Memorial Hall Library

Smoketown, the untold story of the other great Black Renaissance, Mark Whitaker

eng

Includes bibliographical references (pages [345]-384) and index

contains biographical information

illustrationsplatesmaps

index present

non fiction

Smoketown

bibliography

984512154

Mark Whitaker

the untold story of the other great Black Renaissance

"The other great Renaissance of black culture, influence, and glamour burst forth joyfully in what may seem an unlikely place--Pittsburgh, PA--from the 1920s through the 1950s. Today black Pittsburgh is known as the setting for August Wilson's famed plays about noble but doomed working-class strivers. But this community once had an impact on American history that rivaled the far larger black worlds of Harlem and Chicago. It published the most widely read black newspaper in the country, urging black voters to switch from the Republican to the Democratic Party and then rallying black support for World War II. It fielded two of the greatest baseball teams of the Negro Leagues and introduced Jackie Robinson to the Brooklyn Dodgers. Pittsburgh was the childhood home of jazz pioneers Billy Strayhorn, Billy Eckstine, Earl Hines, Mary Lou Williams, and Erroll Garner; Hall of Fame slugger Josh Gibson--and August Wilson himself. Some of the most glittering figures of the era were changed forever by the time they spent in the city, from Joe Louis and Satchel Paige to Duke Ellington and Lena Horne. Mark Whitaker's Smoketown is a captivating portrait of this unsung community and a vital addition to the story of black America."--, From the publisher

Cast of characters -- The neighborhoods of Pittsburgh -- The Brown Bomber's cornermen -- The Negro Carnegies -- The calculating crusader -- The rise and fall of "Big Red" -- Billy and Lena -- The Double V warriors -- The complex Mr. B -- "Jackie's Boswell" -- The women of "up south" -- The bard of a broken world

Untold story of the other great Black RenaissanceSmoke town