Behind the iconic jazz orchestras, vocalists, and stage productions of the Swing Era lay the talents of popular music’s unsung heroes: the arrangers. In this new entry in our acclaimed […]
Category: biography
“Barnum of the Bigots”
Not exactly the pride of Bloomington, Illinois, American Nazi leader George Lincoln Rockwell was born into—of all things—a family of vaudeville performers. A former associate shot him to death on August […]
Bradbury Trivia: Ray and Rod
Ray Bradbury, born on August 22, 1920, is known for his breakthrough novels such as Fahrenheit 451. As Jonathan R. Eller writes in Ray Bradbury Unbound, the author also made an […]
Throwbacklist Thursday: Seven Ring Circus
Whether you consider the Olympic Games a triumph of human endeavor and achievement, or an appalling cesspool of corruption and drug experimentation, it is that rare mega-event that always grabs the world’s attention. […]
Fannie Barrier Williams celebrated
Progressive Era activist and reformer Fannie Barrier Williams was one of the most prominent educated African American women of her generation. A new effort to honor the woman who was a prominent spokesperson […]
Happy birthday, Eugene Kinckle Jones
Social activist and influential executive secretary of the National Urban League Eugene Kinckle Jones was born on July 30, 1885. Felix L. Armfield‘s biography Eugene Kinckle Jones: The National Urban League […]
Throwbacklist Thursday: Women’s Work
Well, less than 100 years after women won the right to vote, one of them is running for the White as the nominee of a major political party. Tonight, Hillary […]
Throwbacklist Thursday: Sounds of Joy
The UIP catalog includes an immense store of knowledge about American music. We don’t publish blog posts on Sunday morning, so we’re taking this beautiful Thursday to point the way […]
Release Party: A Cole Porter Companion
If Harold Arlen built a reputation for chronicling love on the rocks, Cole Porter gained lasting fame and the adulation of a grateful culture for his celebrations of successful romance. […]
The Socialist Mayor and the Industrialist
Frank Zeidler transformed Milwaukee during his three terms as mayor of the Wisconsin city. However, the kind of change that Zeidler, a member of the Socialist Party of America, brought […]
You the Mancini
Successful beyond belief in his chosen trade of making soundtrack music, Henry Mancini also enjoyed good fortune (made one, too) with forays into the pop charts. When he hit, he […]
200 Years of Illinois: Black Hawk Eternal
Lorado Taft was at the height of his powers when he created The Eternal Indian, the towering concrete statue that watches over the Rock River in Lowden State Park near Oregon. […]