The Science Fiction or Si-Fi world has expanded and captured the minds of many due to its striking details, other worlds, and personable characters. Today it produces TV shows, box office features, and conventions that bring visitors from around the world, but the phrase “Si-Fi” as we know it today was not always common tongue. Forrest J Ackerman, science fiction writer, editor, and avid collector of Si-Fi memorabilia was the first to coin this phrase.
Forrest Ackerman, ca. 1970s. Box 105, Forrest J. Ackerman papers, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.
While in college at the University of California Berkeley, Ackerman worked as a movie projectionist at various companies before being enlisted in the U.S. Army. He rose to the rank of staff sergeant and became the editor of the base’s newspaper. This editing experience helped with his next career shift as editor and principal writer of the American magazine Famous Monsters of Filmland. This magazine, published from 1958-1983, included brief articles, publicity stills, and graphic illustrations that highlighted horror movies and their histories throughout its publication.
In 1947, Ackerman created a science fiction literary agency and collaborated with many Si-Fi writers such as Ray Bradbury, L. Ron Hubbard, and A. E. van Vogt. These connections through the Science fiction community also provided Ackerman the opportunity to gather memorabilia from shows, films, conventions, and fans. All of which was housed in his 18-room home and museum known as the “Son of Ackermanison” until his death.
Throughout Forrest J Ackerman’s life, he represented more than 200 writers through his literacy agency, published over 50 books, contributed to film magazines around the world, and introduced the world to the history of science fiction to inspire many artists to pursue their careers in Si-Fi. He has won several awards including the prestigious Hugo Award for “#1 Fan Personality.” Ackerman was the first and only celebrity to receive this special award.
Forrest Ackerman speaks at a meeting of the Count Dracula Society, which was founded in 1962 for the study of horror films and Gothic literature. Box 105, Forrest J. Ackerman papers, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.
The American Heritage Center’s Forrest J. Ackerman collection consists of material relating to Ackerman’s long career in science fiction and a portion of his memorabilia collection, including correspondence, fan mail, speeches, and scripts for movies and television shows.
Inveterate collector Forrest Ackerman engulfed in memorabilia at “Son of Ackermansion,” ca. 1960s Box 105, Forrest J. Ackerman papers, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.
Why is the Diary of Anne Frank one of the most important works of literature of all time? How did this book influence how we remember World War II, the Nazi Regime, and the Holocaust? Although the Holocaust can be viewed as a shared experience, not everyone was a young Jewish girl hiding in an attic with eight people hoping not to get caught and tortured by an enemy. Anne Frank wrote her everyday observations of life in hiding during the Holocaust. It was proof of a time, a place, a people, and an event. Currently, our lives are being dictated by a silent enemy, coronavirus, and we are in fear of the enemy catching up to us and causing tremendous harm.
Archives hold photographs, audio and film recordings, textiles, ledgers, and other types of materials that paint a picture of what it was like to live in a certain period of time, to know a person, and to experience a place. When these materials fail the test of time and are not made widely accessible, we as a people lose the chance to learn and improve from the knowledge of the past. Collecting Covid-19 materials, like the AHC Covid-19 Collection Project hopes to do, is a way of gathering evidence that this historic time existed and how it impacted our communities at individual, state, and national levels and, finally, at a global scale.
Yard sign from the University of Wyoming found on lawn in Laramie, Wyoming, provides a message of hope. Photo taken by Sara Davis.
The AHC’s Covid-19 Collection Project collects materials that reveal our community’s views on this pandemic through direct donations or via a guided survey. The survey guides participants through a series of questions that prompt reflections on what has made us happy or sad during this time, what changes we have seen, and what we want to be remembered about this time.
As of May 14, 2020, the survey has attracted 26 participants ranging in age from 18 to 85 years and includes a mixture of ethnicities, nationalities, and genders. The responses reflect the diversity of the participants and the different ways this pandemic has affected their lives.
Yard sign at Laramie’s Linford Elementary School depicts a message of caring to the community. Photo taken by Sara Davis.
One survey participant who contracted the coronavirus shared an overview of the experience.
It was not nearly as bad as others get. I did not have to be hospitalized long term. I spent most of my time at home. But it was one of the worst illnesses I have ever experienced and I do not want to ever get it again.
Another participant shared:
Things that make me happy include watching dogs walk by my house. Seeing everyone doing their part to take care of their communities and donate towards finding a vaccine or cure for this disease is making me hopeful that I’ll be able to visit and hug my family again sometime soon.
Others expressed frustration:
[I’m] angry that as I walk into Walmart or the Loaf and Jug people are wandering around with no mask. If you don’t care about your own health, fine. But care about your fellow man and protect them. Getting the virus once does not mean you are immune and can’t get it again…we have to protect each other.
These responses show the human side of pandemic and inform others of the complexity of the situation.
Kiowa Park in Laramie, Wyoming, is closed to the public during the coronavirus pandemic. Photo taken by Sara Davis.
Another purpose of the AHC’s Covid-19 Collection Project is to provide a safe space for people to share their experiences with the hope that others will find comfort and peace in the knowledge that they are not alone and the community is here to listen. In addition to the survey responses, the AHC received a few poems, a short essay, and an inspirational quote that fits this second goal. Carol Miller from New Mexico submitted the following quote that has been inspiring her while she writes her thesis:
We must learn to sing our songs in a strange land. We may feel abandoned in an empty, merciless wilderness full of detritus and death, but we who are left must travel through the in between timespace listening, seeing, attending afresh. We need to develop a thriving, forward-looking age by compassionately transforming the mournful terrain into a realm of wisdom, hope, and love. We have the responsibility to faithfully search for the possibilities and implement the discoveries that will bring us into a newly imagined dimension of interconnection with and understanding of each other and our world.
Like many of the submissions the AHC has received thus far, Miller’s contribution helps tell the story of our community’s camaraderie, support, and sense of hope for the future during this pandemic.
In the article, “We Are What We Collect, We Collect What We Are: Archives and the Construction of Identity,”[1] published in 2000, Elisabeth Kaplan argues that identity can be asserted through the types of historical documentation that are kept inside the walls of archival institutions. As archivists, we collect, preserve, and make accessible diaries, correspondence, news clippings, photographs, and other materials that document a certain period of time, person, and place. If there is no record, there is also a lack of evidence to prove someone or something existed. Similarly, if there is not access to these records, no one will know what and who came to pass. We do not know how long this pandemic will last or the ramifications and eventual outcome, but we can determine how this historical time is remembered by documenting through writing, photographing, and creating artwork that reflects our observations and emotions during this time and then collecting these conceptions in a place where they can safely be preserved and accessed for the long-term.
UW yard sign found on lawn in Laramie, Wyoming, encourages a sense of community. Photo taken by Sara Davis.
Submissions to the AHC’s Covid-19 Collection Project can now be found at the state’s “Covid-19 in Wyoming” website.
This blog was updated in 2024.
#COVID19WY #alwaysarchiving
[1] Elisabeth Kaplan, “We Are What We Collect, We Collect What We Are: Archives and the Construction of Identity,” The American Archivist vol. 63, no. 1 (Spring/Summer 2000): 126-151, accessed May 14, 2020, https://doi.org/10.17723/aarc.63.1.h554377531233l05.
Selden Rodman (1909-2002) was a prolific author, biographer, poet, editor as well as an art collector and cultural critic. He published a book nearly every year of his adult life.
He was a rebellious young man who, while attending Yale in the 1930s, co-founded the irreverent campus journal The Harkness Hoot. He didn’t even attend his own graduation from Yale. Instead he rushed off to Europe and befriended literary luminaries such as Ezra Pound, James Joyce and Thomas Man.
Selden Rodman in undated photo. Selden Rodman papers, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.
He returned to his hometown of New York City and was asked by Alfred Bingham, a leader of left-wing causes, to partner on new political magazine titled Common Sense. It was published from 1932 to 1946. Rodman cultivated contributors for the magazine, who were mostly progressives. Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr., in The Politics of Upheaval, called the magazine the most lively and interesting forum of radical discussion in the country.
A 1933 cover of Common Sense produced not long after the magazine’s founding in 1932. Selden Rodman Papers, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.
Over time Rodman accumulated an astonishing number of connections in the literary world. He had conversations with Ernest Hemmingway, Jackson Pollock, H.G. Wells, Edward Hopper among others.
In the late 1950s, Rodman befriended poet E.E. Cummings. In a series of letters between them a dramatic scene is played out.
Rodman and his wife visited Cummings and gave him one of Rodman’s books as a gift. When Cummings read the book, he discovered Rodman wrote biographies of poets, and accused him of being a “professional interviewer in disguise.”
Rodman was hurt by the accusation and assured Cummings he only wanted to be friends and not secretly interview him. The writers seem to have made up and Rodman later included Cummings’ work in one of his anthologies.
See Rodman’s correspondence with E. E. Cummings and other literary figures in his papers at the University of Wyoming’s American Heritage Center.
Post contributed by American Heritage Center Simpson Institute Archivist Leslie Waggener.
June Vanleer Williams was born on June 24, 1921, in Cleveland, Ohio. She was the first African American woman to be in a Stanford University Journalism fellowship program. She was part of the program from 1969 to 1970. As a journalist, she worked at the Cleveland Call & Post and the Cleveland Gazette.
She was also a playwright and actress. She wrote at least four plays: The Face of Job, A Bit of Almsgiving, The Eyes of the Lofty, and The Meek Won’t Inherit S#.*!!. Williams acted in plays and was involved in Hollywood productions. Two notable mentions are that she starred in the Broadway play Don’t Play Us Cheap, and she was the casting director for the 1974 movie Claudine, starring James Earl Jones and Diahann Carroll.
June Vanleer Williams used the stage name “Jay Vanleer” as an actress. June Vanleer Williams papers, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.
Her papers contain professional and personal correspondence, newspaper clippings, drafts of her plays, notes from her time as a casting director, a plaque, and a trophy. Out of all of ten boxes of material the most fascinating pieces are the photographs. This collection has an extensive number of photographs ranging from professional to promotional to personal.
The professional photographs include head shots for casting roles in Claudine. These head shots are both men and women, and the ages range from 5-65 years old. All of these photographs are undated, but they are suspected to be from around the 1960s and 1970s. They are interesting because they show some of the fashion sense of the 1960s and 1970s, as well as the plays and movies that all these aspiring actors starred in.
Williams received photographs from dozens of talented actresses while casting the film Claudine. June Vanleer Williams papers, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.
Other promotional photographs are from the 1975 film Mahogany, starring Diana Ross, Billy Dee Williams, and Andrew Perkins. The context of the photographs is unknown because June Vanleer Williams was not involved in the film’s production nor did she act in the film. Despite the mystery behind the photos, they are nice promotional stills from the movie and behind the scenes. The photographs allow for a close-up look at one of Diana Ross’s most iconic movie roles and tell the story without giving away too much. For those who haven’t seen the movie, these stills allow for a great curiosity about it.
In the film Mahogany, Diana Ross plays a struggling fashion design student who rises to become a popular fashion designer in Rome. One of her co-stars is Anthony Perkins who plays a fashion photographer who reinvents her as “Mahogany” and with whom she shares an uneasy relationship. June Vanleer Williams papers, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.
Finally, the personal photographs range from the early 1900s to the 1970s or 1980s and tell about her life. There are photographs of her father’s family, such as his adopted sister as a little girl. There are also photographs of June Vanleer Williams in various stages of her life. The bulk of the photos are from 1930 to 1984. One of the scrapbooks is full of the pictures, specifically from a special dinner for those involved in Karamu House. Karamu House is the oldest African American theater in the United States. Williams was very involved in Karamu House throughout her life. Along with the photographs there is also correspondence between Williams and the founders of the theater.
All of the compelling materials in June Vanleer Williams’ papers cannot be described in one short blog post, so contact the American Heritage Center at ahcref@uwyo.edu if you would like to learn more about this influential lady!
It’s a familiar sight – a roaring lion’s head in a golden frame. We see this iconic image at the beginning of our favorite films, TV shows, and cartoons, but the history behind this logo is little known.
Tanner was the MGM lion from 1934 to 1956. Like the other MGM lions, he was known as “Leo the Lion.” Image source: Wikipedia.
MGM’s Leo the Lion was actually seven different lions over the course of 41 years from 1916 to 1957. The last lion, which was the only lion actually named Leo, is the current logo and has been in use since 1957. Each lion contributed a new take on the logo throughout the years.
Jackie’s roar being recorded in December 1928 for use at the beginning of MGM sound films. A sound stage was built around his cage to make the recording. Image source: Wikipedia.
One lion in particular, Jackie, had a rather eventful term as Leo the Lion. In 1927, MGM was seeking publicity and came up with a stunt where “Leo the Lion” would be flown from San Diego to New York City non-stop. MGM selected the pilot Martin Jensen, who had recently come in second place in the Dole Air Derby to carry out the stunt. A custom plane was built for the event— a modified Ryan B-1 Brougham plane with a lion cage built in, an extra fuel tank, and tanks for milk and water. Jensen flew out of San Diego on September 16, 1927 with his feline passenger, a canteen of water, several sandwiches, and a .45 caliber pistol.
Martin Jensen with the MGM plane, 1927. Note the cage behind the cockpit. Box 1, Martin Jensen papers, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.
Martin Jensen captioned this photo, “The picture of the Ryan Plane with Leo the MGM lion and the frightened Pilot Martin Jensen. Note the glass plate on this side and on the right side with a glass door in which I crawled forward the Pilots cockpit.” Box 1, Martin Jensen papers, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.
The flight, however, did not go as planned. Jensen hit a storm over Arizona and crashed into a small copse of trees in a desert canyon. Both Jensen and Jackie survived the impact with no injuries. After gathering his wits, Jensen left his sandwiches, the milk, and the water for the lion while he trekked across the desert looking for help.
Wreckage of Martin Jensen’s plane. Box 1, Martin Jensen papers, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.
Martin Jensen captioned this photo, “This picture was the end of the Lion flight. I had repeatedly warned the Ryan Engineers that it could not get over the Mountains. They compared it to Lindbergh’s flight, but he had 48 foot span and I only had 42 foot span. Their reasoning was based on theory not on facts.” Box 1, Martin Jensen papers, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.
After four days, he found a small ranch. The ranch hands working there kindly agreed to help Jensen. They took Jensen to a ranger station so he could use the telephone to call for help. However, the ranger refused, saying that he had to keep the line open because a man was lost and search parties were looking for him. After establishing his identity as the man they were searching for, the ranger let Jensen use the phone to call the people at MGM.
As soon as MGM realized it was Jensen calling, the man on the phone yelled, “How’s the lion?” Jensen was ordered to spare no expense to get the lion out alive. Within two days, and with more help from some local ranch hands, the lion was retrieved safely. Jackie was then transported to New York by truck.
Martin Jensen captioned this photo, “Sam Haughton on left and some of his ranch hands which helped to bring the (Leo the Lion) out of the area where this picture was taken. The area was surveyed about 15 years later and it was reported that the surveyors had to wear stove pipes over their legs to keep the snakes from striking.” Box 1, Martin Jensen papers, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.
Photo from newspaper article about Leo the Lion (Jackie) arriving in Payson, Arizona, after his rescue from the Arizona desert. Box 1, Martin Jensen papers, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.
The plane remained in the desert until 1991, although scavengers made off with some of the smaller pieces of wreckage. The canyon that Jensen and Leo crashed in is now named Leo Canyon in honor of the event. It is located in Gila County, Arizona. After surviving this incident and several other accidents (two train wrecks, an earthquake, and a studio explosion), Jackie was given the nickname “Leo the Lucky.
Martin Jensen is seen in this 1991 newspaper article holding the rudder cover of his plane that crashed in the Arizona desert. Box 1, Martin Jensen papers, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.
From gardens of rhododendrons and azaleas to marijuana. That seems to be the case with the Northland Center located outside of Detroit. Designed by Victor Gruen, the Northland Shopping Center opened on March 22, 1954.
Designed to accommodate a rapidly changing post-war America, Northland reflected the desires of consumers who were settling into the new and fresh suburban life where the automobile became a necessity for daily living.
Architect Victor Gruen designed Detroit’s Northland Shopping Center as an open-air pedestrian mall with arrayed structures. The mall opened on March 22, 1954. Victor Gruen papers, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.
A few days before the center opened, a press event was held for media and dignitaries. In a speech delivered to the group, Gruen described the Northland Center as “the first ‘Shopping Center of Tomorrow’ to come to life – a ‘Shopping Center of Tomorrow’ which you will see today.”
Gruen described the role of the shopping center when he proclaimed, “Our sprawling suburbs have lost connection with the mother city. They need new Shopping Centers; but they need, in addition to that, cultural, civic, and social centers.”
He continued by describing the many features of what was at the time the largest shopping center ever built – 1¼ miles of store fronts surrounded by 7500 parking spaces, mass transit ports, and highway links. Retail shopping opportunities now will be “restful and fun,”
Gruen declared. There are “public areas for relaxation and amusement.” The complex included retail clusters surrounding the Hudson Department Store. Gruen said to the audience, “When you wander around Northland we would like you to observe not only the buildings, but the other important, town-planning element: the space between the buildings.”
Northland Shopping Center had 1¼ miles of store fronts surrounded by 7500 parking spaces, mass transit ports, and highway links. Victor Gruen papers, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.
Gruen, who was born in Vienna, Austria in 1903, came to America, and, in 1939, started Victor Gruen Associates. His European influence was incorporated in his designs. Explaining the concept to the audience, Gruen said, “For the first time in a new commercial project, open, architecturally defined spaces have been created which resemble the market squares of European cities.”
Victor Gruen, ca. 1955. Victor Gruen papers, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.
He described the garden areas as “having been richly planted with trees, shrubs, and flowers – different ones [including rhododendrons and azaleas] in each court and mall.” He went on to describe another first – the use of modern art. “For the first time modern art has been included, on a large scale, into the architectural concept of a commercial project.”
Flowers surround a piece of modern art at Northland Shopping Center. Victor Gruen papers, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.
Northland flourished for many decades. In 1974, the center became a mall when it was enclosed. However, by the late 1990s, Northland entered into a decline. Stores like Montgomery Ward, J.C. Penney, and T.J. Maxx closed. In 2015, the last of the major anchor stores, Target and Macy’s, closed. Northland Center officially closed on April 15, 2015. 61 years after its opening, the “Shopping Center of Tomorrow” is history.
On October 26, 2017, two-and-a-half years after the mall’s shuttering, demolition began on Northland. In July 2021, the city of Southfield sold Northland Center to Contour Companies for $11 million. In March 2022, crews began work on building large-scale housing, retail shops, office space, and community and residential life-style living on the site.
Though disease epidemics were common throughout America and the West in earlier times, the worst epidemic in terms of loss of human life came to Wyoming early in the 20th century, in the fall of 1918.
From October of that year through January 1919, 780 people died statewide, victims of the flu epidemic. Of those, 169 died directly from the flu while the rest were taken by a combination of flu and pneumonia.
The sickness came just as World War I was drawing to a close. The war had begun in 1914 and the United States had entered it in April 1917. Beginning early in 1918, in the space of 15 months the disease killed somewhere between 50 million and 100 million people worldwide—far more than the 20 million civilian and military deaths attributed directly to the war. In Wyoming, too, the flu was deadlier than the war: Around 11,000 Wyoming men served in the war; about 500 of them died.
U.S. Army flu victims fill an emergency hospital near Fort Riley, Kansas, 1918. National Museum of Health.
Though at the time it was called the Spanish Influenza or more often Spanish flu, the epidemic did not begin in Spain. King Alfonso XIII of Spain fell gravely ill after the flu was widely reported in Madrid in May 1918. Spain was not a combatant in the war, however, and, therefore, news of the epidemic was not censored there as it was in France, England, Germany and the United States. The king recovered, but the name “Spanish influenza,” stuck.
The epidemic came in three waves worldwide. The first, in the spring and early summer of 1918, was relatively mild. The second, beginning in summer and gaining vast momentum in the fall, was far deadlier. A third wave, in the winter and spring of 1919, was less lethal than the second but still dangerous. Young children and elderly died, but what made the epidemic unusual, and different from coronavirus, is that many victims of the Spanish flu were healthy young adults.
Like today with the coronavirus, local and state public health officials drastically curtailed public activities—shopping was limited, schools closed, and public and private gatherings were canceled.
Many died of Spanish flu during the last two weeks of October and the first week of November of 1918, by which time, according to some national news accounts, the epidemic was declining. That appeared not to be the case in Wyoming, however. Reports of disease and flu deaths continued unabated at least until January 1919. A few newspaper editors noted that schools, closed for the semester, were about to reopen in December, but most did not begin sessions until after the Christmas holidays.
Hospitalized patients in recovery would have seen wards such as this one in Laramie, Wyoming’s Ivinson Memorial Hospital, 1919. Ludwig & Svenson Photograph Collection, Accession Number 167.
Just as recently occurred, the University of Wyoming suspended classes. The University shut down in early October with a formal notice reported in the Wyoming Student. “The culmination of the growing epidemic of Spanish influenza throughout the city came on the afternoon of Tuesday a week ago,” the article noted, “when the health authorities ordered all places of amusement, all public gatherings, and all schools closed until further notice.”
According to the report, Dr. Aven Nelson, president of the university, “suggested that the enforced vacation would offer excellent opportunity for reading and outdoor exercise, and that if used to catch up on the things for which the ordinary routine does not give time, it would not prove too irksome.” Pointing out that officials discouraged students from spending time downtown, the editor observed, “… since the soda fountains and picture shows are also closed, there is not a great deal of inducement to loiter on the street.”
Statewide, of the stores that remained open, many limited the number of customers. Some Cheyenne stores allowed only five customers at any one time for each 25 feet of store front. Because reports from other area towns told of the dire consequences of the disease, some towns, such as Kemmerer, managed to escape widespread influenza by imposing quarantines and cancelling public events before the disease made its appearance.
A Rock River, Wyoming, drugstore and soda fountain, 1919. Businesses such as this would have supplied residents with medicines, but probably would have seen fewer customers for the soda fountain. Ludwig & Svenson Photograph Collection, Accession Number 167.
Workplaces statewide were disrupted. The Wyoming Labor Journal noted, “There has been no part of the state that has been immune nor has any particular class of people been favored. There have been a number of deaths, but in the majority of instances where proper care has been taken the worst result has been from the incapacitating of the victims.”
By mid-December, state health authorities were still urging that quarantines continue because the Spanish flu was spreading again. C.Y. Beard, secretary of the Wyoming State Board of Health, warned of lifting quarantines too soon. He also chastised some Wyomingites who insisted upon continuing card parties and social gatherings.
Officials were still concerned about the epidemic after the New Year. When theaters and churches were allowed to reopen in January 1919, people occupied only alternate seats.
The last Wyoming cases were reported in the early winter of 1919, although precautions were still in place in most Wyoming schools and towns until the following summer. By spring, no more cases were reported. Still, the following fall, many people were wondering if the flu would return. It didn’t, at least in Wyoming.
A sense of normalcy began to return in Wyoming later in 1919 as seem in this photograph of an audience in the Empress Theater in Laramie. Ludwig & Svenson Photograph Collection, Accession Number 167.
The death toll from the Spanish flu epidemic has been measured for many states. Inexplicably, Wyoming is not included in the government listing. The Wyoming Board of Health claimed some 700 people died from the flu or its effects; historian T.A. Larson placed the figure at 780. Random samples of cemetery records and newspaper obituaries from the period confirm a number in that range.
A century later, the question about how such an epidemic might affect Wyoming continues to be raised. Historian John M. Barry predicted the impact of such an epidemic nationally. “If a new influenza virus does emerge, given modern travel patterns, it will likely spread even more quickly than it did in 1918,” Barry writes.
There are many differences between the coronavirus crisis and the Spanish flu pandemic. They are different diseases, of course, but we also have more resources in 2020 to combat disease. As Anne Rasmussen, a historian at the EHESS university in Paris, said to a French newspaper reporter in March 2020, “…It’s a different world now from the one that saw the Spanish flu. Things are done on a different scale now, with much more research and a much more efficient approach to dealing with diseases. There are great reasons for hope.”
Thanks to University of Wyoming emeritus professor Phil Roberts for much of the text for this post. It was taken from his article, “The 1918 Flu: A Pandemic Sweeps Wyoming,” which was published September 24, 2018, on WyoHistory.org.
The road to Bruce Lee’s screen stardom began in Oakland, California, where his Jun Fan Gung Fu Institute began attracting the attention of the martial arts world. His appearance in the first-ever Long Beach International Karate Championships in 1964 wowed the audience with demonstrations of his “one-inch punch” and astute lectures regarding his fighting philosophy. One of the attendees was celebrity hairstylist Jay Sebring who spread the word in Hollywood about this amazing martial artist. William Dozier, producer of the hit show Batman, got hold of some tournament footage and had Lee come in for a screen test.
Article about William Dozier as Executive Producer of the successful television series “Batman.” Box 8, William Dozier papers, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.
Bruce Lee screen-tested for the role of Charlie Chan’s son in a series to be titled “Number One Son,” but the series was scuttled. However, the success of Batman gave Dozier the go ahead to launch his new hero/sidekick series, The Green Hornet, which was already a successful comics and media franchise. It featured Britt Reid, owner/publisher of The Daily Sentinel, who fights crime as “The Green Hornet.” His secret remains unknown except to his faithful valet, Kato—a kung-fu expert and driver of “Black Beauty,” the duo’s well-armed car. Bruce Lee would be Kato.
Van Williams and Bruce Lee in fighting stance for a publicity photograph, 1966. Box 18, William Dozier papers, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.
Filming immediately met a hitch. Lee refused to fight in slug matches as seen in typical westerns. The essence of his martial arts philosophy was efficiency not sloppy punching. But Lee’s moves were a blur to the TV cameras. So, he shot his fight scenes in slow motion and grudgingly included flashy flying kicks for visual impact.
It was the first time kung fu was seen in the West outside Chinatown movie theaters. Younger viewers were astonished by what they saw. Bruce Lee’s Kato became the series’ real star and he was soon making personal appearances across the country. Van Williams, who played The Green Hornet, took Lee’s fame in stride. They became good friends and Williams went to bat with the show’s producers to give Lee more screen time and lines. In turn, Lee taught Williams some basic techniques that he is sometimes used in the series.
Bruce Lee teaches Van Williams some of his show-stopping moves, 1966. Box 18, William Dozier papers, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.
In 1967, a two-parter was shot in which The Green Hornet and Kato teamed up with Batman and Robin. Batman was the more popular of the two shows and the fight took place on that show. The original script had Batman and Robin winning the fight. Bruce Lee wouldn’t have it. He walked off the show. As a compromise, the scene was rewritten to have the fight end in a draw. On set, leading up to the fight scene, Lee played a joke on Burt Ward as Robin. Lee didn’t say a word, he just stared at Ward and acted angry all day. When they started filming Lee acted like he was going to fight for real, which panicked Ward until Lee laughingly revealed it was all a joke.
Despite considerable interest in Bruce Lee, The Green Hornet aired only one season from 1966-1967. It never found a larger-than-niche audience.
Green Hornet’s Executive Producer William Dozier writes to Bruce Lee of the series’ demise, March 7, 1967. Box 8, William Dozier papers, American Heritage Center, University of WyomingLetter of gratitude from Bruce Lee to William Dozier in which he states that part of his role on the series was “…of minimizing and hacking away the unessential,” May 13, 1967. Box 8, William Dozier papers, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.
The UW American Heritage Center was fortunate in April 2019 to have a visit from Dr. John Martin-Joy, psychiatrist and author who publishes on literary and psychiatric topics.
Dr. John Martin-Joy
Dr. Martin-Joy researched the papers of Ralph Ginzburg, a provocative author, editor, publisher, and photojournalist who, among other things, published Fact, a short-lived political journal with a muckraking bent.
The important libel suit Goldwater v. Ginzburg (1966-1970) was of especial interest to Dr. Martin-Joy. The case pitted U.S. Senator and presidential candidate Barry Goldwater against Ginzburg for an issue of Fact that maintained through psychiatric “evidence” that Goldwater was unfit for office.
A 1964 article in Fact magazine led to what is known as the Goldwater Rule, the American Psychiatric Association’s declaration that it is unethical for any psychiatrist to diagnose a public figure’s condition “unless he or she has conducted an examination and has been granted proper authorization for such a statement.” Ralph Ginzburg papers, UW American Heritage Center.
Cartoon from a 1964 article in Fact magazine alluding to Barry Goldwater’s lack of fitness for public office. Ralph Ginzburg papers, UW American Heritage Center
Dr. Martin-Joy has written a book, Diagnosing from a Distance: Debates over Libel Law, Media, and Psychiatric Ethics from Barry Goldwater to Donald Trump. The book traces the Goldwater controversy and illustrates the pertinence of Goldwater v. Ginzburg to the current debates over psychiatric ethics, mental health, and libel in the current political era. The book will be out in April 2020 from Cambridge University Press.
Cover of Dr. John Martin-Joy’s book, which will be available in April 2020 from Cambridge University Press. Image courtesy Cambridge University Press.
Below is a post Dr. Martin-Joy shared with us from his research for the forthcoming book:
At the height of the turbulent 1960s, provocative New York publisher Ralph Ginzburg (1929-2006) pushed the boundaries of good taste and of libel law in a series of publications that deliberately aimed to speak truth to power.
Among his most controversial publications was a special issue of Factmagazine (1964). In the issue, Ginzburg portrayed 1964 Republican presidential candidate Barry Goldwater as mentally unstable, unfit for office, and uncomfortable with his own masculinity. Ginzburg did not interview Goldwater. Instead, he used books, newspaper articles, and television sources to make his case. He also surveyed American psychiatrists about Goldwater’s fitness for office—and provided shocking excerpts from comments by hundreds of them. Goldwater, said one, “has the same pathological make-up as Hitler, Castro, Stalin and other known schizophrenic leaders.” According to another, Goldwater was “emotionally unstable, immature, volatile, unpredictable, hostile, and mentally unbalanced. He is totally unfit for public office and a menace to society.”[i] For his part, Ginzburg was proud of the special issue, distributed 236,000 copies of it, and regarded the issue as “very real public service.”[ii]
Goldwater had a habit of making simplistic, provocative statements himself. During the campaign he said that the use of “low-yield nuclear weapons” would be feasible in Vietnam. In his acceptance speech at the 1964 convention, he uttered the memorable phrase that Richard Nixon (among others) thought lost him the election: “Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice. Moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue.”[iii] But when he saw the special issue of Fact, Goldwater was appalled. He said losing the election did not bother him. But reading page after page of psychiatrists’ hostile comments did. The experience was “rather depressing.” Now it was impossible to walk down the street in New York without wondering why people were smiling at him. Was it because they were being friendly and respectful? Or, he wondered, were they thinking, “there goes that queer or there goes that homosexual, or there goes that man who is afraid of masculinity.”
What could be done? Overruling his friend William F. Buckley, Jr., Goldwater decided to file a libel suit against Ginzburg and Fact. Goldwater v. Ginzburg pitted the claims of free speech against the risk of harm to public figures. Despite the permissive libel standard used by the Supreme Court then and now, Goldwater ultimately won the case—and made a kind of martyr of Ralph Ginzburg. Ginzburg paid a $75,000 judgment, but he won the honor of a ringing dissent from his hero, liberal Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black. Black would have reviewed the case and found for Ginzburg, he said in his dissent, “because I firmly believe that the First Amendment guarantees to each person in this country the unconditional right to print what he pleases about public affairs.” [iv]
[i] The Unconscious of a Conservative: A Special Issue on the Mind of Barry Goldwater, Fact 1:5 (September-October 1964). [ii] Quotes from the trial are taken from the stenographer’s transcript of Goldwater v. Ginzburg, Southern District of New York, May 6-22, 1968. In Ralph Ginzburg Papers, boxes 32-34, accession number 7755, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY. [iii] Robert A. Goldberg, Barry Goldwater (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1995). [iv]Ginzburg v. Goldwater, 396 U.S. 1049 (1970), the Supreme Court’s denial of Ginzburg’s petition for writ of certiorari in the case. Includes dissent by Justice Black, January 26, 1970. Accessed on 8-22-18 at https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/396/1049/.
About the author:
John Martin-Joy, M.D. is a psychiatrist at Mount Auburn Hospital in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He has published articles on literary and psychiatric topics, including Emerson’s influence on Hawthorne’s “The Old Manse” and on Hemingway’s nonfiction; the ethics of psychiatrists diagnosing public figures they have never met; and the role of defense mechanisms over the life span. His awards include a Laughlin fellowship from the American College of Psychiatrists and a Dupont-Warren Research Fellowship from the Harvard Department of Psychiatry.
Nestled
between the Laramie Mountains to the east and the Snowy Range mountains to the
west, Laramie is a gateway for visitors and residents alike to explore the
beauty of Wyoming’s nature. Yet at the University of Wyoming’s American
Heritage Center, there is another type of beauty waiting to be explored; the
beauty of rare books from the past.
The Common Book of Prayer and the Administrations of the Sacraments and Other Rites and Ceremonies of the Church, According to the use of the Church of England, Together with the Psalter, or Psalms of David, Pointed as they are to be Sung or Said in Churches (Common Book Prayer for short) is one of the many rare books housed in the Toppan Rare Books Library, American Heritage Center. For most Anglican Churches in the British Commonwealth the Common Book of Prayers has been the standard liturgical text since 1662[1]. The copy housed in the library was published in 1678 by printers Christopher Barker and John Bill of London and was acquired in 2014.
Custom protective box for Book of Common Prayer. Toppan Rare Books Library, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming
The age of this copy and its remarkable condition are indeed rare, however, it is the workmanship of the bookbinder that qualifies this book as a treasure. Early books were printed and remained unbound or in their original boards until the purchaser of the book sent it to a bookbinder for binding. Known for his beautiful leather tooling and fore-edge painting this bookbinder, whose name has been lost to time and is known as Queen’s Binder B, and their craftsmanship has transformed the book from a mere series of text into a beautiful work of art. The cover is bound in black Moroccan leather with intricate floral tooling stamped in gilt and painted silver.
Queen’s Binder B – the cover is bound in black Moroccan leather with intricate floral tooling stamped in gilt and painted silver. Toppan Rare Books Library, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.
All the fore-edges are gilded, painted with colored flowers, and gauffered, indenting the gilded edges with a heated tool. Visitors to the American Heritage Center Main Reading Room (4th floor) can view this beautiful book by appointment.
Queen’s Binder B — fore-edges are gilded, painted with colored flowers, and gauffered, indenting the gilded edges with a heated tool. Toppan Rare Books Library, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.
Queen’s Binder B — bottom/tail-edge of book. Toppan Rare Books Library, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.
Other books at the University did not arrive in such pristine shape. Found in the University of Wyoming Botany Department’s library in 2014, The British Herbal: an History of Plants and Tree, Natives of Britain, cultivated for Use or raised for Beauty (British Herbal) was sent for conservation work before it was transferred to the American Heritage Center Toppan Library. The spine binding was taped with pressure tape that caused a black residue to form on the split suede, the front cover or board was detached, and some of the pages were pulling away from the binding.
The British Herbal: an History of Plants and Tree, Natives of Britain, cultivated for Use or raised for Beauty (British Herbal) before conservation work. Toppan Rare Books Library, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming
The British Herbal: an History of Plants and Tree, Natives of Britain, cultivated for Use or raised for Beauty (British Herbal) after conservation work. Toppan Rare Books Library, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming
The British Herbal: an History of Plants and Tree, Natives of Britain, cultivated for Use or raised for Beauty (British Herbal) with black residue on spine. Toppan Rare Books Library, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming
The British Herbal: an History of Plants and Tree, Natives of Britain, cultivated for Use or raised for Beauty (British Herbal) before page repairs. Toppan Rare Books Library, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming
The British Herbal: an History of Plants and Tree, Natives of Britain, cultivated for Use or raised for Beauty (British Herbal) after page repairs. Toppan Rare Books Library, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming
Written in 1757 by John Hill, the British Herbal was not well received at the time. A partial explanation may be attributed to Hill himself. An apothecary, botanist, writer and part-time actor, Hill, who often referred to himself as Sir John Hill, was not well regarded with his contemporaries of the time. Hill was often referred to as “only a little paltry dunghill.”[2] It appears that Hill not only took such criticism well but relished in the fame that it brought him and his books.
While Hill and his books may not have been appreciated during his day, visitors to the American Heritage Center can experience the beauty of the British Herbal. The split suede cover protects the large volume describing the types of plants and their characteristic. Along with the detailed copper engraving of plants, the British Herbal also has beautiful copper engravings on the title pages.
The British Herbal: an History of Plants and Tree, Natives of Britain, cultivated for Use or raised for Beauty (British Herbal) cover with an employee’s hand showing the scale of the book. Toppan Rare Books Library, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming
The British Herbal: an History of Plants and Tree, Natives of Britain, cultivated for Use or raised for Beauty (British Herbal) copper engravings on the title pages. Toppan Rare Books Library, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming
The British Herbal: an History of Plants and Tree, Natives of Britain, cultivated for Use or raised for Beauty (British Herbal) copper engravings on the title pages. Toppan Rare Books Library, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming
John Hill’s British Herbal and the path it took show why it is such valued treasure. Whether you are visiting Laramie, or you call Laramie home, please remember the beautiful rare book treasures that are waiting for you to experience at the University of Wyoming’s American Heritage Center. Access to rare book holdings is via the Reference Services unit. Please contact us 307-766-3756, ahcref@uwyo.edu, for assistance.
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