November 15, 2015 elvagreen123

NETWORKING-A DEFINITE BENEFIT TO MY QUEST

Hello Family: Personal, wordpress and FB. Yesterday I got a chance to attend a mini-fair and community gathering at the William Grant Still Community Arts Center in the West Adams District of Los Angeles, California. William Grant Still (May 11, 1895 – December 3, 1978) was an African-American classical composer who wrote more than 150 compositions. He was the first African-American to conduct a major American symphony orchestra, the first to have a symphony (his first symphony) performed by a leading orchestra, the first to have an opera performed by a major opera company, and the first to have an opera performed on national television. images (12)

The Art Center focuses on the artistic efforts of the community and has a variety of programming throughout the year reflecting the multicultural diversity of its neighborhood where Still resided for twenty years. It has been serving the Westside of Los Angeles since 1978.

My mom, pictured above, had aspirations to become an opera star, and I thought by attending this mini-fair I might be able to hook up with someone who remembered those days, the late 1930s through 1945. Well, I did. I also discovered a lot more information about the 1940s and 1950s and what was then a mostly Black neighborhood that was home to many entertainers, architects, doctors and lawyers.

I am focusing on entertainers in this post because that is what my mother and father did. I chose to go to the gathering at the William Grant Still Center because I also figured I would find people there who had an interest in opera. My mom used to sing at weddings at the Wilfandel Club on Adams Boulevard, and I found out yesterday that the club is still active. Possibly I will be able to find more information when I visit them.

I was actually able to provide some new information to the people I met, who were very interested in who Grandma Norma was. I forgot to mention while I was there that mom was Hattie McDaniel’s protege’, (Hattie McDaniel, first Black female to win an Academy Award,) though I did show them a picture with mom and Hattie, which a couple of people copied for themselves. I also had the following article, but I didn’t get a chance to share it yesterday. ” Representing Miss Hattie McDaniel as guest of Miss Lena Horne at her “after theatre,” party closing her Headline Orpheum appearance, was Miss Norma Anne Amato and her mother, Sinclaire White Amato, violinist and pedagog.” The Caifornial Eagle newspaper, June 22, 1944.

I was able to share information about mom’s mother, Sinclaire, who like Mr. Still, played the violin and was the sponsor of the Music Arts Association back in the day. 1931 to be exact. I was able to become acquainted with someone who would like to begin some type of Art Appreciation club here in L A. again for our kids.

Of course, I also took pictures of Eddie, my father, songwriter, producer, comedian, to share with the people I met. As I suspected, even though there were older people at this function, not one of them remembered Eddie. However, I found people who knew of people that Eddie worked with. So I was able to acquaint them with Eddie and I got a chance to exchange cards with other writers of black history.

Bringing Eddie’s accomplishments in the entertainment industry out of the shadows is my quest. I was able to accomplish that, somewhat, at yesterday’s event. I found one one-page article with information on it that I could connect to Eddie. Such as: The article mentioned Clarence Muse, actor, director, composer. I have this picture of Eddie and Clarence 00001389 Courtesy of L. A. Public Library, donated by Attorney Walter L. Gordon, Jr., my godfather.

The article I saw yesterday also mentioned Lena Horne, I have an article from the Pittsburgh Courier, 1945, in which the columnist wrote: “Last Monday through the courtesy of the NBC broadcasting studios, I witnessed the second production of “Jubilee” to be sent to those fine fellows across the sea: Eddie Green did a comic script with Santa Claus (Whitman) and Lena Horne.”

This same one page article that I found yesterday mentioned Sydney P. Dones, former actor and producer, well I found an article from The California Eagle, March 20, 1947, that mentioned Eddie and my godfather being at the same function, as Mr. Dones.: “Dropped in on the candlelight introduction of Les Dames club Sunday evening, Atty. Walt Gordon seemed to be having a grand time greeting old friends, as did Norma and Eddie Green, Sidney Dones.”

The point here is that though Eddie was a visible, well-known figure in those days, it seem to me that he has faded from view. I hope to rectify that.

These folks lived near each other in the Adams Historical District in the 40s and 50s. Hattie McDaniel on Harvard, Sidney Dones, on Hobart, Clarence Muse on 24th Street, Rochester, a friend of the family lived off of 37th Street and we lived on Second Avenue, near 36th Street.

I got the chance yesterday to network and share Eddie’s history, and mom’s. And I will go to great lengths to do that. It took me 4 hours on the bus to get there, same to get back (MTA and Red Line), but I did it.

I will leave you with a few lines from the Eddie Green, Ernest Whitman, Lena Horne skit.

SANTA(Ernest Whitman): Well, my boy, I brought you something that you’ll like. This is your package.

EDDIE: I guess I’ll open it. Well, looka here, it’s a Lena Horne mamas doll, ain’t that nice. It’ll be good if when I squeeze it, it says mama.

LENA (seductively): Oh daddy.

EDDIE: Well, That’s good enough!

By folks, thanks for stopping by, and thank you Kristina, for giving me the idea to research Grandma Norma’s singing career.

Peace and love

January 23, 2015 elvagreen123

A Journey of Awareness and Motivation

Great-grandfather, great-grandmother, great-grandson.

Ok, here are pictures of my father, Eddie Green, my mom, Norma and my grandson, Edward. When my grandson was born he was named Edward, not because he was Eddie’s great-grandson, but because it was simply the name his mother chose. Until 2014 I thought my father’s natal name was Eddie, in my research I came across information verifying my father’s birth name was Edward. I was ecstatic. Another discovery! Which totally aligns with the fact that Eddie copyrighted his first song under the name Edward Green in 1917. Another fun fact for me has been that my grandson, Edward has chosen to have people call him Eddie. Just like his great-grandfather. Plus, they look so much alike, don’t you agree?

My idea of writing a biography about my father came from the fact that when my grandson, Edward, was little, he used to use the phrase “I can’t” a lot. So, I decided to put together what I knew about my father, who rose from poverty to prominence, and put it in book form. My purpose for doing a biography of my father, was to give my grandson an example, from within his own family, of what a person can accomplish. I figured if I show him what his own great-grandfather was able to accomplish as a black man, beginning in the early 1900’s until 1950, that it would provide him some motivation and inspire him to believe in himself and his own abilities.

I had no idea 15 years ago when I came up with this book idea, that the information I had about my father would lead me to finding so much more, and that I would still be discovering, to this day, new articles and more pictures featuring my father, such as this one on the set of the radio program, “Duffy’s Tavern”, in which my father played “Eddie, the Waiter” from 1941-1950.

Life happens. It interrupts the flow of our endeavors. Edward, my grandson, is an adult now, and my book has just gotten started. But it’s OK, because Edward has been able to follow along with me on this journey of awareness. We are both learning about accomplishing our goals and what it takes to do so. I have to say here, that I am truly proud of my grandson, he has grown into a good listener and has kept himself on the right track. As for myself, I have accomplished a new skill in starting a blog, I wasn’t sure I could do it, but here I am! I am learning that in regard to my own endeavors, “Can’t Is Not In My Vocabulary.” Stay tuned!

December 13, 2014 elvagreen123

RESEARCH, ANYONE?

For four years now I have been researching my father’s life. Basically before I began my research, the only information I had about my father, was that he married my mom in 1945, he had a little money (mom said he was one of the few people who had a refrigerator as opposed to an icebox), he had written a song that had become a hit, that he was a fanatic about short wave radio and that he had been an old time radio star. I only had one (1) picture of Eddie, a head shot, that my mother gave me when I turned 40 years old. And I had seen my father in a movie once when I was eight, he played the waiter in the movie which was also the part he played in the radio program “Duffy’s Tavern”.

What I have discovered in the past four years is that the more information I find, the more information I find. For instance, this past month I read two articles that mentioned Eddie Green being in the Army around 1942. Well, even though I had not found any information on Eddie being in the Service, I really did not think these articles were talking about my father, since Eddie was a bit old to be in the Army during WWII. But I wrote myself a little note and a few days later, I got on the net and looked up my father’s name in the WWII draft registration cards and his name was there on the screen.

Eddie had at some point and time decided to change his birth year from 1891 to 1896. The good thing about this discovery is that the birth date of the draft registration card matched the date on Eddie’s Social Security Card Application which I had just received in the mail. And the signatures matched. So now I know his real age. What I don’t know is why he would be signing up for the draft at 50 years of age. Being curious, I went on-line and queried WWII and that is how I found out about the “old man’s draft”. The government decided to have a registration in April of 1942 and to sign up all men of a certain age, not to fight, but to be available, just in case.

There was one other thing the draft registration card gave me,the address of Eddie’s place of business, which was the same address listed in a 1942 Pittsburgh newspaper article which stated “Eddie Green Opens Musicians’ School”. I had found the article about a year ago, but I needed verification and now I had it.

My research is paying off big-time. There is nothing I would rather be doing. I am getting another chance to meet my father, a man I only remember as a vague somebody who would sit me on his lap. Who are you thinking about researching?