Paul Revere Williams (1894-1980) was a talented and dedicated man who overcame obstacles that would have daunted almost anyone else. He dreamed of designing buildings and went on to become the first certified African American architect west of the Mississippi.

For fifty years and over 3000 projects, Paul Revere Williams was extremely influential in helping to establish Southern California style. Despite the adversity, he became highly sought after for his architectural work.

He designed hundreds of public and private buildings in southern California.  Among his best-known works are iconic public landmarks like the Beverly Hills Hotel, the Stanley Mosk Courthouse, and the “flying saucer-like” Theme Building at Los Angeles International Airport (co-designed with Pereira & Luckman). He was also hired by many homeowners and provided design work for private estates for Hollywood stars including Frank Sinatra and Lucille Ball.

Paul Revere Williams: Childhood

When Paul Revere Williams was four, both his parents died of tuberculosis. He and his brother were put into separate foster homes. Paul was fortunate that his foster mother was kind and supportive. As Paul began to show interest and ability in drawing, his foster mother encouraged him. Soon he never went anywhere without a sketchbook and pencil. Though he was the only African American in his elementary school, he was recognized for his artwork which helped ease his school years.

In high school, a guidance counselor tried to discourage his plan for becoming an architect. While the counselor could not see much value in Williams pursuing architecture, he was not totally discouraging. He noted that Williams should become a doctor or a lawyer “because the Negro people would need those types of professionals.” (In that era, those professions were not impossible, but far from welcoming to Blacks.)

Arts Education

Williams was not to be dissuaded. After graduation, he attended the Los Angeles School of Art and Design followed by a Los Angeles branch of the New York-based Beaux-Arts Institute of Design.

Williams needed to work while in school, so he used the telephone directory to create a list of architectural firms. He then went door-to-door offering his services. He had little luck until he approached a well-respected landscape architecture firm where they offered him a position as “office boy” at no pay. Though he needed the money, Williams saw it as an opportunity to learn the business.  He accepted. Fortunately, the firm recognized his talent relatively quickly. Soon he was earning $3 per week.

Even with balancing work and school, Williams carved out time to enter a national competition for students to design a civic center for Pasadena. His plan emphasized open space, which became a Williams characteristic that he used in much of his design work over the decades. It won first place.

More Education

As he attended classes, he saw that design was only part of what he wanted to do. Understanding the engineering for a building would be key. He applied and was accepted to the University of Southern California School of Engineering. He got his engineering degree in 1919, and in 1921 he became a certified architect–the first certified African American architect west of the Mississippi.

During these years, he married Della Mae Givens (1917) at the first AME Church in Los Angeles (co-founded by Biddy Mason). They had two daughters and a son. (The son died during infancy.) Williams was a devoted and caring family man to his children as well as his grandchildren.

To Be a Black Architect

In 1921, Louis Cass, a white high school classmate, hired Williams to build a house for him. Cass recognized his friend’s talent but also saw the challenges Williams would face in getting hired by an architectural firm. Cass encouraged Williams to set up his own firm, which he did when he was only 28.

Williams learned that clients and builders sometimes didn’t realize he was Black. When they arrived at the office, he wrote: “their one remaining concern was to discover a convenient exit without hurting my feelings.”

Writing Upside Down

Williams wanted the work, so he thought about how he could put his clients at ease. He saw that people were uncomfortable when he needed to sit by them to show them a floor plan or a drawing. That was when he came upon the idea of learning to write upside down. If he sat on the opposite side of the table and worked “upside down,” writing or drawing clearly so that the work faced the client, then client and architect could still have a collaborative, productive discussion. It worked.

Making Strides

One of Paul Williams’s early jobs was a big one in Washington, D.C. He was hired as co-designer on the first federally funded public housing project, Langston Terrace in Washington, D.C. The project was undertaken under FDR, and it was the first public housing project that was open to African American families.

Williams was delighted for the work, but his trip to the East Coast exposed him to what it meant to travel through the Jim Crow south.   

Los Angeles Work

Over time, he began to get major commercial commissions in Los Angeles. He designed the Beverly Hills headquarters of Music Corporation of America and the interior of the retail outlet in Los Angeles for New York’s Saks Fifth Avenue. The Beverly Hills Hotel hired him to oversee a restoration which included the famous Polo Lounge and the Fountain Coffee shop.

In 1945, he was hired to plan a unit of the L.A. General Hospital, thus becoming the first African American to design a major public building.

When the Los Angeles International Airport determined that their center property should feature a building that harked to the future, he and designer William Pereira came up with the flying saucer look that straddles Los Angeles International Airport.

Architect to the Stars

Celebrities saw the interesting work that Paul Williams was doing, and he soon was working for many of them. His portfolio included Frank Sinatra, Lucille Ball/Desi Arnaz, Tyrone Power, Lon Chaney, Bert Lahr and Zsa Zsa Gabor.  Though the homes of the stars were in locations like Bel Air, Beverly Hills, and San Marino, Williams knew that those locations would not yet welcome African Americans.

Designing for African Americans, Too

Though he was very successful working for white Californians, Paul Williams didn’t want to forget his roots. He often chose to accept jobs for African Americans. Among the buildings he designed were the Second Baptist Church and the 28th Street YMCA, Los Angeles’ first Y for “colored boys and young men.” Among the Williams touches were hand-carved images of Booker T. Washington and Frederick Douglass.

He served on several statewide commissions and for eleven years he served as president of the Los Angeles Municipal Art Commission. He gained influence and added awards, commendations, and honorary degrees and he continued to give back to Los Angeles.

Paul Revere Williams and His Legacy

His granddaughter, Karen E. Hudson, created a wonderful legacy about Paul R. Williams, Paul R. Williams, Architect, a Legacy of Style—Rizzoli. In the book, she includes a quote from an essay written by Williams about the racial divide: “Inevitably such contacts [client contacts between black and white] have influenced my beliefs about the relationship, present and future, between the races in America. I see a present which demands a closer bond of understanding. I foresee a future in which the two races, although forever divided, and rightly so, will work side by side toward the achievement of common goals which are not racial.”

While today’s readers might take issue with the added “and rightly so” that may have been necessary at the time Williams wrote it in 1937, most would agree that Williams was correct in predicting that over time more people would be working toward racial-free goals.

*** On the other coast, another Black family was making progress as architects and builders. To read their story, see Woman-Owned, Minority-Owned Construction Company: McKissack & McKissack.

Alfred Joyce Kilmer (1886-1918) is remembered as a patriot, a family man, a veteran, and a well-known poet. His poetry was so widely-read that when he was killed in World War I, it was front-page news across the nation.

Kilmer, a writer and editor, wrote his poem, “Trees,” in 1913. It was published in Poetry magazine that year. Its simplicity and sentiment became well-loved by the public, and the poem was published in many newspapers across the nation.

Today the memory of Kilmer has faded, but this year (2025) he was selected by the nonprofit, Operation Restore Decency, as a veteran to honor on Veterans Day. (Each year the organization selects a particular veteran to remember to personalize the sacrifice all veterans make in preserving peace and freedom for Americans.)

Kilmer’s Early Life

Alfred Joyce Kilmer was born in 1886 in New Brunswick, New Jersey. His father was a physician and worked as an analytical chemist for Johnson and Johnson Company.

Kilmer was the youngest of four children. He was named for two Episcopal priests at the Episcopal parish in New Brunswick. However, Kilmer disliked the name Alfred, and he comfortably took to being called Joyce.

The children attended Rutgers College Grammar School. Throughout his education, he was particularly drawn to working on school newspapers.  

When he graduated from high school, Kilmer accept a scholarship to Rutgers College. Harry J. Cargas, who wrote a biography of Joyce Kilmer, writes that Kilmer always struggled with math. In college, the Rutgers administration wanted him to repeat a year because of his math grade. His mother was adamant that Kilmer not be held back. She helped him transfer to Columbia University where the math requirement was less onerous at that time.

After graduation from Columbia in 1908, he married his college sweetheart, Aline Murray (1888-1941). They eventually had five children.

First Job

Joyce Kilmer’s first job was teaching Latin at Morristown High School in New Jersey. His dream was to be a writer, so nights and weekends, he wrote and submitted essays, poems, and book reviews to various publications.

In 1910, the Kilmers decided that living in New York City would offer him better career opportunities. They found an apartment on 184^th Street that was large enough to hold the family.

Once settled in New York City, Kilmer applied to several trade publications and landed a job at one of them. He could support his family and gain experience in publishing while still having time to submit articles to other publications.

By 1912, Kilmer was a special writer for The New York Times Review of Books and The New York Times Sunday Magazine. While it was not a staff job, he was in the office so much that editors assigned him a desk.

But the family needed more space at home. I n 1912, he and Aline moved to a house in Mahwah, New Jersey.   That year their daughter Rose was born and shortly after birth she was stricken with infantile paralysis, an illness with no cure at that time.

The Joyces felt helpless and turned to the church for comfort. Joyce Kilmer converted to Catholicism at this time. This would later influence his career as he obtained a strong following among Catholics.

Publication of “Trees”

In August of 1913, Joyce Kilmer’s poem, “Trees,” was published in Poetry magazine. Something about the verse caught the zeitgeist. People loved the simplicity and the sentiment of it. Newspapers purchased the rights to the poem, and it was read by many Americans.  Kilmer was soon invited to lecture across the country, primarily to Catholic audiences.  

The following year a book, Trees and Other Poems, was published. Soon three more poetry collections of Kilmer’s were published. He continued writing as well as traveling on the lecture circuit, though he tried to be home as much as possible because of Rose and the other children.

World War I

World War I, also called the Great War, began in 1914. The war began after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria while he was visiting Serbia. Austria blamed Serbia for the attack.  

On July 28, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, and the tenuous peace between Europe’s great powers quickly collapsed. Countries in Europe were picking sides. Within a week, Russia, Belgium, France, Great Britain and Serbia lined up against Austria-Hungary and Germany. World War I had begun.

The United States resisted entering into a conflict on the other side of the ocean. Then on May 7, 1915, Germany torpedoed the passenger ship, The Lusitania. Almost 1200 passengers were killed, including 128 Americans. Though the news was tragic and unsettling, President Woodrow Wilson obtained a pledge from Germany that no more civilian ships would be attacked.

But the country was changing. Joyce Kilmer was commissioned to write a poem about the sinking of the passenger ship. He anthropomorphizes the Lusitania but it works:

The White Ships and the Red

The pale green waves about her
Were swiftly, strangely dyed,
By the great scarlet stream that flowed
From out her wounded side.
And all her decks were scarlet
And all her shattered crew.
She sank among the white ghost ships
And stained them through and through.
…
“I went not forth to battle,
I carried friendly men,
The children played about my decks,
The women sang — and then —
And then — the sun blushed scarlet
And Heaven hid its face,
The world that God created
Became a shameful place!

This poem is credited with beginning to turn the tide as to whether or not the United States should enter World War I. 

Pledge Forgotten

By 1917, Germany had done away with any pledges to not torpedo other ships in the Atlantic. Soon merchant ships were being hit. In addition, the Zimmermann telegram was discovered. The telegram indicated that Germany and Mexico might work together to undertake war against the U.S. In light of these new events, the American sentiment about the war changed.

On April 6, 1917, the United States declared war on Germany. 

Kilmer Enlists

Only a few days after this declaration, Joyce Kilmer enlisted. As a 31-year-old family man, he was not required to join up, but Kilmer was a patriot and saw military service as an important duty.

Initially, he was part of the New York National Guard. In August the Guard unit was assigned to the 165^th Infantry Regiment (the “Fighting 69^th).  

Kilmer’s basic training was in Camp Mills in Garden City, Long Island. To avoid unnecessary time away from the family, he and Aline rented a home in Larchmont, New York. Aline was pregnant again, and Rose’s health continued to deteriorate. While the travel between Long Island and Larchmont was not easy, Kilmer could still get home now and then. 

Just before he was sent overseas, Rose died. Son Christopher was born shortly after. 

Fighting in France

The “Fighting 69^th” arrived in France and served as part of the 42^nd Infantry Division that became known as the “Rainbow Division.” (It was called the Rainbow Division because it was made up of National Guard units from 26 states.)

In March of 1918, the U.S. troops were under French command near Baccarat, France. They needed to learn about the geography of the area and gain experience in trench warfare. It was a rough beginning.

On March 7, 1918, a German shell caused the collapse of one of the dugouts in the wooded area known as the Rouge Bouquet. In the aftermath, almost two dozen members of the Fighting 69^th died.

Kilmer was aghast at what he witnessed. Within a few days he penned his poem, “Rouge Bouquet.”

In a wood they call the Rouge Bouquet

There is a new-made grave to-day,

Build by never a spade nor pick

Yet covered with earth ten meters thick.

There lie many fighting men,

    Dead in their youthful prime,

Never to laugh nor love again

    Nor taste the Summertime.

For Death came flying through the air

And stopped his flight at the dugout stair,

Touched his prey and left them there,

    Clay to clay.

He hid their bodies stealthily

In the soil of the land they fought to free

    And fled away.

The poem concludes:

From the wood called Rouge Bouquet,

A delicate cloud of bugle notes

    That softly say:

“Farewell!

Farewell!

Comrades true, born anew, peace to you!

And your memory shine like the morning-star.

Brave and dear,

Shield us here.

Farewell!”

The poem was first published in Stars and Stripes, August 16, 1918. (Kilmer did not live to know of its publication.) It is now a tradition to read the poem at funeral services for fallen members of the regiment.

Tragic End for Kilmer

In April 1918, Kilmer was transferred to the military intelligence section of his regiment to work under Major “Wild Bill” Donovan. When Donovan’s adjutant was killed, Kilmer was selected to move up temporarily to aid Donovan. 

By the end of July, the fighting in the Second Battle of the Marne was fierce. Major Donovan needed someone to go on reconnaissance with him for the locations of the German machine gun nests that were wreaking havoc on the regiment. 

On July 30, Kilmer was called upon to accompany Major Donovan as they went out to explore where the Germans were positioned. Kilmer and Donovan left together, but each went a slightly different direction.

Donovan returned to headquarters but no one heard from Kilmer. When it seemed safe, another soldier left the trenches. He soon found Kilmer’s body. He was killed by a single gunshot. Military records place his death on the battlefield near the Ourcq River that fed into the village of Seringes-et-Nesles in northern France. 

Kilmer was buried in a cemetery near where he fell in the Ois-Aisne American Cemetery and Memorial. For his valor, he later was awarded the Croix de Guerre by the French Republic.

In the United States, a cenotaph was erected to his memory on the Kilmer family plot in Elmwood Cemetery in North Brunswick, New Jersey.

Due to Joyce Kilmer’s prominence, a memorial mass was celebrated at St.  Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City on October 14, 1918.  Other honors were to follow over time.

Many Honors Followed

People across the country thought well of Joyce Kilmer. His poetry and his honorable service to the country moved them.  On July 31 1931, a tree was dedicated in Joyce Kilmer’s memory along Literary Walk in Central Park.  The ceremony was held under the auspices of the Catholic Writers Guild, and Reverend Francis B. Duffy, chaplain of the Rainbow Division in which Kilmer Served, spoke at the memorial service.

Also in the early 1930s, the North Carolina Veterans of Foreign Wars unit aspired to establish a place of respite for its members. They finally selected a section of forest about 100 miles west of Asheville, N.C., in the Nantahala National Forest. The beautiful secluded area features old growth where hikers can enjoy poplar, hemlock, red and white oak, basswood, beech and sycamore.  It was officially dedicated in 1936, and today, the 3,800-acre Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest is now a part of the 17,000-acre Joyce Kilmer-Slickrock Wilderness, adjacent to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Because Joyce Kilmer was so loved, there are still more memorials to him. You can find schools, parks, and even a highway rest stop (in New Jersey) named in memory of Joyce Kilmer.

What Tree Inspired “Trees?”

When people hear or read the poem, “Trees,” they often wonder what tree or trees Joyce Kilmer was inspired by when he wrote his poem.  Residents near Notre Dame and Rutgers, as well as people in Swansea, New Hampshire, and Larchmont, New York, have all considered that their trees might have been the inspiration. 

Alex Michelini, founder of the Joyce Kilmer Society of Mahwah, felt compelled to explore this issue. He and his wife traveled the country, visiting memorials to Kilmer and investigating any place that had archival information related to the poet. Ultimately, Michelini found relevant archival papers about Kilmer at Georgetown University.

Michelini knew that Kilmer always dated the notebooks in which he wrote his poems. When the Georgetown library brought forward a 1913 notebook with “Trees” in it, Michelini knew he found what he needed.

The poem was dated February 2, 1913, a time when the Kilmers had little ones and lived in the house in Mahwah, New Jersey. It became clear that the likely trees in question could be viewed from the upper story windows.  Michelini’s hunch was further supported when he located a letter written by Aline that described how the poem came to be written. Aline verified this story.

Kilmer and Poetry

Much has been written about the worth of Joyce Kilmer’s poetry. Was it any good? Many have made fun of the poems and their rhyming simplicity and common subjects. At Columbia University, there has long been an Alfred Joyce Kilmer Bad Poetry Contest. But is this fair?

Kilmer was born in 1886, at a time when simple poetry was appreciated as both popular entertainment as well as moral instruction. Many churches celebrated poetry, and schools often required students to memorize poems as we a way to learn to read, to focus on concepts, and for students to master the art of oral presentation. The fact that the subject matter in his poems is about simple things makes them all the more accessible.

The lovely aspect of a Kilmer poem was the succinct, if sometimes sentimental, presentation of a difficult theme. Look back at his poem about the tragedy of The Lusitania. By anthropomorphizing the ship, he moves the reader into the scene of the tragedy and explains the innocence of those who were killed. Not many writers can deliver a gut punch in a piece that takes just a couple of minutes to read.

Like all things, the concepts and theories behind what makes good poetry changes over time. After Kilmer, writers like Ezra Pound and T.S. Eliot came forward with free verse on deeper subject matter, and newspapers no longer wanted or needed to publish simple verse.

But for his time, Joyce Kilmer was a hero. He helped people grapple with issues ranging from the simple to the complex. And when the U.S. entered the war, Kilmer, the patriot and family man, was right there to do his duty. 

****

2025

Joyce Kilmer was brought to my attention this autumn (2025) when LTC (retired) Debjeet Sarkar, M.D., and his organization, Operation Restore Decency publicized their Veterans Day event in Central Park.

Sarkar arranged for the Kilmer plaque at the foot of the tree along Literary Walk in Central Park to be refinished. He planned to hold a ceremony to rededicate it in Kilmer’s memory. Alex Michelini, founder of the Joyce Kilmer Society spoke about Kilmer’s life. Navy Veteran Stephen DeLuca, SJD, representing Taps for Veterans, played the Star Spangled Banner and Taps.  

It was a moving and truly special way to recognize Veterans Day with other like-minded people.

Ed Sullivan was a legendary showman who grew up in Port Chester, New York. His career as a long-time television host came about from hard work and good luck. His background taught him to open doors to those—particularly African Americans—who lacked access. In the process, he changed American entertainment.

When The Ed Sullivan Show was at its height, between 45 and 50 million people tuned in weekly. They saw live performances of the biggest musical acts (including Motown singers), performances of numbers from Broadway musicals, an array of stand-up comedians, magicians and jugglers, as well as ventriloquists, dog acts, Chinese tumblers and drill teams.

Audiences loved the variety, and The Ed Sullivan Show had it all.  

Early Life

When Edward Vincent Sullivan was born in 1901, the family lived in Harlem. The neighborhood was a mixture of Irish and Italian immigrants. Ed was a twin, but his brother, Danny, died before their first birthday.

When another Sullivan child died in infancy, their father Peter Sullivan decided to move the family out of the city. He chose Port Chester, New York, to be their new home. It was a small village at that time. The town still relied on a local blacksmith as well as a doctor who made house calls via a horse-drawn carriage.

Ed was the middle child of the surviving five children, and in his autobiography, Always on Sunday, he wrote: “I still recall the excitement of Helen, Charles, and me en route to Port Chester, where we first saw cows grazing in the country fields.”

House Filled with Music

The Sullivans rented the top floor of a two-story house on Washington Steet. The entire family loved music, and someone was always playing the piano or singing. A phonograph was a prized possession; the family loved playing all types of records on it.

Ed’s mother hoped Ed would master an instrument. Each week if she could spare the change, she gave him money for piano lessons. Ed dutifully left the house, but he went to the nickelodeon near Liberty Square where he could watch short films instead.

His father Peter worked as a customs agent, but with five children, everyone needed to contribute. When Ed was still in grammar school, he and his brother Charles would meet after school and walk the three miles to the Apawamis Club in Rye, where they worked as golf caddies for 35 cents a round.

Loved All Sports

Ed and his siblings attended St. Mary’s Catholic School and then Port Chester High School. Sullivan was a gifted athlete, earning 12 athletic letters in high school. He played halfback in football, and he was a guard in basketball. In track, he was a sprinter. With the baseball team, Ed was catcher and team captain, and he led the team to several championships.

Baseball made an impression on him that affected his career as well as the culture of America. Sullvan noted that in suburban high school sports integration was taken for granted.

“When we played against teams in Connecticut, they, too, had Negro players,” he wrote. “In those days this was accepted as commonplace; and [that explains] my instinctive antagonism years later to any theory that a Negro wasn’t a worthy opponent or was an inferior person. It was just as simple as that.”

Enlisted for War

With the U.S. entering World War I, Sullivan, only 16, applied to the local draft board. He was turned away for being too young.  Sullivan was determined, so he took a train to Chicago, figuring no one would know him there. Unfortunately, recruiters in Chicago also required proof of age. He couldn’t afford a train ticket home, so he got a job as a busboy to decide on his next plan. Six months later, he wrote his brother asking for train fare to return to Port Chester.

Back to High School

He returned to high school and continued to play sports. He also wrote about them for the school newspaper. During his senior year, he contacted the local paper, The Portchester Daily Item, and asked to write a column on high school sports. Sports were big in town, so the editor agreed. Sullivan was paid on a per column basis.  

After high school, he continued to write for the Item.

Newspaper Career

In 1919 he moved to The Hartford Post and then on to The New York Evening Mail. When that paperclosed, Sullvan worked for a succession of newspapers as well as the Associated Press. When he was hired to write a sports column for The Evening Graphic, he was in good company as show business journalist Water Winchell worked there. 

When Winchell was hired by the larger New York Daily Mirror, the Graphic asked Sullivan to take over Winchell’s show business column.

Always Looking for Extra Money

Newspaper writers were not well paid, so they all scrambled for extra work. Ed Sullivan wrote screenplays for B-level movies at one time, and then in 1942, he started doing a radio show, “Ed Sullivan Entertains.” 

Following in Walter Winchell’s footsteps, Sullivan began recording his shows at the El Morocco night club. (Winchell headquartered at the Stork Club.)

Sullivan’s column, “Little Old New York,” was eventually picked up by the New York Daily News, where he stayed for 40 years. Even after he started appearing weekly on television, he continued to write for the newspaper. His last column appeared in the paper the day before he died.

More Side Gigs

Because of his contacts with entertainers he interviewed for print and on his radio program, Sullivan was often asked to produce vaudeville shows. He had a good eye for talent and was always on the lookout for new acts. He stayed in touch with the entertainers in Harlem as he knew theater producers there were always on the cutting edge of what was popular.

For a good number of years, the New York Daily News sponsored a huge charitable show, the Harvest Moon Ball, held at Madison Square Garden. Sullvan served as master of ceremonies and was in charge of talent procurement.

TV Arrives

In 1947, he was preparing for that year’s Harvest Moon Ball, and CBS decided to televise the event. Television was in its infancy, and this was CBS’s first remote broadcast. It went well.

One of the executives liked Sullivan as M.C. and hired him to host a show CBS wanted to launch called “Toast of the Town.” Sullivan was 46 when he first hosted the program. CBS knew that as more Americans bought televisions, the audience would grow, and it did.

Sullivan served as both host and impresario for “Toast of the Town,” nailing down the guests he wanted to have on the air. Sullivan clearly had an eye for what people liked, and he soon became known as a star maker.

In 1955, the title of the show was changed to “The Ed Sullivan Show.”

Ultimately Sullivan’s show ran successfully for 23 years—1948-1971– what Sullivan pronounced as “a rillllly big shew!”

Cultural Issues Arise

From Elvis’s swiveling hips to the Black performers that were featured on Sullivan’s show, television advertisers were always nervous. They kept tabs on what CBS was going to do about the performers. Camera angles could help with appearances by Elvis, but with the Black performers, it was a different matter. Some advertisers didn’t want these performers on the program at all, fearing that television sets across the South would click off. But as the network saw how popular the acts were, they took a new stance: Sullivan should keep his distance—he should not shake hands with the men or kiss the ladies.

Ed Sullvan was having none of it. He knew from his experience in high school athletics, that people of all ethnic backgrounds were the same. What’s more, many of them helped him out when he was producing his local charity events. He wasn’t going to cut them out now.

According to a recent Netflix documentary, Sunday Best, Sullivan also had a hunch that great music and incredible talent would appeal to viewers. Even people who marched against integration might take a few minutes to see who was appearing on the show. The performers were electric and the music was catchy…it was hard to resist.

Sullivan had everyone from Nat King Cole and the Supremes to Pearl Bailey on his program. These performers got the same handshake or kiss on the cheek as any of the white performers. By giving Black talent equal status with white, Sullivan was instrumental in diversifying American entertainment.

Sunday Night

The show was broadcast from CBS Studio 50 at 1697 Broadway at 53^rd Street. Eventually the show settled into its long-running time slot—Sunday night from 8-9 ET.

When asked by a reporter to explain his success, Sullivan shared his secret: “Open big, have a good comedy act, put in something for children and keep the show clean.” In short, he believed in something for everyone.

He also gave credit to the medicine men who used to stop in Port Chester to peddler their wares: “Those medicine men were my first contact with great showmen. They had pace and great authority with an audience.”

Did any of the acts ever miss? Of course there were a few, but Sullivan’s most resounding failure was when he tried to introduce opera to middle America. Families either changed channels or quickly turned off the set.

Elvis Presley

Steve Allen actually was first to bring Elvis Presley to television, and when Allen’s show beat Sullivan in the ratings, Ed was on the phone to Presley’s manager within 24 hours.

The Beatles, however, were all Sullivan. They came directly from England, making their American debut on Ed Sullivan’s show on February 9, 1964. The chaos of the teen girls, both in and out of the theater made for an event that few people alive at the time will forget.

Sullivan became powerful with his bookings and sometimes specified what songs even the big-name performers (including Buddy Holly, Bob Dylan, and Bo Diddley) were to perform. Those who defied him found they sometimes weren’t invited back.

Unusual Host and Star

As a television host, Sullivan received mixed reviews. He was an awkward man, a situation partly caused by injuries caused by a serious car accident. His sternum and ribs were crushed inward, and his front teeth were knocked out. His movements were described as “wooden.” He also sometimes garbled his introductions: One night he announced, “Right here in our audience, the late Irving Berlin.” 

In 1971, CBS was in search of a younger audience, and they cancelled The Ed Sullivan Show.

Ed Sullivan felt betrayed and refused to do a final show that season. However, he and CBS finally agreed to a truce. Sullivan subsequently produced and hosted a number of specials.

Personal Life

On April 28, 1930, he married Sylvia Weinstein. They had one daughter, Betty, who married Sullivan’s producer, Bob Precht.

For many years Ed and Sylvia lived in the Delmonico Hotel at 59^th and Park Avenue in New York City. He called Sylvia after every show to get her comments.

While Sullivan’s life was mostly centered in Manhattan, in later years he returned to Port Chester to help with local benefits. In 1965, he was honored by the village with Ed Sullivan Day.

Sullivan died of esophageal cancer (age 73) on October 13, 1974, at New York’s Lenox Hill Hospital. His funeral, attended by 3000 people, was held at St. Patrick’s Cathedral. He is entombed in a crypt at Ferncliff Cemetery in Hartsdale.

Ed Sullivan brought popular culture to all of America at a time when families were excited to gather around the living room television set just to see what Mr. Sunday Night had to offer. People came to know of and appreciate songs from a wide variety of performers.

Song pluggers were a big part of the growing music industry during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Before recorded music could be distributed, publishers hired professional songwriters to churn out new hits. Then songs were aggressively promoted through “pluggers,” who performed songs in vaudeville theaters and other venues to boost sheet music sales.

The job of a song plugger was to get the public excited enough to buy the sheet music and play the songs at home.

A song was considered a “hit” based on how many copies of its sheet music were sold. Newspapers started printing lists of the best-selling sheet music of the week. (This tradition continues with published lists of all sorts of top-selling forms of entertainment.)

How Music Spreads

Americans have always loved music, but before record players and radios, the only way to introduce new music was for people to hear another person sing or play music they didn’t know.

During the 19^th century, families might sit together in their parlors or on their porches to sing hymns or family favorites. Violins, banjos, and harmonicas were common in the home.

If a community was big enough to support a theater, then musical performances and vaudeville often presented new material.  But growth was slow since new music had to spread community by community. 

Train travel helped. Pullman porters worked hard but had idle time during trains stops. They met with local people to sing and talk. As they got back on their route, they took the music with them.

The Golden Age of the Piano

After the Civil War, pianos became a longed-for household luxury item. An upright piano cost several hundred dollars, but families often saved for them as they offered great entertainment for all members of the family. From 1869-1905, manufacturers sold upward of 261,000 annually.  

Along with instrument sales came a growing need for sheet music. While some people can play by ear, most need music.  The time was right for this growing trend, because printing methods were easier and cheaper. The use of lithography (printing from slabs of limestone with rolled-on ink) made printing accessible to more publishers. Mustic publishing could expand in ways that no one dreamed.

Companies printed everything from patriotic marches to folk songs like “Oh! Susanna,” as well as waltzes, sentimental songs, and ragtime.

By 1890, many department stores opened counters for the sale of sheet music, and its popularity brought the price down. Customers could expect to pay from 10-25 cents per song.

Song Demonstrators in Stores

As department stores set up sheet music departments, they needed ways to boost sales, so they added “song demonstrators.” Many big city department stores had mezzanines where they placed pianos. When a customer selected a few sheets of music that were of interest, the sheet music was sent to the pianist. With luck, the customer bought the music requested—and perhaps a few other people in the store who heard the songs decided to buy the music, too.

These music demonstrators were store employees who were top-flight at sight-reading new music.

Music Publishers Needed Song Pluggers

The first music publisher to employ song pluggers is thought to be the Harding Music Company, located in the Bowery in New York City. The store originally sold instruments and classical sheet music, but times were changing.

The neighborhood was filled with vaudeville theaters and saloons. When one of the sons inherited the business, Frank Harding (1864-1939), knew it was time for change. He loved the lively musicians who hung out around the vaudeville theaters. He began buying and publishing their songs. (Some said that Frank traded beer for songs.) 

Harding then saw that he needed to hire performers to introduce the songs in other parts of town. To expand his reach beyond the theaters in his neighborhood, he hired singers and pianists to go uptown to bars and sporting events to promote the songs he published. 

Tin Pan Alley

As the music business developed, several companies established their businesses in Manhattan in the west twenties (between 5^th and 6^th avenues). Because the companies had no air conditioning, windows were left open during warm weather, and the cacophony of music could be heard around the area. People started referring to the neighborhood as Tin Pan Alley.

The publishers soon had their own song pluggers appearing across the city.  

Who were Tin Pan Alley Song Pluggers?

A good song needed to be presented in such a way that listeners want to hear it again, so the best song pluggers were magnetic performers who could “sell” a song.

Some pluggers had connections with some of the big stars of the day. If they had performed with someone like Al Jolson or Bing Crosby, they could put in an “ask” to the big star. If Jolson or Crosby performed it, the song was likely to be a hit.

 For men (and it usually was men) who wanted to become composers, music publishers hired staff composers and lyricists. These employees could improve their situation if they could also perform well–someone had to plug it.

Composers were also incentivized by a change in copyright law in 1909. Congress passed the Copyright Act. For the first time, composers could collect royalties for public performance of their work.

Some Big Names Started as Song Pluggers

While there were many pluggers, only a few song pluggers achieved lasting fame. A few of them are names we still know today: Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, Jerome Kern, Cole Porter, and Lil Hardin Armstrong (Louis Armstrong’s wife), to name a few.

Irving Berlin (born Israel Isidor Baline) was a particularly astute song plugger who composed and plugged for Tin Pan Alley for several years. Eventually he refined the process when he moved to Los Angeles to write music for the movies.

Berlin’s Early Years

The Baline family (the name with which they immigrated) fled Russia in 1893 to escape persecution. Isidore/Irving (1888-1989) was age 5 at the time. While the lower east side of New York offered community and a level of safety, life was not easy.  Irving Berlin’s father, a cantor, could find no appropriate employment, so he worked for a kosher butcher. His mother was a midwife. After school, the children did what they could to add to the family income.

Like other young boys, Irving sold newspapers on street corners. He found that if he sang while selling, customers would sometimes pitch him another penny or two. He told his mother that his dream was to work at one of the cafes with singing waiters. 

Within a couple of years, Berlin’s “dream” came true. As a singing waiter at the Pelham Café, Berlin found he could fiddle around on the piano when there were no customers. This brought about his first musical sale. He and the pianist collaborated on a song called “Marie from Sunny Italy.”  Berlin wrote the lyrics, and when the song sold, he earned 33 cents for the rights.

Playing the Black Keys

Like other untrained composers, Berlin mostly played from the black keys. It made it easier to find harmonies, and he needed to work with only a five-note scale. With this simplified system, he could translate the melodies in his head to the piano.

As he progressed in his career, he was introduced to the “transposing piano.” This invention dated to 1801. British instrument maker Edward Ryley came up with a way for pianists to change the key in which they played without having to transpose the written music. The transposing piano had a lever under the keyboard that could be shifted, thus moving the entire keyboard laterally. (See below for a photograph of one of Irving Berlin’s transposing pianos, currently on view at The Weitzman National Museum of Jewish History in Philadelphia.)

 For accompanists, these pianos made it easier for them to switch keys to suit a particular vocalist. For Berlin, it opened a new world.   With a transposing piano, he could work from the keys with which he was comfortable (generally composing in F sharp). When he was satisfied, he could use the transposing piano to create the ultimate sound he wanted to hear. 

 Berlin was known for saying: “The black keys are right there, under your fingers. The key of C is for people who study music.”

From Song Plugger to Top-Selling Composer

Berlin’s early songs capitalized on his heritage with “Yiddish Eyes” and “The Yiddish Ball Player,” but he soon put to use all that he learned as a waiter, a plugger, and as a lyricist.  In 1911, his song “Alexander’s Ragtime Band” sold a million copies.

As Irving Berlin’s success grew, the movie business beckoned. When he first arrived in Los Angeles in the 1920s, musical movies were not particularly popular, but there was employment. Though the films were not necessarily big hits, Irving Berlin had a couple of songs that emerged from that time. Both “Mammy” and “Puttin’ on the Ritz” brought him enough fame that he was featured on the cover of Time magazine.

Since the entertainment industry slowed during the Depression, Berlin returned to New York. Then in 1935, he received an offer from RKO Productions that took him back to L.A. With this new opportunity, Berlin began studying how to get a song to “pop” in a movie.

Song Plugging in the Movies

Berlin saw that since movies offered longer sustained entertainment for audiences, featured songs could be longer, too. With added time in the soundtrack, audiences were more likely to remember it.

Audiences also responded positively when a well-liked tune was used again. Another character could echo the song that had been introduced, or the song could be used during dance scenes.

By this time, songs were being heard on radio, and flat disc records were being made, but sheet music was still popular. These small refinements led to increased music sales of all types.

Irving Berlin left behind a massive legacy, composing an estimated 1,500 songs. He rose from humble beginnings as a singing newsboy and waiter to become a master song plugger and legendary composer. “Alexander’s Ragtime Band” (1911), “God Bless America” (1938), “White Christmas” (1942), and “There’s No Business Like Show Business” (1946) are just a few of the songs for which he’ll long be remembered.

Like any good plugger, he knew how to bring home a song.

Thank you to The Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History for added information and the photo use of Irving Berlin’s transposing piano.

No homing pigeon ever enlisted in any war, but they were used by the military on both sides of the conflicts during World Wars I and II.

Once in place, they did their jobs well and reliably, and in the process, they saved thousands of human lives. Many of the birds were killed on the battlefields.

Any soldier who participated in war deserves recognition, and the same is true for homing pigeons. That said, there were several remarkable birds who stand out for special recognition.

Cher Ami: Best Known

Cher Ami (“Dear Friend”) is the best known of the heroic homing pigeons. He was a black feather cock whose story has been told in articles and books because of the dozens of vital messages he carried during key battles.

He was born in France and was donated to the U.S. Signal Corps. His first assignment was on the front lines, carrying at least a dozen key messages. However, his fame endures for saving what is known as the “Lost Battalion.”

This occurrence took place during the massive Hundred Day Offensive near the Meuse-Argonne.  The 77^th Division consisted of nine different companies of the AEF and they were fighting in the Argonne Forest.

Their commander, Major Charles W. Whittlesey of the 308^th Infantry Regiment, led more than 500 men in an attack that finally broke through the German line.

The commander thought the unit was well protected from behind, but during the night, the enemy surrounded them. At dawn, Major Whittlesey realized they were trapped. They were running low on food and ammunition, and the other Allies did not know where they were.

Whittesley knew his options were few. Several message-runners had been killed trying to carry out information on foot. The officers turned to the homing pigeons they had with them. The first message sent was: “Many wounded. We cannot evacuate.”

The second message read: “Men are suffering. Can support be sent?”

There was no response from the command center. Whittesley and his men decided to hold firm for as long as they could, despite their dire situation.

For five days and nights, they withstood German gunfire and grenades.

By this time, Allied Forces had a better understanding of where the fighting was taking place. They attempted to direct artillery onto the German positions to help save the battalion, but they had no way to pinpoint where their own men were. Before long, they unknowingly started shelling Major Whittlesey and his men.

Last Pigeon Available

Major Whittlesey had only one more homing pigeon—Cher Ami. Though notes were usually released with two birds, Whittlesey did not have that option and had to rely on Cher Ami. He wrote a note saying:

“We are along the road paralell [sic] 276.4. Our artillery is dropping barrage directly on us. For heaven’s sake stop it.”    (October 4, 1918)

The note was inserted into the tube on Cher Ami’s leg, and the bird was released. The men saw that Cher Ami was hit almost immediately, but the bird fluttered back up after initially descending. They hoped against hope that he was on his way. 

Shortly, the assault by the American stopped. Cher Ami must have arrived. The Allies redirected their fire. Within five more days, the Germans finally retreated north.

When the Lost Battalion appeared, there were only 194 men, but each of them was incredibly grateful to Cher Ami.

As for Cher Ami, his right leg was shot off and he was blinded in the left eye. Medics immediately attended to the shot he suffered through his breast, and his life was saved.

He was awarded the famous French Croix de Guerre with an Oak Leaf Cluster for his heroic service.

General John J. Pershing, commander of the American Expedition Force noted: “There isn’t anything the United States can do that is too much for this bird.” Pershing ordered Cher Ami to be sent to the United States after the war. He lived in retirement at Fort Monmouth until his death in June of 1919.

Homing Pigeon Named President Wilson

The pigeon known as President Wilson served in World War I. He was born in France, and his first assignment was with the newly formed Tank Corps.

The tanks with which he served were the most forward-serving tanks (326 and 327) under Col. George S. Patton in the St. Mihiel Offensive. President Wilson carried with him numerous messages about the locations of enemy machine gun nests.

He was soon moved to an infantry unit that was fighting in the Meuse-Argonne offensive. On October 5, 1918, his unit came under heavy attack. They needed artillery support. There were no open lines of communication, so President Wilson was dispatched to notify headquarters. Enemy soldiers saw him fly out, and he was immediately fired upon.

His service record notes that “this game little soldier came through fire and fog” though one of his legs was shot off and his breast was pierced by a bullet. But he flew 25 miles to the command post in 25 minutes, and artillery support was launched, shielding Allied troops from German fire and saving thousands of American troops.

Surviving his wounds, President Wilson retired to the U.S. Army Signal Corps Breeding and Training Center in Fort Monmouth, new Jersey. He lived until 1929, at which point he was mounted and put on display at Fort Monmouth.

Eventually he was donated to the Smithsonian. In 2008, the Smithsonian returned him to the U.S. Army, and he is now thought to be on exhibit at the Pentagon, just outside the office of the Chief of Staff of the Army.

G.I. Joe: Hero from World War II

G.I. Joe was a pigeon born in March of 1943 in Algiers, North Africa. Because he was to be part of the U.S. Pigeon Service, he was taken to Fort Monmouth, New Jersey. Pigeon handlers were experimenting with two-way homing pigeons. Joe was to be part of this training.

Homing pigeons are known for their strong one-way returns–reliably flying from almost anywhere to their home loft. Though the military used them extensively in both World Wars I and II, pigeon handlers were hoping that two-way flights could be perfected, making the pigeons more valuable.  

As it happened, Joe was called into service before that training was completed. He was taken to Italy where the Allies were fighting.  His heroic moment required a single one-way flight which saved the citizens in the village of Calvi Vecchia in southern Italy.  

Calvi Vecchia had been taken over by the Germans but in October 1943, the Allies, led by the 169^th London Infantry Brigade, won back the village. They knew a bombing raid was planned, so they needed to alert headquarters that the village was now in Allied hands.

Pigeon handlers took G.I. Joe and wrote out a message. The pigeon was soon off, flying 20 miles in 20 minutes.

G.I. Joe’s arrival in time to halt the planes and over 100 soldiers and the entire citizenry were saved.

For his efforts, G.I. Joe was awarded the Dickin Medal for gallantry at the Tower of London. His citation reads “the most outstanding flight made by a United States Army homing pigeon in World War II.” 

After World War II, Joe returned to Fort Monmouth, New Jersey, where he lived at the US Army’s Churchill Loft.  He died at the age of 18 (1961) at the Detroit Zoological Gardens. He is now mounted and on display at the U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.

Note: The Dicken Medal is a bronze medal awarded by the People’s Dispensary for Sick Animals (PDSA) to recognize animals for bravery and devotion to duty in war or conflict. The award is generally given to animals of the United Kingdom.

For a comprehensive story about homing pigeons used during World War I and World War II, click here.

The United States Constitution is the cornerstone that supports our liberty. Yet most people are only vaguely aware of all that it specifies and why.

What if the Constitution and the disagreements that led to its crafting could be simply explained in about an hour?

That’s why Round Table Companies, a business begun by Corey Michael Blake, decided to do something about helping people understand complex topics. After Blake was joined in the business by a filmmaker, the men decided to create nonfiction comics (sometimes referred to as graphic novels) that tell important stories about our country.

The United States Constitution

Among the books Round Table Companies produced is an illustrated version of The United States Constitution. The comic is nonfiction, featuring how the founding fathers decided what needed to be in the document.

“The comic includes 100 percent of the original Constitution text as well as an illustrated storyline that depicts how the founding fathers created the document,” says a spokesperson for Round Table. “Narratives of Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Thomas Paine and James Madison bring in a human component. This is vital to understanding the development of each article of the Constitution.”

Writing the Constitution was only part of the story. After the founding fathers were satisfied with the document, they needed to return to their home states to have it ratified so that it could become the law of the land. Ratification for initial approval took about nine months. (All 13 states ratified it within two years, by May 29, 1790.)

No Founding Mothers but Women Included

While there were no founding mothers who took part in the convention in Philadelphia, Round Table and the comic’s creators have included women as part of the process that looks to the future.

A female in period clothes is used to depict several of the explanations concerning the power of the Constitution. Women are represented in the sections that address Congress and its responsibilities. There’s no changing the all-male past but it’s good to see both genders represented going forward.

Preparing a Graphic Novel is No Easy Task

Though a reader can absorb the contents of the comic in under an hour, a graphic novel can take years to produce. The text needs to be researched and carefully planned, keeping in mind how and where to use illustrations. Once a written draft is approved, an artist takes over. For this comic, writer Nadja Baer scripted this adaptation. All the artwork was completed by Nathan Leuth.

“While the challenge of presenting the story clearly and simply meant that some detail had to be omitted, I wanted to remain true to what the men were discussing that hot summer in Philadelphia,” says Nadja Baer. “I read first-hand accounts of what transpired and then went on to read what historians had to say about the era and the work underway at the Constitutional Convention.

“Next I read six or seven biographies of the men to be featured in the story. I also read several books about both the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. I needed to have a solid foundation of knowledge.”

The Importance of Discussion

If students can read the story and absorb the detail without struggle, then this leaves classroom time open for discussion. That’s where Professor Katie Monnin came in.

Dr. Monnin is an educational consultant who specializes in educational engagement and outreach. She was hired to work on the project and put together a curriculum for teachers.  

For Dr. Monnin, the project offered an opportunity to help a company practice what she preaches: “Literacy research shows that we are living through the greatest communication revolution of all time. Just as the printing press transformed communication, all of the technologies being released are creating a similar transformation for us now.

“With the teaching options available today, it is vital that we use both images and text,” says Dr. Monnin. “For a long time, we have known that kids learn on more than one level. Today both schools and publishers are beginning to embrace the fact that material needs to be presented both in text and as a visual in order to seal in learning for the students.

“I have worked with graphic novels for over ten years now, continues Dr. Monnin. “I am most proud of this behind-the-scenes look at the Constitution. The book represents an amazing level of scholarship. It is 100 percent accurate to the Constitution, yet there is a modern feel that makes it relevant to life today.”

More Progress in Education

Dr. Monnin’s work continues to focus on way to help students learn through discussion. She is now involved with www.Kialo-Edu.com,  a free digital platform to make classroom give-and-take more constructive, teach civil discourse, and develop critical thinking skills.

Kialo provides templates for discussions. With questions like “Should IDs be required for Americans to vote?” or “Does traditional media help or hinder public understanding of political issues in the United States?” or “What is the best method for peaceful protest?”

Students are led through a thought process and can make up their own minds based on factual materials. Classroom teachers can pick up on what interests the students and expand from there.

Kialo offers innumerable options on many topics. It has been used in high school and college classrooms throughout the country. Because it is run by a nonprofit, it is entirely free. The website has been in operation since 2011.

It is a great companion to the already-published “The U.S. Constitution: A Round Table Comic.” Click the link to order copies.

To read about the American flag, read Mary Pickersgill: Maker of the Star Spangled Banner.