Tomorrow-Land (39 page)

 

7.

The saga of Robert Moses and race is a complicated one that, particularly where it concerns the World's Fair, was played out in the New York papers. A number of stories from the
New York
Times
are mentioned by name in the text, as well as
New York Post
columnist James A. Wechsler, who bravely called out both Moses and New York's powerful building trades for their stances. My narrative drew from such newspaper accounts and all the relevant memos, letters, and correspondences about the Fair's racial controversies found in the Robert Moses Papers and World's Fair Archives at the New York Public Library.

The controversy that surrounded Moses' building of public pools in the late 1930s has been brilliantly analyzed by Professor Marta Gutman of the City College of New York, including her essay “Equipping the Public Realm” from
Robert Moses and the Modern City
and her essay “Race, Place, and Play” from
Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians
(December 2008). I would also like to thank Professor Gutman for taking the time to speak with me on this subject. The information about Moses and Rochdale Village was gleaned from Peter Eisenstadt's
Rochdale Village: Robert Moses, 6,000 Families, and New York City's Great Experiment in Integrated Housing
and Moses' unlikely relationship with Abraham Kazan; I would also like to thank Peter Eisenstadt for taking the time to speak with me about his work. Also key was the lengthy
New York Times Magazine
piece “When Blacks and Whites Live Together” by Harvey Swados (November 13, 1966).

Moses wrote, often brilliantly, on many topics; his
New York Times Magazine
piece “What's Wrong with New York?” from August 1, 1943, is just one example. Bruce K. Nicholson discusses his colleague Dr. George H. Bennett joining the Fair's International Division in
Hi Ho, Come to the Fair.

 

8.

The Kennedys' stance on civil rights is treated with fairness and clarity in Richard Reeves's
President Kennedy
; insights were also drawn from Schlesinger's
A Thousand Days
. The most elegant works on the civil rights movement I came across were
Pillar of Fire: America in the King Years, 1963–65
by Taylor Branch (Simon & Schuster, 1998) and
Better Day Coming: Blacks and Equality, 1890–2000
by Adam Fairclough (Penguin, 2001). A wonderfully enlightening book on the topic is
Sweet Land of Liberty: The Forgotten Struggle for Civil Rights in the North
by Thomas J. Sugrue (Random House, 2008). Also important was Louis E. Lomax's
The Negro Revolt
(Signet, 1963). Another necessary text for understanding this crucial moment in American history is
America Divided: The Civil War of the 1960s,
third edition, by Maurice Isserman and Michael Kazin (Oxford University Press, 2008).

As ever, periodicals from the time, such as
Time,
the
New York Times
,
Harper's,
and
The New Yorker,
proved to be full of vital information. My former colleague Hilton Al's essay on James Baldwin, “The Making and Unmaking of James Baldwin,” from the February 16, 1998, issue of
The
New Yorker
was especially useful (and insightful).

 

9.

For this chapter, I relied primarily on the relevant articles in the
New York Times
and other New York papers that dealt with the explosive summer of 1963 in the Big Apple. Moses' decision not to pursue a pavilion
devoted to “the progress and problems” of African Americans was found among the Robert Moses Papers. For my understanding of the civil rights “Big Four,” I turned to the aforementioned Kennedy books, particularly
President Kennedy
and
A Thousand Days
;
Pillar of Fire: America in the King Years, 1963–65
;
Better Day Coming: Blacks and Equality, 1890–2000
; and
Sweet Land of Liberty: The Forgotten Struggle for Civil Rights in the North.
Also helpful were
The Autobiography of Martin Luther King Jr.
edited by Clayborn Carson (Grand Central Publishing, 1998); and James Farmer's autobiography
Lay Bare the Heart
(Arbor House, 1985). Also consulted were
Kennedy, Johnson, and the Quest for Justice: The Civil Rights Tapes
by Jonathan Rosenberg and Zachary Karabell (W. W. Norton, 2003);
America Divided
; and
The Last Innocent Year.
I found some of Louis E. Lomax's writings in
Harper's
as well as in his book
The Negro Revolt
.

The stall-in saga of Brooklyn CORE is, in my opinion, one of the great forgotten moments of the civil rights movement. It was first covered in the New York papers. (Please see my notes for Chapter 20 for more.) My description of the March on Washington drew from the above books and newspaper accounts. Bob Dylan's and Joan Baez's participation in the March on Washington is detailed in
Positively Fourth Street
by David Hadju (North Point Press, 2002);
America Divided
; and elsewhere. Dylan's quotation at the end of the chapter is from
Dylan: An Intimate Biography
by Anthony Scaduto (Signet, 1971).

 

10.

The Angela Davis quotation in this chapter is from the documentary film
The Black Power Mixtape: 1967–1975
by Göran Hugo Olsson, an amazing historical document itself. American Experience's
Freedom Riders
is also an all-important film about the early 1960s. I based my narrative of the four young children murdered in the Birmingham bombing on newspaper accounts, the aforementioned Kennedy and civil rights book, and Spike Lee's documentary
Four Little Girls
.

 

11.

As often was the case, the
New York Times
became part of the World's Fair narrative when it published its front-page story “World's Fair Gains Impetus Despite Snubs” by Robert C. Doty on September 9, 1963. This happened again and again thanks to Moses' belligerent attitude toward the media. The Gay Talese quotations on Moses and his relationship to the media are detailed in
The Kingdom and the Power
(New American Library, 1969). A very special thanks to Gay Talese—the greatest nonfiction writer of them all—for taking the time to answer my questions and share his memories of covering the Fair.

Moses' handling of the H. L. Hunt episode was detailed in the daily newspapers, and his commentary could be found among his papers at the New York Public Library. Moses also addressed this episode in his book
Public Works
. The same was true of the Fair's ensuing art controversy—in this case the
New York Herald Tribune
took the lead in its criticism of the Fair. My understanding of the
Herald Tribune
, and its place in both American politics and the New York media world, is based on
The Paper: The Life and Death of the New York Herald Tribune
by Richard Kluger. Also helpful was Emily Genauer's
New York Times
obituary. Helen A. Harrison's essay in
Remembering the Future
deals with the whole episode brilliantly. I found Moses' reaction, rebuttal, and commentary among his papers, including his surprising defense of Philip Johnson's postmodern New York State Pavilion. I found Ada Louise Huxtable's pieces on the Fair and Johnson both in the
New York Times
and in her wonderful collection
On Architecture: Collected Reflections on a Century of Change
(Walker, 2008).

 

12.

Moses' reaction to the Kennedy assassination was found among his papers at the New York Public Library. While I was researching and writing this book,
Magic Trip
, the never-seen decades-old film that Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters shot of that first fateful cross-country trip to the World's Fair, was released. In the film Kesey discusses his desire to visit the World's Fair and his reaction to the JFK assassination.

The early references to the Beatles in the
New York Times
(“Britons Succumb To ‘Beatlemania'” by Frederick Lewis,
The New York Times
Magazine
, December 1, 1963) were particularly helpful—and quite amusing to read from this distance. While there are many, many books on the Beatles, there are, in reality, few good ones. Among the best are
Read the Beatles: Classic and New Writings on the Beatles, Their Legacy and Why They Still Matter,
edited by June Skiller Sawyers (Penguin, 2006), which was key to trying to understanding the Fab Four and the impact they had in both Britain and the United States in 1963–64. There is also the authoritative Bob Spitz biography,
The Beatles
(Little, Brown, 2005), and my personal favorite,
Can't Buy Me Love: The Beatles, Britain, and America
by Jonathan Gould (Three Rivers Press, 2007), which successfully puts the band in its appropriate social, historical, and cultural context.

 

13.

For America's shocked reaction to the death of President Kennedy, I turned to
The Last Innocent Year
as well as Robert A. Caro's fourth volume of his biography of Lyndon B. Johnson,
The Passage of Power
(Knopf, 2012). I also drew from the
New York Times
coverage, particularly Gay Talese's articles quoting people on the street. Moses' desire to pay homage to the slain president is detailed in various memos and letters to Edward Durrell Stone in the Moses Papers at the New York Public Library.

My account of New York City's crackdown on the downtown art scene was drawn from a wide range of sources (see my notes for Chapter 19). Information for this chapter came from Ed Sanders's memoir
Fug You
(Da Capo, 2011) and
I Celebrate Myself: The Somewhat Private Life of Allen Ginsberg
by Bill Morgan (Viking, 2006). Louis Menand's
New Yorker
essay on Andy Warhol (“Top of the Pops,” January 11, 2010) was also an important revelation on the subject. References to the
New York Times
' infamous article “Growth of Overt Homosexuality in City Provokes Wide Concern” on December 17, 1963, can be found in various books, including
City Poet: The Life and Times of Frank O'Hara
by Brad Gooch (Knopf, 1993) and Arthur Gelb's often brilliant memoir of his time at the
Times,
City Room
(Berkeley, 2003). I found the article itself in the
New York Times
archive. I based my account of Dylan's infamous reaction to receiving the Tom Paine Award from various Dylan biographies, including
No Direction Home: The Life and Music of Bob Dylan
(Da Capo, 1986) by Robert Shelton, the former music critic for the
New York
Times
.

 

Part Two: Something New

14.

Moses' complaints regarding the US Pavilion and his steadfast refusal to have the Beatles play any part in the World's Fair are detailed in memos from his papers. My description of the Beatles' arrival in New York is based on
The Last Innocent Year,
as well as
The Beatles Come to America
by Martin Goldsmith (J. Wiley, 2004); Bob Spitz's
The Beatles
; and Jonathan Gould's
Can't Buy Me Love
.

Once again, newspaper accounts of the band's arrival were, perhaps, the most enlightening sources and—no surprise—the
New York Times
' coverage of Beatlemania was second to none: “The Beatles Invade, Complete With Long Hair and Screaming Fans,” February 8, 1964, and Theodore Strongin's musical critique of the band helped illustrate how the Beatles were viewed by critics in 1964. The same is true of
Time
's February 21, 1964, dispatch on the band, “Singers: The Unbarbershopped Quartet.”
The New Yorker
ran a series of Talk of the Town pieces about the Fab Four in early 1964 that were also useful.

Helpful too was the band's own
Anthology
(Chronicle Books, 1997). John Lennon's memories of that fateful first trip to America are from his 1970 interview with Jann S. Wenner, which is collected in
Lennon Remembers
(Verso, 2000). I also consulted
Shout! The Beatles in Their Generation
by Philip Norman (Fireside, 1981) and
Read the Beatles
. Dylan's reaction to the band is drawn from David Hadju's
Positively 4th Street
. Louis Menand's essay “Why They Were Fab” (
The New Yorker,
October 16, 2000) was also immensely helpful.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention the multiple Beatles documentaries I watched in an attempt to place myself in the middle of the mass hysteria known as Beatlemania, including
Anthology
and
The Beatles: The First U.S. Visit
by Albert Maysles.

 

15.

The Fab Four's meeting with Cassius Clay is recounted in many places, but the most informative is David Remnick's masterful biography on Muhammad Ali,
King of the World
(Random House, 1998). Clay/Ali's connection to Malcolm X is also discussed in Manning Marable's brilliant
Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention
(Viking, 2011). I also consulted Nick Tosches's
The Devil and Sonny Liston
(Little, Brown, 2000). But most fun of all was my afternoon with the effervescent George Lois, the brilliant mind who produced all those
Esquire
covers in the 1960s. My thanks to him for his hospitality and taking the time to meet with me.

The various works of art, books, plays, and films that broke taboos in 1964 were detailed in various papers from the time and
The Last Innocent Year
. I also consulted
The End of Obscenity
by Charles Rembar (Harper & Row, 1968). Also important was Louisa Thomas's 2008 profile of Barney Rosset in
Newsweek
(“The Most Dangerous Man in Publishing”); his obituary in the
New York Times
from February 22, 2012; and the 2007 documentary on Rosset,
Obscene
. The long-forgotten
New Statesman
article by Paul Johnson is among the pieces collected in
Read the Beatles
.