Ragtime, Rags & Parade

Discussion Questions

0. Why do you think that the author chose the quotation by Scott Joplin as the novel’s epigraph? What does it signify?

1. When was Ragtime written? What was happening at the time? How might readers then have related to the story? How do we relate to it today? Is it simply a historical narrative or does it reveal things about contemporary society?

2. When the story opens, the narrator describes life in the early 1900s, noting that “There were no negroes. There were no immigrants.” Is this description accurate and, if not, what might this statement propose about the accuracy of historical accounts?

Also: What imagery does the author use in the first chapter to set the scene? What does it tell us about life in the early 1900s? What might the purpose be in revealing the murder of the architect Stanford White? Does it change our initial impression of American life during this time?

3. Describe the setting of Ragtime. When and where does the story take place? Why might an author have chosen to write about this time period and these places and events?

4. Why did the author choose the title "Ragtime" for this novel? What is ragtime music? What are its origins and how does it relate to other genres of music? What does it reveal about the society in which it was created? What literary devices does the author use to reference or re- interpret ragtime?

5. Why might the author have chosen to name the characters as he did? Why do some of the characters have general names such as Mother’s Younger Brother while others have proper names like Coalhouse Walker, Jr.? Does this affect the way we relate to them?

6. Describe the narrator of the story. Can we be certain of who it is, or does the point of view shift throughout the story? How does Doctorow’s method of narration relate to historical texts?

7. Why might the author have chosen not to use quotation marks? Does this affect the rhythm of the story?

8. Doctorow chooses to incorporate historical figures in a fictional context. Who does he include? Why might he have chosen to include these people? Does his portrayal of them match historical accounts?

9. The story takes place during a time of technological progress and industrialization. What are some of the innovations represented in the book? How does their presence affect the characters? Is the impact good or bad? Explain.

10. The quest for freedom and peace is a key theme of Ragtime. How does the author use Harry Houdini to illuminate the complexity of this quest?

11 While the characters represent different classes and races, they share much in common. Discuss some of these commonalities. How are the characters different?

12. When Father returns to New Rochelle, the mirror “gave back the gaunt, bearded face of a derelict, a man who lacked a home.” What does this mean? What has changed since Father left home? How does he adapt to these changes?

13. Why might J.P. Morgan be so fascinated with Egyptology? Do his fortune and his collection of valuable objects bring him peace? Why do you think he invites Henry Ford to meet with him?

14. The notion of value is prominent in the book. What do each of the characters value? What consequences does this have for them?

15. Does Coalhouse Walker, Jr. obtain justice? What does he sacrifice in the process? How do his actions affect those around him? How does this scenario relate to the justice system and civil rights struggles in today’s society?

16. Why does Tateh reinvent himself as a baron? What does it mean for his identity? How does the style and imagery of the novel relate to the advent of cinema? How does this invention change our perception of history?

17. Many of the characters struggle for what they believe is right. Are they successful? How are these struggles tied in to the notion of identity or societal definitions of identity?

18. The author uses his characters allegorically. What groups are represented? Do you feel the portrayals are accurate? Why or why not?

19. The author presents many representations of family and relationships. Describe some. Which are most successful? Why do you think this is?

20. Why do you think that Mother and Tateh end up together? What draws them together? How would this relationship have been viewed in the early 1900s? How would it be viewed today?

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The Progressive Era was an extremely important time for America’s women. During this time Women gained greater access to education and began to assert their equality in the home. At the end of the 19th Century women were seen as the “moral guardians” and protectors of the home. Many activists used this ideology as a justification for women to take a more active role in the political arena. During the Progressive Era women became more civically engaged then ever before and played a major role in the labor movement and the temperance movement. Settlement hous- es founded by women became important community centers in urban areas; they provided education, health services, arts activities and helped immigrants adapt to American cul- ture. Women’s rights advanced significantly during this time period as women worked on many issues related to sexuality, marriage and childbirth; including divorce rights and birth control. Right here in Portland famed anarchist Emma Gold- man and her partner Ben Rietman were arrested in 1915 at the corner of SW 4th and SW Yamhill for distributing birth control information. Thanks to the hard work of prominent women activists like Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Suzan B. Anthony the 19th amendment to the constitution was ratified in 1920, giving women the right to vote.

America saw tremendous industrial growth during the late 19th century and early 20th century, resulting in corpora- tions of unprecedented size like Standard Oil and U.S. Steel Corp. Big business leaders, often called “robber barons,” enjoyed unprecedented power by taking advantage of mini- mal government regulation and exploitative labor practices. Worker strikes were common and often violent affairs. Activist journalists called “Muckrakers” published numer- ous exposés of big business, including Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle about unsanitary and unfair practices in the Chicago meat packing industry and Jacob Riis’s How the Other Half Lives exposing the conditions of tenement slums. President

Teddy Roosevelt broke with many of his Republican col- leagues when he supported stronger government regulation of business and took the side of labor in the settlement of the Anthracite Coal Strike of 1902. As a result of these efforts the Progressive Era saw significant reforms in the regulation of working conditions and numerous antitrust suites.

New Rochelle is a suburb of New York City located in Westchester County, New York. The town was settled by refugee Huguenots (French Protestants) in 1688 who were fleeing Catholic pogroms in France. In 1900 its popula- tion was 14,720. During the Progressive Era New Rochelle became the site of one of the first planned communities in the United States. Rochelle Park, completed in 1904, was the precursor to today’s ubiquitous suburban subdivisions.

From 1891 to 1900 4 million immigrants entered the United States, from 1901 to 1910 that number increased to 8.8 mil- lion. In 1910 three-fourths of New York City’s population was either immigrants or first generation Americans. Un- like earlier immigrants, the immigrant populations of the progressive era came primarily from non-English speaking European countries. Large numbers came from Italy, Russia and Poland and often had a difficult time adjusting to Ameri- can life. Many faced extreme poverty and discrimination. Most settled in urban centers where jobs were available and ended up taking work that other Americans would not. They became a cheap source of labor for the country’s wealthy robber barons and played a key role in the labor movement. Settlement Houses founded by a new generation of educated women played became important education and community centers for many poor urban immigrants.

Despite the advances in Women’s rights and labor, the rights of African Americans actually regressed after the progress made during Reconstruction. Post emancipation

The Progressive

Era:

7

the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments, as well as the Civil Rights Act of 1875, provided many new freedoms. However, rights began to whittle away after Reconstruction ended in 1877. The end of the 19th century saw the rise of Jim Crow laws in the South, where 90% of African Americans lived at the time. Supreme Court Rulings like Plessy v. Ferguson in 1896, which upheld a Louisiana law segregating train cars, paved the way for legal discrimination throughout the South. Lynching was a common practice and “progressive” reforms made it easier to deny African American’s voting rights. It was not until 1815 with Guinn v. United States when the Supreme Court began to strike down some of the laws, although Plessy v. Ferguson would have to wait until 1954’s Brown v. Board of Education to be overturned. Still, the era was not without its victories, the Niagara Movement lead by W.E.B. DuBois and William Monroe Trotter resulted in the formation of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in 1909. Booker T. Washington, one of Ragtime’s characters, became a prominent and influ- ential African American leader and founded the Tuskegee institute in 1881 to educate blacks. The onset of World War II saw the beginning of the Great Migration, as many southern Blacks headed north to find industrial jobs and escape the violent racial oppression in the South.

Ragtime music was an important element of the Progressive Era soundtrack. The African American piano style origi- nated in the Midwest and South sometime in the late 1880’s or early 1890’s. One of its defining characteristics is heavily syncopated or “ragged” rhythms. The style grew out of the Cakewalk, a popular African American dance competition of the time named for the prize commonly given to the winner. Composer Scott Joplin popularized Ragtime in 1899 with the release of his classic “Maple Leaf Rag.”

Vaudeville was a popular theatrical genre of variety enter- tainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880’s to the early 1930’s. Acts were diverse and unrelated; they included everything from classical and popular musi- cians to one-act plays, trained animals, magicians and acro- bats. By the late 1890s Vaudeville had large circuits, houses (small and large) in almost every sizable location, standard- ized booking, broad pools of skilled acts, and a loyal national following. New York City’s Palace Theatre was the most prestigious of the Vaudeville venues. Evelyn Nesbit became a Vaudeville performer after her husband Harry K. Thaw murdered her lover Stanford White.

The World of Ragtime

88

WHO’S WHO

Henry Ford July 30, 1863 – April 7, 1947

The American founder of the Ford Motor Company and father of modern assembly lines used in mass production. His introduction of the Model T automobile revolutionized transportation and American indus- try. He was a prolifi c inventor and was awarded 161 U.S. patents.

Matthew Henson August 6, 1866 – March 9, 1955

An African American explorer and associate of Robert Peary during various expeditions, the most famous being a 1909 expedition which claimed to be the fi rst to reach the Geographic North Pole.

Harry Houdini March 24, 1874 – October 31, 1926, born Ehrich Weiss

A Jewish-Hungarian-American magician and escapologist, stunt performer, actor and fi lm producer, as well as a skeptic and investigator of spiritualists.

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J.P. Morgan April 17, 1837 – March 31, 1913

An American fi nancier, banker and art collector who dominated corporate fi nance and industrial consolidation during his time. He is widely credited with having saved or rescued the U.S. national economy in general—and the federal government in particular—on two separate oc- casions. He bequeathed much of his large art collection to the Metropoli- tan Museum of Art in New York City and to the Wadsworth Atheneum of Hartford, Connecticut.

Evelyn Nesbit December 25, 1884 – January 17, 1967

An American artists’ model and chorus girl, noted for her entangle- ment in the murder of her ex-lover, architect Stanford White, by her fi rst husband, Harry Kendall Thaw.

Harry K. Thaw (February 12, 1871 - February 22, 1947)

A son of Pittsburgh coal and rail- road baron William Thaw, brother of South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club member Benjamin Thaw. He is best known for the murder of architect Stanford White at Madison Square Garden in 1906 over their mutual relationship with Evelyn Nesbit, and the sensational trial that followed. Thaw was a violent and paranoid man who was known as a womanizer.

Charles S. Whitman

Served as Republican Governor of New York from January 1915 to December 1918. Prior to his election as governor, he served as a New York City municipal judge and as Man- hattan District Attorney. As District Attorney, he gained national fame in prosecuting New York City Police Lt. Charles Becker for the July 16, 1912 murder of Times Square gambling house operator Herman Rosenthal.

Stanford White November 9, 1853 – June 25, 1906

An American architect and partner in the architectural fi rm of McKim, Mead, and White, the frontrunner among Beaux-Arts fi rms. He de- signed a long series of houses for the rich and the very rich, and various public, institutional, and religious buildings, some of which can be found to this day in places like Sea Gate, Brooklyn. His design principles embodied the “American Renaissance”. In 1906 White was murdered by millionaire Harry Ken- dall Thaw over their mutual relation- ship with Evelyn Nesbit, leading to a widely-reported trial.

Ragtime Music Ragtime, a distinctly American musical style with a syncopated rhythm, gained popularity at the end of the 1800s. Ragtime evolved out of African- American music, but quickly became a style of music composed by and loved by a wider population. Ragtime was everywhere by the early 1900s—from sheet music to piano rolls to

ragtime piano playing contests, the style was the biggest musical fad of the day.

Ragtime music characterized an era of change with a fast moving, catchy sound that combined marches with the rhythms of African music. Through the slightly off-meter rhythm of syncopation, ragtime moved along at a pace unlike any other popular music of the time.

Controversy met the rise of ragtime music, as it has many other musical styles. A musician’s convention wanted to officially dub ragtime ‘unmusical rot’. Some were also concerned with the moral decay that ragtime music’s jumpy rhythms might bring to America’s youth.

Regardless of this controversy, ragtime music has persisted for over one hundred years, and has experienced several revivals of its popularity throughout the last century.

vaudeville From the 1880s to the 1920s, vaudeville was the most popular entertainment in America. Featuring comedians, singers, plate-spinners, ventriloquists, dancers, musicians, acrobats, animal trainers, and

many other performers, vaudeville was the quintessential variety show. Successful vaudeville acts toured over 40 weeks a year, and they often had more than one show in a day. Performers suffered from poor working conditions, but made respectable pay compared to many other jobs. Vaudeville’s 50-year reign over the American entertainment scene ended in the 1930s with the Great Depression and the rising popularity of movies.

The Beginnings of Film The first films were short snippets of everyday occurrences like a horse running or a train pulling out of a station. Starting in the 1880s and 1890s, these early films fascinated people with the ability to capture the reality of day-to-day life. Soon, the possibilities of film expanded to include plot lines and actors, and audiences flocked to movie houses. Seeing a film became prime entertainment throughout the country, and from 1906 onward, the production and exhibition of films grew worldwide.

Atlantic City, New Jersey Atlantic City built a boardwalk as a tourist attraction in 1870, and the city later expanded the boardwalk due to its popularity. By the turn of the century, the Atlantic City Boardwalk was a booming vacation spot, and new hotels and businesses sprouted up everywhere. Vaudeville acts and other

entertainers flocked to “The World’s Playground” to perform and hone their acts. Tourists from all over the United States and the world came to Atlantic City to enjoy the beach, the entertainment, and the atmosphere.

ENTERTAINMENTS at the Turn of the Century

8 • Ragtime

Life shines from the shadow screen

Comical, yet infinitely true.

People love to see what people do,

Here where everyone is someone new!

“Buffalo Nickel Photoplay, Inc.,” Ragtime

Ragtime sheet music, popular musicians and composers.

Eddie Garland (ventriloquist) and cast.

Atlantic City Beach, 1902.

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The age of Ragtime was an era of change, and much of that change came from innovations in technology and industry. The musical Ragtime includes one of the greatest inventors of his day, Henry Ford. Ford was only one of many great innovators; many technologies we take for granted today were created in the early 1900s.

The Model T and the Assembly Line The Model T was an automobile produced by the Ford Motor Company from 1908 to 1927. Ford built over 15 million Model Ts, and due to new assembly line production methods, the cost of the automobile became much more reasonable for the American public. At one point, the Model T comprised 40% of all automobile sales in the United States.

The Airplane In 1903, Orville and Wilbur Wright were the first people to successfully fly a self-propelled, heavier than air aircraft. Inspired by the glider flights of a German engineer, and armed with their skills in building bicycles, the brothers set out to design several versions of different aircraft. After a number of hits and misses with gliders, the brothers finally successfully piloted a propelled aircraft in December of 1903.

The Radio Receiver In 1901, Guglielmo Marconi broadcasted the first transatlantic radio signal, allowing for safer maritime travel and further communication worldwide.

Movies The first machine patented in the United States to show moving pictures was called a zoopraxiscope, which allowed pictures to be watched through a slit in the mechanism, but was a far cry from what we know today as film. The first motion picture cameras were invented in the late 1890s, and soon watching short films became a source of entertainment for people around the world.

INNOvATIONS at the Turn of the Century

Turn of the Century Innovation in Wisconsin

While Henry Ford changed the world with his assembly line and Model T, companies around Wisconsin also made an impact in the world of technology.

• In 1882, an Appleton power plant produced the first electricity offered for sale anywhere in the world.

• An automobile company in Kenosha, started in 1900, became the largest producer of automobiles outside of Detroit by 1916.

• In 1903, Milwaukee’s Harley Davidson produced its first motorcycles for sale to the public.

• The Oneida Street Power Plant, constructed from 1898 to 1900, now houses The Rep, and was the first central power plant to successfully operate on pulverized coal.

“Mass production will sweep the nation, a simple notion, the world’s reward.”

“Henry Ford,” Ragtime

1912 Ford Model T.

Oneida Street Power Plant.

Ragtime takes place in the midst of the Progressive Era in America, a general term used for a series of social and political responses to the problems created through industrialization, urbanization, and different areas of American life.

Women’s Movement

By 1900, 20% of American women were employed outside of the home. Unfortunately, many women held low-paying jobs with no hope for advancement. As more women found themselves with roles outside of being mothers and wives, they founded organizations to deal with issues ranging from suffrage to the right to vote to working conditions.

While the suffrage movement began in the mid-1800s, it gained steam during the Progressive era, with more women becoming involved as the new century arrived. In June of 1919, Wisconsin was the first state to ratify the 19th amendment, and women secured the right to vote nationwide in 1920.

Labor Movement The Industrial Revolution brought great progress to the U.S., but also many new problems for the laboring class. Overcrowding, child labor, poor working conditions, sweatshops, and excessively long work hours were all issues that arose in the age of industrialization.

As conditions worsened, but the economy improved, workers started to organize through labor unions. The first large union was the Order of the Knights of Labor, founded in 1869. Labor organizers hoped to eventually unionize all workers, but that was an uphill battle.

Unorganized workers held many strikes and protests in the second half of the 19th century, and these protests brought many changes to labor laws: the enactment of minimum wages, child labor regulations, and maximum hours per day.

The advent of the American labor movement met much opposition; factory owners often called in police or punished participants who participated in labor protests. Despite the consequences, the American labor movement continued, with many labor victories and expansion of membership in the first several decades of the 20th century.

SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ISSUES in the Progressive Era (1895-1925)

A Suffragist Parade, New York, 1912.

Girls weaving, Evansville, Indiana, 1908.

10 • Ragtime

Race Relations and the Immigrant Experience The era of Ragtime was a troubled time in the history of race relations in America. Large numbers of immigrants entered the country and racism towards African- Americans continued after the abolition of slavery. In 1896, the Plessy vs. Ferguson case legitimized the idea of “separate but equal,” leading to the continuance of restrictive and discriminatory Jim Crow laws throughout much of the United States. The laws varied by state, but many of the regulations centered on separating white facilities from facilities for people of color, which led to the segregation of most public institutions.

While discrimination towards blacks was the most insidious example of racism in America, immigrants also faced bigotry and hardship. Between 1870 and 1900, over 12 million immigrants came to the United States, many through New York, which was then known as, “The Golden Door.” In cities with high immigrant populations, newcomers to the U.S. were often stereotyped, harassed, and sometimes met with violence. Finding work that paid a living wage was especially hard for immigrants, and many people faced discrimination in the workplace and on the streets. Tenement housing was the only option for many immigrants, and the poor living conditions were often unbearable.

The obstacles to equality were huge, but individuals including Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois advocated for civil rights. For immigrants, the settlement house movement and other social programs helped them find their way in a new country.

New Political Forces At the turn of the 20th century, several new political movements gained support in the United States: the Progressive Movement and the Socialist Movement. Both political parties sought social change in the form of reforming education, improving public works, supporting workers, and generally finding ways to help the common people. The Progressives were an offshoot of the Republican Party, while the Socialists chose to disassociate themselves with the dominant political parties. Both groups found footholds in the political arena, and social change came from some of the actions of these groups.

Anarchism also gained some political clout during this time, due to activists such as Emma Goldman, who is a featured character in Ragtime. The Progressives and Socialists advocated more government involvement, but anarchists thought that a society without government based on social cooperation was the ideal. While their tactics and philosophies seemed extreme, they shared goals of social change with the more accepted Progressive and Socialist movements.

Ponce de Leon Park, Atlanta, early 1900s. The sign says, “Colored people admitted as servants only.”

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Socialist rally in Union Square, 1912.

“Yes, the wheels are turning for us girl, and the times are starting to roll. Any man can get where he wants to if he’s got some fire in his soul. We’ll see justice, Sarah, and plenty of men will stand up and give us our due. “

“Wheels of a Dream,” Ragtime