,520 Speaker 1: and concerts, new films and documentaries, a whole lot of stuff, 8 00:00:33,560 --> 00:00:36,400 Speaker 1: and over the course of the year, a lot of 9 00:00:36,440 --> 00:00:39,120 Speaker 1: shows that are part of the iHeart podcast network are 10 00:00:39,159 --> 00:00:43,480 Speaker 1: also recognizing this anniversary in some way. For our part, 11 00:00:43,560 --> 00:00:45,760 Speaker 1: we wanted to go back a little bit further in 12 00:00:45,880 --> 00:00:49,599 Speaker 1: history to a musical genre that has some parallels with 13 00:00:49,680 --> 00:00:53,479 Speaker 1: hip hop music and also influenced some of the musical 14 00:00:53,520 --> 00:00:57,400 Speaker 1: styles that became part of hip hop's origins, like jazz 15 00:00:57,440 --> 00:01:03,800 Speaker 1: and blues. That musical is ragtime, specifically Scott Joplin, who 16 00:01:03,920 --> 00:01:07,479 Speaker 1: is sometimes called the King of ragtime writers, who has 17 00:01:07,520 --> 00:01:10,880 Speaker 1: been on my shortlist for an episode for many years. 18 00:01:10,920 --> 00:01:14,760 Speaker 1: At this point, long stretches of Scott Joplin's life are 19 00:01:14,880 --> 00:01:19,120 Speaker 1: unfortunately not very well documented. He was born during the 20 00:01:19,160 --> 00:01:23,120 Speaker 1: post Civil War reconstruction era, when records of births and 21 00:01:23,240 --> 00:01:27,200 Speaker 1: deaths could be pretty spotty, especially for black people. A 22 00:01:27,319 --> 00:01:30,840 Speaker 1: lot of widely repeated basics came from recollections that other 23 00:01:30,880 --> 00:01:34,600 Speaker 1: people gave much later, in particular his third wife, Lottie 24 00:01:34,600 --> 00:01:38,760 Speaker 1: Stokes Joplin. Some widely repeated details about his life came 25 00:01:38,800 --> 00:01:41,880 Speaker 1: from interviews she did in the nineteen forties that was 26 00:01:41,959 --> 00:01:46,480 Speaker 1: more than twenty years after Joplin's death. Sometimes people describe 27 00:01:46,640 --> 00:01:50,680 Speaker 1: Lottie as giving incorrect information, but it's also possible that 28 00:01:50,720 --> 00:01:54,120 Speaker 1: she told interviewers exactly what Scott had told her while 29 00:01:54,160 --> 00:01:57,160 Speaker 1: he was still alive. Like a lot of people, at 30 00:01:57,240 --> 00:02:00,440 Speaker 1: various points in his life, he fudged his age or 31 00:02:00,480 --> 00:02:03,560 Speaker 1: his birth year, and some of those alternate years made 32 00:02:03,600 --> 00:02:06,960 Speaker 1: it into print. There are also some details that he 33 00:02:07,040 --> 00:02:09,320 Speaker 1: may have just been mistaken about, like a lot of 34 00:02:09,320 --> 00:02:13,080 Speaker 1: sources give his place of birth as Texarkana, Texas, which 35 00:02:13,080 --> 00:02:15,519 Speaker 1: is where he did live from a very young age, 36 00:02:15,560 --> 00:02:18,040 Speaker 1: so he may have just incorrectly thought that he had 37 00:02:18,120 --> 00:02:23,400 Speaker 1: also been born there. Joplin also died of tertiary syphilis, 38 00:02:23,400 --> 00:02:26,760 Speaker 1: which affects a person's body and their mind, and while 39 00:02:26,760 --> 00:02:29,919 Speaker 1: the symptoms of this illness seem to have become really 40 00:02:30,000 --> 00:02:34,200 Speaker 1: noticeable about eighteen months before his death. It's also possible 41 00:02:34,240 --> 00:02:37,760 Speaker 1: that he was experiencing some cognitive symptoms for most of 42 00:02:37,800 --> 00:02:41,880 Speaker 1: his relationship with Lottie. A lot of sources, including his 43 00:02:42,000 --> 00:02:45,520 Speaker 1: grave marker, give Scott Joplin's date of birth as November 44 00:02:45,520 --> 00:02:49,240 Speaker 1: twenty fourth, eighteen sixty eight, but he was probably born 45 00:02:49,320 --> 00:02:52,600 Speaker 1: at least a few months before that. Census records from 46 00:02:52,680 --> 00:02:56,120 Speaker 1: July of eighteen seventy list his age as two years old. 47 00:02:56,960 --> 00:03:00,280 Speaker 1: His place of birth is also not really known, but 48 00:03:00,360 --> 00:03:02,560 Speaker 1: based on what we know about his family, it was 49 00:03:02,639 --> 00:03:08,680 Speaker 1: probably somewhere in northeastern Texas. Scott Joplin's parents were Giles 50 00:03:08,680 --> 00:03:11,840 Speaker 1: and Florence Joplin, who worked as sharecroppers, and he was 51 00:03:11,919 --> 00:03:16,000 Speaker 1: their second son. Giles had been enslaved from birth in 52 00:03:16,040 --> 00:03:19,160 Speaker 1: North Carolina and Florence had been born to a free 53 00:03:19,200 --> 00:03:23,079 Speaker 1: black family in Kentucky. They both eventually made their way 54 00:03:23,080 --> 00:03:26,200 Speaker 1: to Texas, and they had at least four more children 55 00:03:26,320 --> 00:03:29,919 Speaker 1: after Scott was born. A lot of sources mentioned how 56 00:03:30,040 --> 00:03:33,800 Speaker 1: musical the Joplin family was, but this wouldn't necessarily have 57 00:03:33,919 --> 00:03:37,240 Speaker 1: been unusual. Music was one of the main ways people 58 00:03:37,320 --> 00:03:40,160 Speaker 1: kept themselves entertained, so a lot of people knew how 59 00:03:40,200 --> 00:03:43,600 Speaker 1: to sing and to play at least one instrument. Music 60 00:03:43,760 --> 00:03:46,000 Speaker 1: was also one of the ways that black people could 61 00:03:46,000 --> 00:03:49,600 Speaker 1: earn a living outside of things like sharecropping and manual labor. 62 00:03:50,400 --> 00:03:53,840 Speaker 1: Florence Joplin played the banjo and Giles played the violin, 63 00:03:54,360 --> 00:03:57,320 Speaker 1: and two of Scott's brothers, William and Robert, also went 64 00:03:57,360 --> 00:04:01,480 Speaker 1: on to be professional musicians. Music that Scott and the 65 00:04:01,480 --> 00:04:04,000 Speaker 1: rest of his family would have been exposed to from 66 00:04:04,040 --> 00:04:06,600 Speaker 1: a very early age would have included a lot of 67 00:04:06,600 --> 00:04:10,320 Speaker 1: different types. There would have been African, Caribbean and European 68 00:04:10,440 --> 00:04:15,560 Speaker 1: musical influences, including working songs, religious songs and spirituals, and 69 00:04:15,760 --> 00:04:19,320 Speaker 1: ring shouts, which had roots in religious practices from Central 70 00:04:19,360 --> 00:04:23,760 Speaker 1: and Western Africa. During this era, it was also extremely 71 00:04:23,760 --> 00:04:27,880 Speaker 1: common for black entertainers to play for mostly white audiences, 72 00:04:27,960 --> 00:04:31,520 Speaker 1: whether it was on stage or in people's homes, and 73 00:04:31,680 --> 00:04:34,360 Speaker 1: that meant a lot of black musicians were also very 74 00:04:34,400 --> 00:04:37,400 Speaker 1: familiar with the types of music that white people tended 75 00:04:37,440 --> 00:04:42,640 Speaker 1: to like, including waltzes and marches. Sometime around eighteen seventy five, 76 00:04:42,760 --> 00:04:46,359 Speaker 1: the Joplin family moved to Texarkana, Texas that sits on 77 00:04:46,400 --> 00:04:50,000 Speaker 1: the border between Texas and Arkansas. This town had been 78 00:04:50,080 --> 00:04:52,800 Speaker 1: established at the end of eighteen seventy three as the 79 00:04:52,880 --> 00:04:56,119 Speaker 1: Texas and Pacific Railroad planned a connection with the Cairo 80 00:04:56,240 --> 00:05:00,480 Speaker 1: and Fulton Railroad, which ran through Arkansas. Florence job got 81 00:05:00,480 --> 00:05:03,320 Speaker 1: a job as a domestic worker, and Scott started learning 82 00:05:03,320 --> 00:05:05,440 Speaker 1: to play the piano on one that belonged to one 83 00:05:05,480 --> 00:05:09,960 Speaker 1: of her employers. Florence recognized that Scott had some musical talent, 84 00:05:10,080 --> 00:05:13,080 Speaker 1: and she seems to have actively looked for opportunities for 85 00:05:13,160 --> 00:05:16,359 Speaker 1: him to study music. While living in tech Sarcana, he 86 00:05:16,400 --> 00:05:19,600 Speaker 1: worked with a teacher who had emigrated from Germany, and 87 00:05:19,680 --> 00:05:23,680 Speaker 1: sources generally agree that this was Julius Weiss, who had 88 00:05:23,720 --> 00:05:27,599 Speaker 1: emigrated to the US in eighteen seventy. We don't really 89 00:05:27,640 --> 00:05:30,240 Speaker 1: have any detail about what their lessons were like, but 90 00:05:30,440 --> 00:05:35,520 Speaker 1: Weiss was lodging with Colonel RW. Rogers and teaching Rogers children, 91 00:05:35,680 --> 00:05:38,840 Speaker 1: so it's possible that he taught Scott the same academic 92 00:05:38,880 --> 00:05:42,120 Speaker 1: subjects that he was teaching to those kids. But at 93 00:05:42,160 --> 00:05:45,200 Speaker 1: some point the Joplin family also bought a used piano, 94 00:05:45,360 --> 00:05:48,440 Speaker 1: and there's some speculation that they bought it from Rogers 95 00:05:48,520 --> 00:05:51,680 Speaker 1: after he bought his family a new one. A lot 96 00:05:51,760 --> 00:05:55,200 Speaker 1: of researchers conclude that Weiss taught Joplin the basics of 97 00:05:55,320 --> 00:06:00,440 Speaker 1: various European musical traditions, including European opera, and it's clear 98 00:06:00,680 --> 00:06:03,760 Speaker 1: that Weiss had a big influence on Joplin. Joplin talked 99 00:06:03,800 --> 00:06:06,640 Speaker 1: about sending him money later in life when he heard 100 00:06:06,640 --> 00:06:09,960 Speaker 1: that he was sick and not doing well financially. But 101 00:06:10,080 --> 00:06:15,080 Speaker 1: also in eighteen eighty nine, newspapers reported that a Professor J. Weiss, 102 00:06:15,120 --> 00:06:18,000 Speaker 1: who had until lately been the president and manager of 103 00:06:18,000 --> 00:06:22,279 Speaker 1: the Texarcanas Savings Bank, had vanished along with thirty seven 104 00:06:22,320 --> 00:06:26,120 Speaker 1: thousand dollars in bank funds. Yeah, he's just sort of 105 00:06:26,839 --> 00:06:32,479 Speaker 1: vanishes from the record. Really. It is not totally clear 106 00:06:32,600 --> 00:06:37,040 Speaker 1: whether Scott Joplin was still living in Texarcana when this happened. 107 00:06:37,160 --> 00:06:40,560 Speaker 1: Eventually he started working as a traveling musician, so he 108 00:06:40,640 --> 00:06:44,400 Speaker 1: was away from town a lot. There's also some evidence 109 00:06:44,480 --> 00:06:48,480 Speaker 1: that he spent part of his late teens living in Sidalia, Missouri, 110 00:06:48,760 --> 00:06:52,600 Speaker 1: possibly with a relative, and if that's the case, he 111 00:06:52,680 --> 00:06:55,760 Speaker 1: may have gone to Lincoln High School, which was that 112 00:06:55,880 --> 00:07:00,799 Speaker 1: town segregated high school for black children. Regardless of exactly 113 00:07:00,880 --> 00:07:03,880 Speaker 1: when Joplin got there. Sidalia would become a big part 114 00:07:03,920 --> 00:07:07,680 Speaker 1: of Joplin's life and his development as a musician and composer. 115 00:07:08,440 --> 00:07:11,840 Speaker 1: Cidalia is southeast of Kansas City and south southwest of 116 00:07:11,880 --> 00:07:14,600 Speaker 1: Saint Louis, and in the late eighteen eighties, it was 117 00:07:14,600 --> 00:07:18,280 Speaker 1: surrounded mostly by farmland. It was a railroad hub and 118 00:07:18,400 --> 00:07:21,400 Speaker 1: a shipping center for the livestock and produce that were 119 00:07:21,480 --> 00:07:24,560 Speaker 1: raised on all of those farms. So, in addition to 120 00:07:24,640 --> 00:07:27,920 Speaker 1: its year round community of about fourteen thousand people, it 121 00:07:28,080 --> 00:07:31,640 Speaker 1: also had a lot of businesses and entertainment that catered 122 00:07:31,640 --> 00:07:35,520 Speaker 1: to railroad workers, business people, and other people who passed 123 00:07:35,520 --> 00:07:38,440 Speaker 1: through the town for work. So that meant a lot 124 00:07:38,480 --> 00:07:43,000 Speaker 1: of saloons, dance halls, gambling halls, and brothels, which meant 125 00:07:43,040 --> 00:07:45,400 Speaker 1: there were also a lot of places for performers to 126 00:07:45,440 --> 00:07:49,560 Speaker 1: play music, and that meant people found a niche supporting 127 00:07:49,560 --> 00:07:53,320 Speaker 1: those musicians. There were at least four different businesses in 128 00:07:53,440 --> 00:07:58,280 Speaker 1: Cidalia dedicated to selling instruments and music. The town of 129 00:07:58,320 --> 00:08:02,080 Speaker 1: Sidalia had a contentious relationship with the railroads that made 130 00:08:02,240 --> 00:08:05,400 Speaker 1: such a big part of its economy and the people 131 00:08:05,440 --> 00:08:09,360 Speaker 1: and the businesses that those railroads seemed to attract. Part 132 00:08:09,480 --> 00:08:12,560 Speaker 1: of Main Street was essentially a red light district, and 133 00:08:12,600 --> 00:08:16,160 Speaker 1: it became so notorious for fighting and other violence that 134 00:08:16,200 --> 00:08:20,880 Speaker 1: it was nicknamed Battle Row. Various mayors and city councils 135 00:08:21,040 --> 00:08:24,520 Speaker 1: ran campaigns to quote clean up Main Street by getting 136 00:08:24,600 --> 00:08:27,160 Speaker 1: rid of vice and crime, and none of that was 137 00:08:27,240 --> 00:08:31,280 Speaker 1: particularly successful. This was the sort of place where the 138 00:08:31,400 --> 00:08:35,160 Speaker 1: law and law enforcement did not really act as a deterrent. 139 00:08:35,400 --> 00:08:38,480 Speaker 1: People who got arrested for gambling or sex work or 140 00:08:38,520 --> 00:08:41,439 Speaker 1: some other activity just basically paid their fine and then 141 00:08:41,520 --> 00:08:45,080 Speaker 1: went back to what they were doing. Racial discrimination was 142 00:08:45,120 --> 00:08:49,320 Speaker 1: also widespread in Cidalia. Most of the black population lived 143 00:08:49,400 --> 00:08:51,600 Speaker 1: north of the railroad tracks, in a part of town 144 00:08:51,640 --> 00:08:55,160 Speaker 1: known as Lincolnville, which is also where Lincoln High School was. 145 00:08:56,000 --> 00:08:59,240 Speaker 1: Two different black social clubs were established in Cidalia by 146 00:08:59,240 --> 00:09:02,360 Speaker 1: the end of the nineteen century, the Maple Leaf Club 147 00:09:02,440 --> 00:09:05,760 Speaker 1: and the Black four hundred Club. These were intended to 148 00:09:05,800 --> 00:09:09,800 Speaker 1: provide the same sort of respectable opportunities for socializing that 149 00:09:09,800 --> 00:09:12,880 Speaker 1: white men had in their social clubs, but both clubs 150 00:09:12,960 --> 00:09:17,640 Speaker 1: immediately faced suspicion from Cidalia's white community, both because of 151 00:09:17,720 --> 00:09:21,560 Speaker 1: racist bias against their membership and because of speculation that 152 00:09:21,600 --> 00:09:24,079 Speaker 1: they were going to try to influence the black community's 153 00:09:24,160 --> 00:09:27,560 Speaker 1: voting patterns. People thought it was basically a front for 154 00:09:27,600 --> 00:09:32,240 Speaker 1: the Republican Party. To be clear, these two clubs also 155 00:09:32,400 --> 00:09:36,600 Speaker 1: faced criticism from within the black community, especially from church leaders, 156 00:09:36,600 --> 00:09:39,480 Speaker 1: who thought that the card playing and drinking that could 157 00:09:39,520 --> 00:09:43,080 Speaker 1: go on there was sinful and harmful to society. This 158 00:09:43,200 --> 00:09:46,000 Speaker 1: was doubly true since at least one of these two 159 00:09:46,040 --> 00:09:49,480 Speaker 1: clubs served alcohol even though it was not licensed to 160 00:09:49,520 --> 00:09:52,640 Speaker 1: do so, and at one point enough fights broke out 161 00:09:52,640 --> 00:09:55,040 Speaker 1: at the Black four hundred Club that the city council 162 00:09:55,080 --> 00:09:59,480 Speaker 1: shut it down. Joblin's exact whereabouts aren't clear for parts 163 00:09:59,480 --> 00:10:03,400 Speaker 1: of the eight in eighteen nineties, we don't know exactly 164 00:10:03,440 --> 00:10:06,680 Speaker 1: when he moved to Cidelia or where all he traveled 165 00:10:06,720 --> 00:10:09,560 Speaker 1: as an itinerant musician, and he also seems to have 166 00:10:09,600 --> 00:10:12,760 Speaker 1: gone back to tech sarcana from time to time. The 167 00:10:12,800 --> 00:10:15,880 Speaker 1: first written mention we have of him as a musician 168 00:10:16,000 --> 00:10:20,080 Speaker 1: is from eighteen ninety one. Various people who knew Scott 169 00:10:20,160 --> 00:10:23,720 Speaker 1: Joplin as a young man describes him as quiet, smart, 170 00:10:23,920 --> 00:10:28,440 Speaker 1: with good manners, and very serious, including being very serious 171 00:10:28,480 --> 00:10:32,880 Speaker 1: about learning and playing music. In addition, to dedicating himself 172 00:10:32,920 --> 00:10:37,000 Speaker 1: to studying and practicing. He also seemed innately talented as 173 00:10:37,000 --> 00:10:40,840 Speaker 1: a composer. One description that gets repeated a lot is 174 00:10:41,120 --> 00:10:44,240 Speaker 1: unclear as to who originally said it, but it's quote. 175 00:10:44,360 --> 00:10:47,520 Speaker 1: He did not have to play anybody else's music. He 176 00:10:47,640 --> 00:10:50,480 Speaker 1: made up his own and it was beautiful. He just 177 00:10:50,640 --> 00:10:53,800 Speaker 1: got his music out of the air. The first written 178 00:10:53,840 --> 00:10:57,360 Speaker 1: mention of Joplin as a musician isn't quite as auspicious. 179 00:10:57,400 --> 00:11:01,679 Speaker 1: Though we've talked about minstrel shows, several previous episodes of 180 00:11:01,720 --> 00:11:04,160 Speaker 1: the show, most recently in our two part are on 181 00:11:04,200 --> 00:11:08,800 Speaker 1: Irving Berlin this past December. The roots of minstrelsy included 182 00:11:08,960 --> 00:11:13,600 Speaker 1: everything from white performers in blackface playing roles like Shakespeare's Othello, 183 00:11:14,080 --> 00:11:18,640 Speaker 1: to white performers lampooning black people in racist caricatures designed 184 00:11:18,679 --> 00:11:23,880 Speaker 1: for white audiences. White musicians also appropriated music and dance 185 00:11:23,920 --> 00:11:27,040 Speaker 1: styles that had been created by black musicians and performers, 186 00:11:27,360 --> 00:11:31,360 Speaker 1: and they did those on stage in blackface. The style 187 00:11:31,440 --> 00:11:35,560 Speaker 1: of performance was so popular among white audiences that some 188 00:11:35,640 --> 00:11:39,520 Speaker 1: black performers adopted it as well, for a range of reasons, 189 00:11:39,960 --> 00:11:44,400 Speaker 1: including just having no other viable option for finding paid work. 190 00:11:44,559 --> 00:11:48,560 Speaker 1: As a performer. We don't really know Scott Joplin's thought process, 191 00:11:48,640 --> 00:11:52,000 Speaker 1: but his first documented performances were as part of a 192 00:11:52,080 --> 00:11:55,800 Speaker 1: minstrel troupe called the tech Sarcana Minstrels. One of this 193 00:11:55,960 --> 00:12:01,439 Speaker 1: troope's performances in eighteen ninety one caused particular controversy. It 194 00:12:01,520 --> 00:12:05,920 Speaker 1: was that a Confederate Veterans Association reunion, and the performers 195 00:12:06,000 --> 00:12:09,240 Speaker 1: learned only after signing a contract that the event was 196 00:12:09,320 --> 00:12:12,440 Speaker 1: being used as a fundraiser to build a memorial for 197 00:12:12,600 --> 00:12:16,520 Speaker 1: Confederate President Jefferson Davis, who had died in eighteen eighty nine. 198 00:12:17,280 --> 00:12:21,520 Speaker 1: The participation of a black minstrel troop in a fundraiser 199 00:12:21,600 --> 00:12:25,560 Speaker 1: for a Jefferson Davis memorial caused outrage among the black 200 00:12:25,600 --> 00:12:30,400 Speaker 1: residents of Texarcana. The Southwestern Christian Advocate was a newspaper 201 00:12:30,440 --> 00:12:33,880 Speaker 1: published by the Methodist Episcopal Church, and its coverage of 202 00:12:33,920 --> 00:12:39,400 Speaker 1: this was scathing. It listed the troops members, including Scott Joplin, 203 00:12:39,520 --> 00:12:43,640 Speaker 1: before saying quote their action dishonors their race and curses 204 00:12:43,679 --> 00:12:48,040 Speaker 1: the memories of John Brown, Abraham Lincoln, William Lloyd Garrison, 205 00:12:48,200 --> 00:12:51,880 Speaker 1: Calvin Fairbank, and the host of abolitionists that fought and 206 00:12:51,960 --> 00:12:55,400 Speaker 1: bled that they might enjoy the privilege of organizing such 207 00:12:55,400 --> 00:12:58,480 Speaker 1: a troop. The troop countered that they had not known 208 00:12:58,520 --> 00:13:01,320 Speaker 1: about the fundraiser, and they were happy about it, and 209 00:13:01,480 --> 00:13:03,400 Speaker 1: none of the money they had been paid was being 210 00:13:03,400 --> 00:13:06,840 Speaker 1: put toward the memorial. The next couple of years of 211 00:13:06,880 --> 00:13:10,640 Speaker 1: Scott Joplin's life are once again unclear, but he most 212 00:13:10,800 --> 00:13:14,400 Speaker 1: likely went to Chicago for the World's Colombian Exposition in 213 00:13:14,480 --> 00:13:18,880 Speaker 1: eighteen ninety three, possibly as part of the Texas Medley Quartet. 214 00:13:19,480 --> 00:13:23,360 Speaker 1: He probably didn't play in the expo itself. For the 215 00:13:23,440 --> 00:13:26,920 Speaker 1: most part, people of color were only allowed to participate 216 00:13:27,040 --> 00:13:30,880 Speaker 1: in the official exposition as part of the Ethnological Pavilion, 217 00:13:30,920 --> 00:13:35,440 Speaker 1: which was basically a human zoo. Their indigenous people from 218 00:13:35,440 --> 00:13:39,000 Speaker 1: North America and people from other countries lived in quote 219 00:13:39,160 --> 00:13:44,040 Speaker 1: ethnic villages, but there were a lot of black musicians 220 00:13:44,040 --> 00:13:47,720 Speaker 1: who performed at other venues in Chicago during the expo, 221 00:13:47,880 --> 00:13:52,080 Speaker 1: just outside of the established exposition grounds. This was to 222 00:13:52,120 --> 00:13:55,480 Speaker 1: the point that the World's Columbian Exposition is often cited 223 00:13:55,520 --> 00:14:00,320 Speaker 1: as the event that launched the popularization of ragtime. So 224 00:14:00,640 --> 00:14:05,240 Speaker 1: ragtime this is a syncopated musical style whose influences included 225 00:14:05,320 --> 00:14:10,160 Speaker 1: minstrel music, honky tonk piano playing, and the cakewalk. The 226 00:14:10,240 --> 00:14:14,720 Speaker 1: cakewalk needs its own explanation. Prior to the US Civil War, 227 00:14:15,320 --> 00:14:18,760 Speaker 1: enslaved people arranged in a square would dance in a 228 00:14:18,760 --> 00:14:22,080 Speaker 1: way that mimicked the behaviors and mannerisms of white people. 229 00:14:22,840 --> 00:14:26,800 Speaker 1: This was a contest, with enslavers and their families acting 230 00:14:26,840 --> 00:14:30,640 Speaker 1: as judges. Often the winners were awarded a cake or 231 00:14:30,680 --> 00:14:34,720 Speaker 1: some other treat or luxury item. This evolved into a 232 00:14:34,760 --> 00:14:37,120 Speaker 1: form of entertainment that lasted beyond the end of the 233 00:14:37,160 --> 00:14:41,080 Speaker 1: Civil War. It was incorporated into minstrel shows and also 234 00:14:41,160 --> 00:14:44,120 Speaker 1: continued to be done as a contest, and the cakewalk 235 00:14:44,240 --> 00:14:49,239 Speaker 1: also evolved into a syncopated, march like musical genre. Ragtime 236 00:14:49,320 --> 00:14:51,880 Speaker 1: was still a very new style of music when the 237 00:14:51,920 --> 00:14:55,080 Speaker 1: World's Columbian Exposition was held in eighteen ninety three. The 238 00:14:55,240 --> 00:14:59,160 Speaker 1: term ragtime would not even be coined to describe it 239 00:14:59,240 --> 00:15:04,480 Speaker 1: for another years, and it also was not particularly respected 240 00:15:04,560 --> 00:15:08,000 Speaker 1: as a musical style. It had been developed, written, and 241 00:15:08,120 --> 00:15:12,000 Speaker 1: performed primarily by black musicians, so there was racism involved 242 00:15:12,040 --> 00:15:15,720 Speaker 1: in white audience's reactions to it. Some of the same 243 00:15:15,840 --> 00:15:19,520 Speaker 1: rhythms that were common in ragtime had also been used 244 00:15:19,520 --> 00:15:23,200 Speaker 1: by white menstrual performers and caricatures of black people. They 245 00:15:23,200 --> 00:15:26,080 Speaker 1: were sort of a musical cue that a character was 246 00:15:26,120 --> 00:15:30,240 Speaker 1: meant to be seen as bumbling or inept. Also, a 247 00:15:30,400 --> 00:15:33,040 Speaker 1: lot of the people who wrote and played ragtime were 248 00:15:33,080 --> 00:15:37,240 Speaker 1: performing in places like brothels and taverns, often because those 249 00:15:37,280 --> 00:15:39,800 Speaker 1: were the only places where black musicians in the area 250 00:15:39,840 --> 00:15:42,880 Speaker 1: could find work. So a lot of people black and 251 00:15:43,000 --> 00:15:48,280 Speaker 1: white associated ragtime with sex, work, gambling, and other vice. 252 00:15:48,960 --> 00:15:52,440 Speaker 1: But after the World's Columbian Exposition, as its popularity grew, 253 00:15:52,960 --> 00:15:56,239 Speaker 1: it very gradually shed a little bit of that connotation. 254 00:15:57,240 --> 00:16:00,720 Speaker 1: Joplin seems to have toured with the Texas Lea Quartet 255 00:16:00,760 --> 00:16:03,920 Speaker 1: in eighteen ninety three in eighteen ninety four, and then 256 00:16:04,000 --> 00:16:07,600 Speaker 1: he either moved to or went back to Cidalia, where 257 00:16:07,600 --> 00:16:11,440 Speaker 1: he boarded with the family of Arthur Marshall. Joplin became 258 00:16:11,520 --> 00:16:15,440 Speaker 1: Marshall's music teacher, and Marshall, who became a ragtime performer 259 00:16:15,480 --> 00:16:19,680 Speaker 1: and composer himself, described Japplin this way quote, he was 260 00:16:19,880 --> 00:16:22,680 Speaker 1: kind to all of us musicians that would, just as 261 00:16:22,720 --> 00:16:25,880 Speaker 1: I say, flock around him because he was an inspiration 262 00:16:26,000 --> 00:16:29,280 Speaker 1: to us. All. We always treated him as daddy to 263 00:16:29,320 --> 00:16:33,320 Speaker 1: the bunch of piano players here in Sidalia. Joplin and 264 00:16:33,400 --> 00:16:37,160 Speaker 1: Marshall were also two of the many ragtime musicians who 265 00:16:37,160 --> 00:16:40,360 Speaker 1: would wind up spending at least some time in Cidalia, 266 00:16:40,520 --> 00:16:44,040 Speaker 1: or live there permanently, or be born there. This town 267 00:16:44,120 --> 00:16:48,520 Speaker 1: eventually became known as the cradle of classic ragtime. Japlin 268 00:16:48,640 --> 00:16:52,000 Speaker 1: also continued to focus on his own education, and he 269 00:16:52,080 --> 00:16:55,280 Speaker 1: took classes at the George Arsmith College for Negroes in 270 00:16:55,320 --> 00:16:58,880 Speaker 1: eighteen ninety six. That college burned in a fire in 271 00:16:58,960 --> 00:17:01,840 Speaker 1: nineteen twenty five and all of its records were destroyed, 272 00:17:02,160 --> 00:17:04,760 Speaker 1: so we don't know any of the details of his coursework. 273 00:17:05,119 --> 00:17:07,359 Speaker 1: He was in his twenties by this point, and he 274 00:17:07,440 --> 00:17:11,600 Speaker 1: probably wasn't formally seeking a degree, but was instead taking 275 00:17:11,640 --> 00:17:16,520 Speaker 1: individual classes to continue building his musical knowledge. He also 276 00:17:16,640 --> 00:17:19,720 Speaker 1: continued to travel and work as a musician, and his 277 00:17:19,880 --> 00:17:23,400 Speaker 1: first piece of music was published in Syracuse, New York, 278 00:17:24,080 --> 00:17:27,560 Speaker 1: suggesting he was there at the time. This was Please 279 00:17:27,640 --> 00:17:30,080 Speaker 1: Say What You Will, which had a copyright date of 280 00:17:30,119 --> 00:17:33,600 Speaker 1: February twentieth, eighteen ninety five, so at that point Joplin 281 00:17:33,680 --> 00:17:36,840 Speaker 1: was about twenty seven. We also know he was back 282 00:17:36,840 --> 00:17:39,960 Speaker 1: in Texas at some point and may have been at 283 00:17:40,000 --> 00:17:43,400 Speaker 1: the spectacle known as the Crash at Crush. He may 284 00:17:43,440 --> 00:17:45,840 Speaker 1: not have been, He may have just heard about it regardless, 285 00:17:45,880 --> 00:17:49,960 Speaker 1: though he published his Great Crush Collision March in Temple, 286 00:17:50,040 --> 00:17:53,200 Speaker 1: Texas a few weeks after the Crash at Crush. We've 287 00:17:53,200 --> 00:17:55,600 Speaker 1: talked about the Crash at Crush on the show before, 288 00:17:56,000 --> 00:17:57,879 Speaker 1: and we are going to bring it out as an 289 00:17:57,920 --> 00:18:01,720 Speaker 1: upcoming Saturday classic. Plin seems to have spent most of 290 00:18:01,760 --> 00:18:05,320 Speaker 1: the late eighteen nineties mostly settled in Cidalia, where he 291 00:18:05,400 --> 00:18:09,000 Speaker 1: joined the Queen City Coronet Band. He started teaching other 292 00:18:09,080 --> 00:18:12,440 Speaker 1: ragtime players and composers, going on to collaborate with many 293 00:18:12,480 --> 00:18:16,520 Speaker 1: of them. We already mentioned Arthur Marshall, whose later collaborations 294 00:18:16,520 --> 00:18:21,159 Speaker 1: with Japlin included SWIPSI Cakewalk. Another of Japlin students was 295 00:18:21,200 --> 00:18:25,560 Speaker 1: Scott Hayden, and the songs they wrote together included Sunflower Slowdrag. 296 00:18:26,480 --> 00:18:29,800 Speaker 1: One of Sidalia's music dealers was a man named John Stark, 297 00:18:29,960 --> 00:18:34,040 Speaker 1: and that's who published Joplin's first really major success, which 298 00:18:34,080 --> 00:18:37,840 Speaker 1: was Maple Leaf Rag. It's possible that this piece was 299 00:18:37,960 --> 00:18:42,359 Speaker 1: named after Cidalia's Maple Leaf Social Club. Stark saw himself 300 00:18:42,400 --> 00:18:45,040 Speaker 1: as a publisher of serious music, and he thought that 301 00:18:45,160 --> 00:18:48,480 Speaker 1: Ragtime was worthy of the same consideration as the work 302 00:18:48,480 --> 00:18:52,280 Speaker 1: of classical composers. He published Maple Leaf Rag in eighteen 303 00:18:52,359 --> 00:18:56,159 Speaker 1: ninety nine. Although Joplin had probably started working on writing 304 00:18:56,160 --> 00:18:59,240 Speaker 1: at a couple of years before, people in Cidalia seemed 305 00:18:59,240 --> 00:19:03,240 Speaker 1: to have heard it before it was officially published. Joplin 306 00:19:03,400 --> 00:19:06,520 Speaker 1: also got advice from an attorney when he negotiated his 307 00:19:06,560 --> 00:19:10,360 Speaker 1: publishing contract, was Stark, which included a royalty of one 308 00:19:10,480 --> 00:19:14,240 Speaker 1: cent for each copy of the sheep Music sold. Stark 309 00:19:14,359 --> 00:19:16,600 Speaker 1: actually had some doubts about this piece of music. He 310 00:19:16,640 --> 00:19:18,800 Speaker 1: thought it was just too complex to sell well to 311 00:19:18,840 --> 00:19:21,880 Speaker 1: the general public, and it might even be too complex 312 00:19:21,920 --> 00:19:25,560 Speaker 1: for its composer, and sales of Maple Leaf Rag did 313 00:19:25,680 --> 00:19:29,040 Speaker 1: take a bit to really get going, but once they did, 314 00:19:29,320 --> 00:19:33,440 Speaker 1: the piece sold steadily and well for years, earning Joplin 315 00:19:33,480 --> 00:19:37,119 Speaker 1: and estimated six hundred dollars annually. That would have been 316 00:19:37,200 --> 00:19:39,800 Speaker 1: enough to take care of rent, food, and his other 317 00:19:39,880 --> 00:19:43,520 Speaker 1: most basic needs. One of the reasons this piece sold 318 00:19:43,600 --> 00:19:46,040 Speaker 1: so well was that Stark was really good at marketing it, 319 00:19:46,160 --> 00:19:50,160 Speaker 1: and at marketing Joplin himself. Stark was probably the first 320 00:19:50,200 --> 00:19:54,160 Speaker 1: person to call Joplin, the King of ragtime writers. That 321 00:19:54,240 --> 00:19:56,480 Speaker 1: was something that he printed on the covers of Japlin's 322 00:19:56,520 --> 00:20:00,000 Speaker 1: Sheep Music. Stark also wrote of this piece of music, quote, 323 00:20:00,080 --> 00:20:03,280 Speaker 1: the maple Leaf Rag marks an era in musical composition. 324 00:20:03,760 --> 00:20:08,240 Speaker 1: It has throttled and silenced those who oppose syncopations. It 325 00:20:08,320 --> 00:20:11,159 Speaker 1: is played by the cultured of all nations, and is 326 00:20:11,200 --> 00:20:14,600 Speaker 1: welcomed in the drawing rooms and boudoirs of good taste. 327 00:20:15,280 --> 00:20:17,920 Speaker 1: We don't often get to include the music itself when 328 00:20:17,960 --> 00:20:21,720 Speaker 1: we're talking about historical composers or performers. A lot of 329 00:20:21,720 --> 00:20:25,160 Speaker 1: the time, recording technology just didn't exist yet, or if 330 00:20:25,160 --> 00:20:28,960 Speaker 1: it did, those recordings have not survived, or in terms 331 00:20:28,960 --> 00:20:32,080 Speaker 1: of more recent musicians, there may be copyright or licensing 332 00:20:32,119 --> 00:20:34,760 Speaker 1: issues that keep us from being able to use it. 333 00:20:35,520 --> 00:20:38,200 Speaker 1: But one of the ways Scott Joplin recorded his music 334 00:20:38,320 --> 00:20:41,359 Speaker 1: was by creating piano roles. Those are the roles that 335 00:20:41,359 --> 00:20:44,600 Speaker 1: would play the music on a player piano. And Joplin 336 00:20:44,720 --> 00:20:47,440 Speaker 1: made a role for Maple Leaf Rag in nineteen sixteen, 337 00:20:47,480 --> 00:20:49,920 Speaker 1: and we're going to play that. Now. This was late 338 00:20:49,960 --> 00:20:51,920 Speaker 1: in life and he was not playing as well as 339 00:20:51,920 --> 00:20:54,000 Speaker 1: he did in earlier years, and we're going to talk 340 00:20:54,040 --> 00:21:46,840 Speaker 1: about that more after a sponsor break. After the success 341 00:21:46,880 --> 00:21:50,560 Speaker 1: of Maple Leaf Rag, a lot of musicians and composers 342 00:21:50,600 --> 00:21:54,359 Speaker 1: that Scott Joplin had taught, or played with or collaborated 343 00:21:54,400 --> 00:21:57,200 Speaker 1: with said they had had a hand in its creation. 344 00:21:58,000 --> 00:22:02,000 Speaker 1: Musicians also started playing and recording it and selling their recordings, 345 00:22:02,080 --> 00:22:05,600 Speaker 1: and a lot of composers wrote new rags that drew 346 00:22:05,680 --> 00:22:09,160 Speaker 1: from it really heavily, and Joplin himself also wrote other 347 00:22:09,280 --> 00:22:11,880 Speaker 1: rags that kind of referred back to it musically. So 348 00:22:12,400 --> 00:22:15,880 Speaker 1: in addition to being a steady moneymaker for Scott Joplin, 349 00:22:16,280 --> 00:22:19,479 Speaker 1: Maple Leaf Rag also became a big influence on the 350 00:22:19,520 --> 00:22:23,600 Speaker 1: genre of ragtime as a whole. In nineteen hundred, John 351 00:22:23,680 --> 00:22:26,520 Speaker 1: Stark moved to Saint Louis, Missouri, where he continued to 352 00:22:26,520 --> 00:22:31,200 Speaker 1: publish and market a lot of Joplin's compositions. That same year, 353 00:22:31,280 --> 00:22:34,480 Speaker 1: Scott Joplin married Bell Jones Hayden, who was the widow 354 00:22:34,480 --> 00:22:39,000 Speaker 1: of Joe Hayden, brother of Joplin's students Scott Hayden. The 355 00:22:39,080 --> 00:22:42,000 Speaker 1: couple had one child together, a daughter who died as 356 00:22:42,040 --> 00:22:45,840 Speaker 1: a baby. Scott and Bell did not seem to have 357 00:22:45,920 --> 00:22:48,840 Speaker 1: been very well matched, and their marriage ended sometimes shortly 358 00:22:48,880 --> 00:22:52,679 Speaker 1: after their daughter's death. By this point, Joplin had become 359 00:22:52,760 --> 00:22:56,639 Speaker 1: well known in Sidalia and was well respected among ragtime 360 00:22:56,720 --> 00:23:00,520 Speaker 1: musicians and composers and within the black community more generally. 361 00:23:01,160 --> 00:23:05,720 Speaker 1: He co founded the pd haastan Republican club for Black Republicans. 362 00:23:05,840 --> 00:23:08,720 Speaker 1: This was named for a former mayor of Cidalia who 363 00:23:08,800 --> 00:23:10,960 Speaker 1: was white but had made a point of speaking to 364 00:23:11,000 --> 00:23:14,800 Speaker 1: black churches and social organizations and of hiring black officers 365 00:23:14,800 --> 00:23:19,960 Speaker 1: for Cidalia's police force. Joplin had also started a baseball team, 366 00:23:20,400 --> 00:23:22,879 Speaker 1: but in nineteen oh one he decided to move to 367 00:23:22,920 --> 00:23:25,920 Speaker 1: Saint Louis as well, although he went back to Cidalia 368 00:23:26,040 --> 00:23:30,080 Speaker 1: several times after that. As we said earlier, ragtime wasn't 369 00:23:30,320 --> 00:23:34,359 Speaker 1: entirely respected as a musical genre. Starting in the early 370 00:23:34,400 --> 00:23:37,320 Speaker 1: twentieth century, it was increasingly part of the music of 371 00:23:37,359 --> 00:23:39,960 Speaker 1: Tin Pan Alley, which we talked about in our episodes 372 00:23:40,000 --> 00:23:44,040 Speaker 1: on Irving Berlin. That meant a lot more white musicians 373 00:23:44,040 --> 00:23:47,840 Speaker 1: were incorporating ragtime elements into their music, which were then 374 00:23:47,920 --> 00:23:52,000 Speaker 1: more widely heard by white audiences. So ragtime started to 375 00:23:52,080 --> 00:23:55,240 Speaker 1: lose some of its associations with sex work and gambling, 376 00:23:55,680 --> 00:23:58,480 Speaker 1: and white audiences who were introduced to it through tinpan 377 00:23:58,560 --> 00:24:01,600 Speaker 1: Alley didn't necessarily know that it was a genre that 378 00:24:01,920 --> 00:24:06,680 Speaker 1: had been developed mainly by black performers and composers. But 379 00:24:07,080 --> 00:24:09,120 Speaker 1: none of this meant that it was being taken seriously 380 00:24:09,160 --> 00:24:12,200 Speaker 1: as a musical style. It had become thought of as 381 00:24:12,320 --> 00:24:17,840 Speaker 1: popular music, but not high art. Joplin thought ragtime was 382 00:24:18,119 --> 00:24:22,119 Speaker 1: worthy of respect as serious music, and he also wanted 383 00:24:22,160 --> 00:24:25,800 Speaker 1: to make his way into musical genres that already commanded 384 00:24:25,840 --> 00:24:29,240 Speaker 1: that kind of respect. In nineteen o two, he published 385 00:24:29,240 --> 00:24:33,560 Speaker 1: a ragtime ballet called The Ragtime Dance. Shortly after that, 386 00:24:33,680 --> 00:24:37,200 Speaker 1: he published his first opera, The Guest of Honor, which 387 00:24:37,280 --> 00:24:41,280 Speaker 1: sadly no longer exists. This opera is believed to have 388 00:24:41,359 --> 00:24:44,320 Speaker 1: been inspired by booker T. Washington's visit to the White 389 00:24:44,359 --> 00:24:48,280 Speaker 1: House in nineteen o one. One reason why no copy 390 00:24:48,480 --> 00:24:51,280 Speaker 1: of this opera survives is that Joplin's efforts to stage 391 00:24:51,359 --> 00:24:54,480 Speaker 1: it and take it on tour were just plagued with misfortunes. 392 00:24:55,200 --> 00:24:59,160 Speaker 1: He seems to have file a copyright application that was lost. 393 00:24:59,600 --> 00:25:02,320 Speaker 1: He established a drama company, rented a theater, and a 394 00:25:02,359 --> 00:25:06,199 Speaker 1: held rehearsals, but the tour manager disappeared along with the 395 00:25:06,240 --> 00:25:08,560 Speaker 1: money that was supposed to be used to pay for 396 00:25:08,600 --> 00:25:11,959 Speaker 1: the boarding house for the company was staying. The boarding 397 00:25:11,960 --> 00:25:15,280 Speaker 1: house manager seized everything that the company had to pay 398 00:25:15,320 --> 00:25:18,600 Speaker 1: the bill, and that included the scripts and the music. 399 00:25:19,320 --> 00:25:22,840 Speaker 1: In nineteen oh four, Joplin published The Cascades, which was 400 00:25:22,920 --> 00:25:26,640 Speaker 1: named for a series of waterfalls, lagoons, and water features 401 00:25:26,640 --> 00:25:31,000 Speaker 1: that were constructed for the Louisiana Purchase Exposition was another expo, 402 00:25:31,080 --> 00:25:34,240 Speaker 1: this one was held in Saint Louis. That same year, 403 00:25:34,400 --> 00:25:37,520 Speaker 1: he got married again to a woman named Freddy Alexander. 404 00:25:38,119 --> 00:25:40,760 Speaker 1: This is the only one of Joplin's marriages that is 405 00:25:40,840 --> 00:25:44,040 Speaker 1: really documented in terms of something like a marriage license. 406 00:25:44,119 --> 00:25:48,119 Speaker 1: It's possible that his other two marriages were common law marriages. 407 00:25:48,960 --> 00:25:52,000 Speaker 1: This wedding took place in the Alexander family home in 408 00:25:52,080 --> 00:25:56,800 Speaker 1: Little Rock, Arkansas, on June fourteenth, nineteen oh four. Afterward, 409 00:25:56,880 --> 00:26:00,119 Speaker 1: the couple moved to Sedalia, traveling there by train with 410 00:26:00,240 --> 00:26:04,479 Speaker 1: stops along the way for Joplin to perform. Sadly, Scott 411 00:26:04,480 --> 00:26:08,199 Speaker 1: and Freddie's marriage lasted only ten weeks. Shortly after they 412 00:26:08,280 --> 00:26:12,080 Speaker 1: got back to Cidelia, Freddie became ill and she never recovered. 413 00:26:12,680 --> 00:26:15,680 Speaker 1: She died of pneumonia on September tenth, nineteen o four, 414 00:26:15,840 --> 00:26:19,600 Speaker 1: at the age of twenty. Joplin seems to have been 415 00:26:19,640 --> 00:26:22,440 Speaker 1: deeply devoted to her and as attentive as he could 416 00:26:22,440 --> 00:26:25,639 Speaker 1: be throughout her illness, while also trying to earn money 417 00:26:25,680 --> 00:26:29,320 Speaker 1: to support the two of them. One newspaper article said 418 00:26:29,359 --> 00:26:32,920 Speaker 1: of it, quote, throughout her sickness, mister Joplin has administered 419 00:26:32,960 --> 00:26:36,919 Speaker 1: to every want. We mentioned earlier that Joplin had returned 420 00:26:36,960 --> 00:26:39,879 Speaker 1: to Cidalia at various points after moving to Saint Louis. 421 00:26:40,440 --> 00:26:43,400 Speaker 1: He doesn't seem to have gone back again. After Freddie died, 422 00:26:44,480 --> 00:26:48,040 Speaker 1: Maple Leaf rag was still an incredibly popular piece of music, 423 00:26:48,160 --> 00:26:51,680 Speaker 1: and pianists had started competing with one another about how 424 00:26:51,720 --> 00:26:54,480 Speaker 1: fast they could play it. This was part of a 425 00:26:54,640 --> 00:26:59,160 Speaker 1: greater trend within ragtime that syncopation in the music can 426 00:26:59,160 --> 00:27:01,800 Speaker 1: give it a liveliness that can make it seem like 427 00:27:01,840 --> 00:27:04,720 Speaker 1: it should be played very quickly. That seems to have 428 00:27:04,720 --> 00:27:07,560 Speaker 1: gotten on Scott Joplin's nerves. He thought a lot of 429 00:27:07,640 --> 00:27:11,359 Speaker 1: ragtime was musically complex in a way that just got 430 00:27:11,440 --> 00:27:15,280 Speaker 1: lost if people played it too fast. He started publishing 431 00:27:15,359 --> 00:27:18,480 Speaker 1: notes to this effect in his music, beginning with Leola 432 00:27:18,560 --> 00:27:21,879 Speaker 1: which was published in nineteen oh five. The sheet music 433 00:27:21,960 --> 00:27:28,040 Speaker 1: for that included this text quote notice exclamation point, don't 434 00:27:28,080 --> 00:27:31,359 Speaker 1: play this piece fast. It is never right to play 435 00:27:31,440 --> 00:27:36,760 Speaker 1: ragtime fast. Author. In nineteen oh seven, Joplin started working 436 00:27:36,840 --> 00:27:40,200 Speaker 1: on another opera, Tree Menetia, which he stressed was a 437 00:27:40,280 --> 00:27:44,159 Speaker 1: grand opera, not a work of ragtime. This was a 438 00:27:44,240 --> 00:27:47,600 Speaker 1: three act opera set on a plantation in Arkansas, in 439 00:27:47,680 --> 00:27:51,720 Speaker 1: an isolated area that white people had essentially abandoned after 440 00:27:51,760 --> 00:27:54,280 Speaker 1: the end of the Civil War and the abolition of slavery. 441 00:27:55,119 --> 00:27:59,000 Speaker 1: Its characters were freed black people, including a couple named 442 00:27:59,119 --> 00:28:01,960 Speaker 1: Ned and Moniche, who prayed to be able to have 443 00:28:02,040 --> 00:28:05,440 Speaker 1: a child, and after finding a baby under a tree, 444 00:28:05,520 --> 00:28:10,080 Speaker 1: they named her Treemonisha. This opera is set when Treemonisha 445 00:28:10,240 --> 00:28:14,359 Speaker 1: is eighteen. She's the only educated member of her community. 446 00:28:14,560 --> 00:28:18,440 Speaker 1: She becomes a teacher and a leader, dispelling their superstitions 447 00:28:18,520 --> 00:28:21,639 Speaker 1: and reducing the influence of a pastor who is named 448 00:28:21,840 --> 00:28:26,200 Speaker 1: Parson all Talk. In the end, Treemonisha helps bring her 449 00:28:26,200 --> 00:28:30,760 Speaker 1: community into a more modern era while still retaining their identity. 450 00:28:31,640 --> 00:28:34,840 Speaker 1: Some elements in this opera can seem a little jarring today, 451 00:28:34,960 --> 00:28:37,840 Speaker 1: but at the time it had a lot in common 452 00:28:37,920 --> 00:28:41,200 Speaker 1: with the ideas of racial uplift that were promoted by 453 00:28:41,200 --> 00:28:44,400 Speaker 1: people like W. E. B. Du Boys and Booker T. Washington. 454 00:28:45,160 --> 00:28:48,440 Speaker 1: Around the same time that he started working on Treemonisha, 455 00:28:48,560 --> 00:28:51,360 Speaker 1: Joplin moved to New York City, at first living in 456 00:28:51,360 --> 00:28:54,720 Speaker 1: a boarding house near Tin Pan Alley. In New York, 457 00:28:54,800 --> 00:28:59,640 Speaker 1: Chaplin composed, performed tap music lessons, and started making piano 458 00:28:59,760 --> 00:29:03,160 Speaker 1: role of his music for player pianos. He became an 459 00:29:03,160 --> 00:29:07,960 Speaker 1: active member of the Colored Vodevillian Benevolent Association, a professional 460 00:29:08,000 --> 00:29:12,240 Speaker 1: and support organization for black performers. He also got married 461 00:29:12,240 --> 00:29:16,160 Speaker 1: once again, this time to Lottie Stokes. It's not clear 462 00:29:16,200 --> 00:29:20,240 Speaker 1: exactly when that happened. There are various references to him 463 00:29:20,240 --> 00:29:23,720 Speaker 1: and newspapers and minutes of meetings and things like that, 464 00:29:23,720 --> 00:29:26,520 Speaker 1: where one would expect that if he was married, his 465 00:29:26,560 --> 00:29:29,560 Speaker 1: wife would be there, but like Lottie, is not mentioned. 466 00:29:29,680 --> 00:29:33,680 Speaker 1: It's just a little vague. In nineteen oh eight, Joplin 467 00:29:33,760 --> 00:29:37,720 Speaker 1: self published a pamphlet called School of Ragtime Six Exercises 468 00:29:37,720 --> 00:29:41,040 Speaker 1: for Piano. As its name suggests, this was a set 469 00:29:41,080 --> 00:29:45,160 Speaker 1: of instructions and musical exercises for learning how to play ragtime. 470 00:29:45,760 --> 00:29:50,560 Speaker 1: In it, he reiterated his distaste for playing unnecessarily quickly. 471 00:29:50,680 --> 00:29:53,680 Speaker 1: Quote we wish to say here that the Joplin ragtime 472 00:29:53,840 --> 00:29:58,520 Speaker 1: is destroyed by careless or imperfect rendering, and very often 473 00:29:58,640 --> 00:30:02,720 Speaker 1: good players lose the effect entirely by playing too fast. 474 00:30:03,400 --> 00:30:06,680 Speaker 1: They are harmonized with the supposition that each note will 475 00:30:06,720 --> 00:30:09,920 Speaker 1: be played as it is written as it takes this 476 00:30:10,160 --> 00:30:14,600 Speaker 1: and also the proper time divisions to complete the sense intended. 477 00:30:15,680 --> 00:30:19,840 Speaker 1: That same year, Joplin started publishing with Seminary Music, which 478 00:30:19,880 --> 00:30:23,360 Speaker 1: was a subsidiary established by Ted Snyder, and it shared 479 00:30:23,360 --> 00:30:26,920 Speaker 1: an office with Ted Snyder Music. That name sounds familiar. 480 00:30:27,440 --> 00:30:31,200 Speaker 1: Irving Berlin started working for Ted Snyder around this same time. 481 00:30:31,960 --> 00:30:37,080 Speaker 1: Joplin finished Treemenisha in nineteen eleven and unsuccessfully started looking 482 00:30:37,120 --> 00:30:40,440 Speaker 1: for a publisher, and this led to one of Irving 483 00:30:40,480 --> 00:30:46,720 Speaker 1: Berlin's plagiarism accusations. Joplin submitted Treemenisha to Ted Snyder, and 484 00:30:46,800 --> 00:30:50,600 Speaker 1: it's possible that Irving Berlin saw it. That same year, 485 00:30:50,760 --> 00:30:55,120 Speaker 1: Berlin published Alexander's Ragtime Band, and the melody of the 486 00:30:55,320 --> 00:30:59,520 Speaker 1: verses in that song had some similarities to the melody 487 00:30:59,560 --> 00:31:02,800 Speaker 1: of a song from Treemonisha called a Real Slow Drag 488 00:31:03,480 --> 00:31:06,480 Speaker 1: that was not the exact same tune, and the two 489 00:31:06,560 --> 00:31:10,760 Speaker 1: songs were written in totally different styles, but there was 490 00:31:10,800 --> 00:31:14,320 Speaker 1: a series of notes that was similar enough that, according 491 00:31:14,320 --> 00:31:17,600 Speaker 1: to other people who Joplin knew, he thought that Berlin 492 00:31:17,720 --> 00:31:21,760 Speaker 1: had copied it. Japlin also reworked part of a Real 493 00:31:21,840 --> 00:31:25,560 Speaker 1: Slow Drag in nineteen thirteen, and according to Lottie, this 494 00:31:25,640 --> 00:31:28,880 Speaker 1: was to make it sound less like Alexander's Ragtime Band. 495 00:31:29,880 --> 00:31:33,080 Speaker 1: Japlin wasn't able to find a publisher for Treemonisha, and 496 00:31:33,160 --> 00:31:36,760 Speaker 1: he ultimately ended up self publishing the score. It was 497 00:31:36,800 --> 00:31:40,120 Speaker 1: well received in the American Musician and Art Journal, which 498 00:31:40,200 --> 00:31:44,120 Speaker 1: Japlin had a previous relationship with. He tried to stage 499 00:31:44,160 --> 00:31:46,920 Speaker 1: a production of the opera in Atlantic City, but it 500 00:31:46,960 --> 00:31:50,120 Speaker 1: was canceled before it even opened. Parts of it were 501 00:31:50,160 --> 00:31:54,080 Speaker 1: performed only a couple of times at most during Japlin's lifetime, 502 00:31:54,160 --> 00:31:57,560 Speaker 1: including once by students from the Martin Smith Music School 503 00:31:57,640 --> 00:32:03,640 Speaker 1: of Harlem. In nineteentheen, Japlin established Scott Joplin Music Publishing 504 00:32:03,680 --> 00:32:07,560 Speaker 1: Company with Lottie as co owner. A year later, he 505 00:32:07,640 --> 00:32:11,680 Speaker 1: published his last new piece of music, that was Magnetic Rag. 506 00:32:12,520 --> 00:32:15,480 Speaker 1: That same year, Scott and Lottie moved to Harlem, where 507 00:32:15,520 --> 00:32:18,680 Speaker 1: he worked as a piano teacher and Lottie operated a 508 00:32:18,720 --> 00:32:22,880 Speaker 1: boarding house. At some point in his life, possibly before 509 00:32:22,920 --> 00:32:27,240 Speaker 1: the start of the twentieth century, Scott Joplin had contracted syphilis. 510 00:32:28,160 --> 00:32:31,640 Speaker 1: At this point, syphilis was an incredibly widespread disease and 511 00:32:31,880 --> 00:32:36,800 Speaker 1: a major public health issue. Syphilis is caused by a bacteria, 512 00:32:36,960 --> 00:32:40,960 Speaker 1: and antibiotics had not been invented yet. The treatments that 513 00:32:41,040 --> 00:32:45,560 Speaker 1: did exist involved poisons like mercury and arsenic so not 514 00:32:45,640 --> 00:32:48,080 Speaker 1: only did they not cure the disease, but they could 515 00:32:48,120 --> 00:32:53,640 Speaker 1: also harm the patient, and because syphilis is usually sexually transmitted, 516 00:32:53,840 --> 00:32:56,960 Speaker 1: it also carried just a lot of stigma. We don't 517 00:32:56,960 --> 00:32:59,959 Speaker 1: know for sure whether Joplin received any of these treatment 518 00:33:00,200 --> 00:33:03,440 Speaker 1: for syphilis, or whether he was given the blood test 519 00:33:03,520 --> 00:33:06,520 Speaker 1: that was used to officially diagnose it. That test was 520 00:33:06,600 --> 00:33:10,600 Speaker 1: introduced in nineteen o nine, but based on the descriptions 521 00:33:10,600 --> 00:33:13,640 Speaker 1: of his condition in his last years of life, he 522 00:33:13,880 --> 00:33:19,200 Speaker 1: almost certainly developed tertiary syphilis. This is the final stage 523 00:33:19,240 --> 00:33:23,240 Speaker 1: of the progression of syphilis, and it often involves neurological symptoms, 524 00:33:23,280 --> 00:33:28,560 Speaker 1: including memory loss, unusual behavior, and difficulty with physical coordination. 525 00:33:29,600 --> 00:33:32,280 Speaker 1: We mentioned that the piano role of maple Leaf rag 526 00:33:32,320 --> 00:33:35,800 Speaker 1: that we played earlier was recorded in nineteen sixteen, and 527 00:33:35,880 --> 00:33:38,040 Speaker 1: that Joplin was not playing as well as he had 528 00:33:38,080 --> 00:33:41,680 Speaker 1: earlier in his life. And this is why, in addition 529 00:33:41,720 --> 00:33:43,920 Speaker 1: to the effects on his skills as a piano player, 530 00:33:44,400 --> 00:33:49,240 Speaker 1: tertiary syphilis affected Joplin's mental health and cognitive abilities. He 531 00:33:49,360 --> 00:33:53,560 Speaker 1: started behaving erratically, and he destroyed a lot of his manuscripts, 532 00:33:53,800 --> 00:33:56,360 Speaker 1: and he had to be hospitalized in mid January of 533 00:33:56,440 --> 00:34:00,680 Speaker 1: nineteen seventeen. He was transferred to a mental institution a 534 00:34:00,720 --> 00:34:05,480 Speaker 1: month later. Scott Joplin died on April first, nineteen seventeen, 535 00:34:05,520 --> 00:34:09,040 Speaker 1: at Manhattan State Hospital and was buried in an unmarked 536 00:34:09,080 --> 00:34:13,080 Speaker 1: pauper's grave at Saint Michael's Cemetery in East Elmhurst, Queens. 537 00:34:13,680 --> 00:34:17,279 Speaker 1: He was about forty eight years old. Joplin's death went 538 00:34:17,360 --> 00:34:21,640 Speaker 1: almost entirely unreported in the media, although it was covered 539 00:34:21,680 --> 00:34:26,360 Speaker 1: in at least three Black newspapers. During his lifetime, Joplin 540 00:34:26,400 --> 00:34:29,760 Speaker 1: had written more than one hundred ragtime pieces, a ballet, 541 00:34:30,160 --> 00:34:33,920 Speaker 1: and two operas. But in spite of Lottie's efforts to 542 00:34:34,000 --> 00:34:37,600 Speaker 1: continue to promote his work and secure licensing deals and 543 00:34:37,640 --> 00:34:42,400 Speaker 1: renew the copyrights, everything but Maple Leaf Rag was quickly forgotten. 544 00:34:43,040 --> 00:34:46,520 Speaker 1: Joplin was even almost erased from work about black people's 545 00:34:46,520 --> 00:34:50,920 Speaker 1: contributions to music. In nineteen thirty six, Alan Locke published 546 00:34:51,040 --> 00:34:54,239 Speaker 1: The Negro and His Music, in which he referenced Maple 547 00:34:54,320 --> 00:34:57,960 Speaker 1: Leaf Rag and Palm Leaf Rag and described Joplin as 548 00:34:58,000 --> 00:35:03,400 Speaker 1: a white performer who served quote bracketed credit with Negro pioneers. 549 00:35:04,360 --> 00:35:07,600 Speaker 1: During his life, Joplin had told a lot of musicians 550 00:35:07,640 --> 00:35:11,520 Speaker 1: and interviewers that people would not appreciate his music until 551 00:35:11,600 --> 00:35:14,440 Speaker 1: fifty years after his death, and that turned out to 552 00:35:14,520 --> 00:35:18,160 Speaker 1: be eerily prescient. There was a brief or sergeant of 553 00:35:18,239 --> 00:35:21,960 Speaker 1: ragtime in the nineteen forties, as jazz musicians and musical 554 00:35:22,040 --> 00:35:25,480 Speaker 1: scholars worked to uncover the roots of that genre. But 555 00:35:25,560 --> 00:35:28,880 Speaker 1: then there was a second, much greater ragtime revival in 556 00:35:28,920 --> 00:35:34,000 Speaker 1: the nineteen seventies. During that nineteen seventies revival, two different 557 00:35:34,040 --> 00:35:38,560 Speaker 1: events really brought Joplin's work back into public consciousness. In 558 00:35:38,719 --> 00:35:43,240 Speaker 1: nineteen seventy, classical music label None Such Records published Piano 559 00:35:43,320 --> 00:35:48,200 Speaker 1: Rags by Scott Joplin, played by pianist Joshua Rifkin. Two 560 00:35:48,280 --> 00:35:51,600 Speaker 1: other volumes of Joplin's music followed, with all of them 561 00:35:51,640 --> 00:35:55,600 Speaker 1: best sellers on the classical music charts, and in nineteen 562 00:35:55,640 --> 00:35:59,960 Speaker 1: seventy one, pianist and music historian Via Brodsky Lawrence compiled 563 00:36:00,280 --> 00:36:03,600 Speaker 1: and edited a print work, The Complete Works of Scott Joplin, 564 00:36:03,920 --> 00:36:07,239 Speaker 1: which was published through the New York Public Library. As 565 00:36:07,320 --> 00:36:11,480 Speaker 1: Joplin's popularity took off in the early seventies, Morehouse College 566 00:36:11,480 --> 00:36:15,440 Speaker 1: and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra staged Treemonisia in full for 567 00:36:15,480 --> 00:36:19,560 Speaker 1: the first time in nineteen seventy two. In nineteen seventy three, 568 00:36:19,600 --> 00:36:23,239 Speaker 1: Marvin hamlesh arraigned Joplin's music for the score of the 569 00:36:23,320 --> 00:36:27,600 Speaker 1: movie The Sting, starring Robert Redford and Paul Newman. I 570 00:36:27,719 --> 00:36:30,160 Speaker 1: know a lot of white kids who grew up in 571 00:36:30,160 --> 00:36:34,040 Speaker 1: the seventies and eighties had their first their first Scott 572 00:36:34,120 --> 00:36:38,280 Speaker 1: Joplin exposure from that movie. The Sting won a giant 573 00:36:38,440 --> 00:36:42,600 Speaker 1: pile of Academy Awards, including one for its score. In 574 00:36:42,719 --> 00:36:47,160 Speaker 1: nineteen seventy five, Treemonisha ran on Broadway. In nineteen seventy six, 575 00:36:47,200 --> 00:36:50,800 Speaker 1: the Pulitzer Board honored Scott Joplin with a special award 576 00:36:51,239 --> 00:36:56,719 Speaker 1: recognizing his contributions to American Music the American Society of Composers, 577 00:36:56,800 --> 00:37:00,440 Speaker 1: Authors and Publishers. You might know that as ASCAP had 578 00:37:00,480 --> 00:37:03,919 Speaker 1: a marker installed at Joplin's grave site in nineteen seventy four. 579 00:37:04,680 --> 00:37:07,279 Speaker 1: The house where he lived in Saint Louis was recognized 580 00:37:07,280 --> 00:37:11,120 Speaker 1: as a National Historic Landmark in nineteen seventy six. A 581 00:37:11,160 --> 00:37:14,719 Speaker 1: Scott Joplin biopick was released in nineteen seventy seven, with 582 00:37:14,840 --> 00:37:18,000 Speaker 1: Billy D. Williams in the role of Joplin. In nineteen 583 00:37:18,040 --> 00:37:22,200 Speaker 1: eighty three, he was recognized with a postage stamp. Today 584 00:37:22,480 --> 00:37:26,520 Speaker 1: there is an annual outdoor ragtime concert in Joplin's honor 585 00:37:26,600 --> 00:37:29,799 Speaker 1: at Saint Michael's Cemetery in Queens. This year it is 586 00:37:29,840 --> 00:37:33,840 Speaker 1: scheduled for Saturday May twentieth. There's also a Scott Joplin 587 00:37:33,960 --> 00:37:38,040 Speaker 1: Ragtime Festival in Sadalia, Missouri, arranged by the Scott Joplin 588 00:37:38,120 --> 00:37:42,239 Speaker 1: International Ragtime Foundation, and this year that's being held May 589 00:37:42,320 --> 00:37:47,600 Speaker 1: thirty first to June third, A Scott Chaplin, do you 590 00:37:47,640 --> 00:37:50,680 Speaker 1: have some listener mail for us? I do. We got 591 00:37:50,719 --> 00:37:57,000 Speaker 1: some listmail from Chris who wrote in after our Vivisection 592 00:37:57,120 --> 00:38:01,080 Speaker 1: episode with an email with some information about ways to 593 00:38:01,080 --> 00:38:05,320 Speaker 1: reduce animal testing, and this email says, Hi, Holly and Tracy. First, 594 00:38:05,480 --> 00:38:07,719 Speaker 1: I've been listening to your pod for years. I love 595 00:38:07,719 --> 00:38:10,960 Speaker 1: how you cover all sorts of history, topics, arts, science, events, etc. 596 00:38:11,840 --> 00:38:13,920 Speaker 1: There was an earlier episode I was going to write 597 00:38:14,000 --> 00:38:15,799 Speaker 1: to you about this month, but I didn't write it 598 00:38:15,800 --> 00:38:17,759 Speaker 1: down in time. I have to go figure out which 599 00:38:17,760 --> 00:38:20,400 Speaker 1: one that was, so you might hear from me again soon. 600 00:38:21,120 --> 00:38:24,920 Speaker 1: Regarding the vivisection episode, I wanted to provide some insight 601 00:38:25,040 --> 00:38:27,960 Speaker 1: on what's going on with this from an industry perspective. 602 00:38:28,520 --> 00:38:32,000 Speaker 1: My career field is product stewardship in the chemical and 603 00:38:32,080 --> 00:38:37,400 Speaker 1: plastic industry that includes looking at toxicology data. I always 604 00:38:37,440 --> 00:38:40,319 Speaker 1: try to find existing studies or use what we call 605 00:38:40,560 --> 00:38:43,840 Speaker 1: rita cross data, using data on a substance that is similar. 606 00:38:44,440 --> 00:38:47,080 Speaker 1: If those sources don't exist, there are quite a few 607 00:38:47,200 --> 00:38:51,040 Speaker 1: free modeling software programs that can be used to help 608 00:38:51,120 --> 00:38:55,480 Speaker 1: indicate toxicological effects of a chemical. Both the us EPA 609 00:38:55,680 --> 00:39:00,520 Speaker 1: and the eu ECCHA European Chemicals Agency provide models and 610 00:39:00,600 --> 00:39:03,200 Speaker 1: guidance on this. The companies that I have worked for 611 00:39:03,400 --> 00:39:06,600 Speaker 1: only use animal testing as a last resort when government 612 00:39:06,640 --> 00:39:10,400 Speaker 1: agencies require it. In recent years, both the US and 613 00:39:10,480 --> 00:39:14,920 Speaker 1: EU have been encouraging new approach methods or nams to 614 00:39:15,120 --> 00:39:18,960 Speaker 1: reduce animal testing. Below are a couple of links regarding 615 00:39:18,960 --> 00:39:21,959 Speaker 1: the effort to reduce animal testing while still being able 616 00:39:22,000 --> 00:39:25,640 Speaker 1: to identify hazards of chemical substances. Then there's a series 617 00:39:25,680 --> 00:39:30,359 Speaker 1: of links to various alternatives and trainings. Thank you for 618 00:39:30,440 --> 00:39:32,520 Speaker 1: all that you two do. If you ever need a 619 00:39:32,600 --> 00:39:35,239 Speaker 1: chemistry geek to check something with, I'm here for you 620 00:39:35,640 --> 00:39:38,759 Speaker 1: as a pet tax I've included picks of my three 621 00:39:38,800 --> 00:39:43,440 Speaker 1: rescued babies. The chihuahua mix in the pineapple is the youngest, 622 00:39:43,640 --> 00:39:46,880 Speaker 1: named Zori. She's a monster. The sleeping mini dawson is 623 00:39:46,920 --> 00:39:50,400 Speaker 1: my oldest, named Stella. She's a cuddler. The chihuahua with 624 00:39:50,480 --> 00:39:53,279 Speaker 1: the big ears is Josha. She's a chicken, but that's 625 00:39:53,320 --> 00:39:55,840 Speaker 1: because she was mistreated before she was rescued. Have a 626 00:39:55,920 --> 00:40:00,320 Speaker 1: lovely day. That is from Chris Man. These a are 627 00:40:00,880 --> 00:40:09,880 Speaker 1: some very just in a pineapple with kind of a 628 00:40:11,040 --> 00:40:17,680 Speaker 1: why are you bothering me? Face? Is how I read this. Yes, 629 00:40:17,800 --> 00:40:21,840 Speaker 1: all incredibly adorable. So thank you so much for this 630 00:40:22,000 --> 00:40:25,920 Speaker 1: email and for these great pictures. We've gotten a couple 631 00:40:26,080 --> 00:40:30,000 Speaker 1: of emails from folks who have apologized for not having 632 00:40:29,960 --> 00:40:33,239 Speaker 1: any animals in their lives. That's okay. You don't need 633 00:40:33,280 --> 00:40:36,280 Speaker 1: to apologize if you don't have to send pictures of anything. 634 00:40:36,320 --> 00:40:38,840 Speaker 1: But you could send pictures of a tart you made, 635 00:40:39,560 --> 00:40:44,120 Speaker 1: or I don't know, a pretty flowery style side literally anything. 636 00:40:46,200 --> 00:40:47,880 Speaker 1: So but you don't need to be sorry if you 637 00:40:47,880 --> 00:40:50,680 Speaker 1: don't have a picture or anything to send. If you 638 00:40:50,719 --> 00:40:52,719 Speaker 1: would like to send us an email about this or 639 00:40:52,760 --> 00:40:55,960 Speaker 1: any other podcast, we're at History podcast that iHeartRadio dot 640 00:40:55,960 --> 00:40:58,839 Speaker 1: com and we're all over social media. Admission History. That's 641 00:40:58,840 --> 00:41:02,239 Speaker 1: where we'll find our Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. And 642 00:41:02,400 --> 00:41:06,320 Speaker 1: you can subscribe to our show on the iHeartRadio app 643 00:41:06,360 --> 00:41:14,000 Speaker 1: and wherever else you'd like to get your podcasts. Stuff 644 00:41:14,040 --> 00:41:16,800 Speaker 1: you missed in History Class is a production of iHeartRadio. 645 00:41:17,160 --> 00:41:21,719 Speaker 1: For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, 646 00:41:21,880 --> 00:41:23,880 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.