Category Archives: Gussie Oscar

Oh, for the gift to see ourselves …

One of the most helpful (and unnerving) aspects of the Summer Teaching Institute a few years ago was when Bob Baird videotaped each participant delivering a lecture, then played that lecture back for all of the Institute fellows to see.

Oh my …

Do I really leave most of my sentences incomplete? Do I really jump around with my topics like that? Is it the camera or that hideous jacket that makes me look so fat?

The video was a good catalyst for me to examine HOW I present material in the classroom. And I hope I’ve gotten better since then.

Meanwhile, I am one of the four subjects of film-maker David Licata’s latest documentary, “A Life’s Work.” David’s quest is to find out what drives the people who undertake mammoth tasks that they know they’ll never finish. My personal Herculian task is to digitize a copy of every piece of black gospel vinyl released between 1945 and 1970. To that end, I co-founded and help administer The Black Gospel Music Restoration Project here at Baylor University.

David filmed me while I conducting research in Chicago for my book on the influence of black sacred music on the Civil Rights Movement. Amid the interviews with gospel artists, Freedom Riders, activists and pastors, he caught me looking for rare gospel vinyl at a used record store in Hyde Park.

The documentary is probably still a year away from release, but he posted that three-minute clip on YouTube, if you’re interested:

Watching it, I had the same reaction: Oh my … again … when did I get so old (and chunky)? And worse, do I still ramble like that when I lecture?
So much of teaching IS the presentation. I can have great content and if I’m not engaging, compelling, interesting as someone who is conveying that information, then why should the students stay engaged?
The clip has made me aware — once again — that their attention is NOT a given. I have to earn it. I need to continually strive to have my words, demeanor, tone, even posture and body language match the enthusiasm I still feel for conveying what I believe is important, potentially life-changing information.
P.S. To see more of David’s work, check out
The photo above is image grab from an interview I’m doing with the Rev. Reuben Burton in Chicago.

Surprising Waco

IMG_0117My research into the period between the Civil War (the spirituals) and the Civil Rights Movement (gospel music) continues to take some surprising turns. I mentioned African American pianist/producer/arranger Sammy Price a couple of posts ago. Turns out, there were a number of black artists who got their start here during this era.

Also in Waco in the 1920s was Dick Campbell, a significant figure in the Harlem Renaissance. Campbell attended Paul Quinn College from 1922-1926, became and actor and performer with the likes of Ethel Waters, Bill “Bojangles” Robinson and Louis Armstrong before setting in Harlem, where he helped found the Negro People’s Theatre and co-found the famed Rose McClendon Players and Harlem Workshop Theater.

          Waco was also fortunate to have a number of venues for live performances, most notably the Waco Auditorium. From most its history – from its inception in 1899 to its closing in 1928 – the Auditorium benefitted from the management and booking skills of the remarkable Gussie Oscar. Oscar had an eye for talent and capitalizing on the city’s location mid-way between Dallas and Austin, she saw to it that the most famous names of the day – Will Rogers, Harry Houdini, Jascha Heitfitz, Sarah Bernhardt and even the Four Marx Brothers performed in Waco amid the usual operas and symphony concerts.

          Oscar was also very progressive when it came to race, in addition to the ever-present minstrel shows and so-called “colored revues,” she booked blues legend Mamie Smith and Her Jazz Hounds. She also brought Black Patti and Her Troubadores back on an annual basis. Black Patti was Sissieretta Jones, a gifted opera singer who could also sing vaudeville and show tunes and hers was one of the very few all-black legitimate shows to tour the Deep South.

So the Marx Brothers, Mamie Smith, AND Harry Houdini all visited Waco? As my son would say, “Whoa!”