Eleanor Roosevelt, Jackie Robinson, the NAACP, the "Little Rock Nine," and a Poughkeepsie concert that pulled them all together; November 1, 1958.
By Bill Kleppel
Throughout my life, as an unapologetic history nerd, I’ve been catching up with histories that seem to have relevance to what’s transpiring today. It helps me make more sense of the world I’m living in.
History is a tool. It’s a key to unlock the present. Yet, as I get older, I get the creeping sensation that I’m not “catching up” with history at all. History is catching up with me.
Has history always been this cyclical? Do we learn anything from our past collective experiences? Or are we resigned to the same fate as others that have lived in similar situations in the past? The outcomes from history repeating itself aren’t very pretty.
Yet, you can always unearth stories and events, no matter how small or inconsequential, which give glimmers of hope for our future. One small case in point happened here, at the Poughkeepsie High School Auditorium, on the night of November 1, 1958.
The Melody Fair
Eleanor Roosevelt, the Dutchess County Branch of the NAACP, and other local officials, decided to organize a concert to bring awareness to an active national campaign for the desegregation of public schools. All money earned from this benefit went directly to the NAACP’s efforts for this cause.
The Melody Fair concert would showcase a variety of musical genres from symphonic, to jazz, to rock ’n’ roll. The professional and amateur talent included violinist Alice Smiley, pianist Helen Brainard, The Vassar Performing Dance Group, Lenny Kahn and his Orchestra, The IBM Male Chorus, the Bel-Aires, Clint McClain and The Rhythm- Aires, and many more.
Eleanor Roosevelt, a board member of the NAACP since 1945, asked Jackie Robinson to be the show’s Master of Ceremonies. Robinson had recently retired as the second baseman of the Brooklyn Dodgers. He’ll forever be remembered as the first player to break Major League Baseball’s color barrier in 1947. Robinson was a vital figure in the Civil Rights Movement, and became much more pro-active after his retirement.
“Jackie Robinson made my success possible. Without him, I would never have been able to do what I did.” -Martin Luther King Jr.
Violinist Alice M. Smiley (Poughkeepsie Journal Photo Archive)
rock ’n’ roll circa 1950’s
This night of music, dance, and revelry was being replicated in various ways throughout the nation. It was just another expression of non-violent activism that could bring people of every race, color, and religion together for positive causes.
Yet, the pushback against this campaign, from large swaths of the South and the North, was swift, incredibly violent, and seething with racism and rage.
The Little Rock Nine
The idea for the Melody Fair concert was fueled by incidents stemming from the attempt to desegregate the schools of Little Rock, Arkansas. The “Little Rock Nine” were the brave students who were registered to enter the city’s Central High School in early September 1957.
Little Rock Nine Students, 1957
A swirling chaos on whether or not these kids could attend school played out between the Governor of Arkansas and the federal government, The National Guard and the state police, and the growing mass of protestors who wanted desperately to keep these African-American students from “mixing” with white students.
Segregationists Protesting at the State Capital; Little Rock, Arkansas, 1957
Elizabeth Eckford enduring racial slurs and being spit on while walking to Central High School; Little Rock, Arkansas, 1957
On September 23, 1957, the students were finally let into the school by a side door. Over 1,000 white people rioted out front, and eventually the nine children had to be removed from the building. A few days later, after Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus dismissed the National Guard, President Eisenhower sent the US 101st Airborne Division to help escort the students back into the school.
Arkansas State Press (Little Rock, AR), September 27, 1957
The violence continued into the next year. Riots and bomb threats came from outside of the school, while physical and verbal abuse from students came from within. After the school year ended, a federal judge ruled in favor of a delay in the integration of Arkansas schools until 1961.
The Success of the Melody Fair
The lead up to the concert was greeted quickly and enthusiastically by supporters and the public at large. In a Poughkeepsie Journal op-ed from September 16, 1958, Mrs. W.G. Bouricious wrote:
“Individuals supporting a project like this can know that they will be doing far more than giving aid to individuals who are suffering from discrimination practices…, and that people are …demonstrating that they themselves wish to live in a non-segregated society.”
She also added that the concert is a good opportunity:
“…for individual citizens to demonstrate just how free from prejudice they really are.”
In an October 28th op-ed, the Dutchess County NAACP President, Jennie Reed, wrote:
“It has been amazing that a group of citizens could become an organization overnight and accomplish so much.”
She thought the immediate reception of endorsements for the project was:
“…simply miraculous.”
In her “My Day” column, Eleanor Roosevelt urged a large turnout. She had hoped for at least 800 to attend. Eleanor was impressed that residents of Dutchess County:
“…felt strongly enough about the Little Rock situation to want to show that an interracial group could come together in this state and enjoy working in behalf of a serious purpose like this one.”
A crowd of 1,500 turned out to attend the show. People were standing in the aisles and spilling into the outside corridors of the auditorium. So many Poughkeepsie citizens were involved in this program. Even the local Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts volunteered to be ushers. The act that stood out to many was the saxophone playing of Clint McClain. Jackie Robinson later proclaimed that Clint, “brought down the house.”
The benefit received $3,500.
Little Rock Nine in 2017
A 60th anniversary celebration for the Little Rock Nine was held in Denver, Colorado, in 2017. The mayor of Denver at the time, Michael B. Hancock, wrote this:
“The emotional weekend was a reminder of how incredibly important it is that our youth remain connected to our history. Whether it’s our fight for independence, the Holocaust, the Little Rock Nine, slavery or the Sand Creek Massacre, our young people need to understand that someone fought hard, often paying the ultimate price for rights that they would never fully enjoy themselves, so that we may enjoy them freely today. These moments should educate, inform, and inspire our youth, so that they avoid repeating the mistakes of previous generations.”
The remaining Little Rock Nine Students, 60 years Later - 2017
After learning more about the Little Rock Nine, and the events of one Saturday night in Poughkeepsie in 1958, I’ll ask you this: Have we all become so cynical? Have the lessons we’ve learned from such heroic acts and community activism devolved to have such little value? Have we forgotten to understand that events like these transformed our society, and have given all of us the opportunities we have today?
All of us.
Our family, friends, home, and the town or city we live in, are all extremely important and should be cherished.
But this alone is not all of us. It doesn’t define our entire country. We must work together in order for all of us to exist and prosper. Our democracy depends on it.
The Jackie Robinson Rotunda; Citi Field, Flushing, Queens, NY (taken by author)
“A Life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives” – Jackie Robinson
References
- Markusen, Bruce. “MLK, Baseball Supported Each Other in Quest of Civil Rights.” MLK, Baseball Supported Each Other in Quest of Civil Rights | Baseball Hall of Fame, baseballhall.org/discover/MLK-baseball-supported-each-other-in-quest-of-civil-rights. Accessed 12 Feb. 2025.
- “Little Rock.” Little Rock Central High School | LITTLE ROCK, www.lrsd.org/page/history-little-rock-central-high-school. Accessed 12 Feb. 2025.
- Hancock, Michael B. “Little Rock Nine: Inspiring the World 60 Years Later.” Denver Urban Spectrum, 2 Nov. 2017, www.denverurbanspectrum.com/2017/11/02/little-rock-nine-inspiring-the-world-60-years-later/.
- “Little Rock Nine, School Desegregation, Civil Rights Movement, 1957, Brown v. Board of Education, Racial Integration, Central High School.” Bill of Rights Institute, billofrightsinstitute.org/essays/the-little-rock-nine. Accessed 12 Feb. 2025.
- Roberts, Sam. “The Little Rock Nine.” The New York Times Upfront, 4 Sept. 2017, upfront.scholastic.com/issues/2017-18/090417/the-little-rock-nine.html?language=english#1210L.
- Walker, Malea. “Searching African American Newspapers in Chronicling America: Headlines & Heroes.” The Library of Congress, 28 Feb. 2023, blogs.loc.gov/headlinesandheroes/2023/02/searching-african-american-newspapers-in-chronicling-america/.
- “Rock n’ Roll in the 1950’s.” Sknazari1981, 30 May 2015, sknazari1981.wordpress.com/2015/05/24/rock-n-roll-in-the-1950s-2/.
- Bouricius, Mrs. Willard G. “Sep 16, 1958, Page 6 - Poughkeepsie Journal at Newspapers.Com.” Historical Newspapers from 1700s-2000s - Newspapers.Com, Poughkeepsie Journal, 16 Sept. 1958, www.newspapers.com/image/115009177/?match=1&terms=Melody+Fair.
- Reed, Jennie. “Oct 28, 1958, Page 6 - Poughkeepsie Journal at Newspapers.Com.” Historical Newspapers from 1700s-2000s - Newspapers.Com, Poughkeepsie Journal , www.newspapers.com/image/115076548/?match=1&terms=Melody+Fair. Accessed 12 Feb. 2025.
- Roosevelt, Eleanor. “My Day.” My Day by Eleanor Roosevelt, October 27, 1958, www2.gwu.edu/~erpapers/myday/displaydoc.cfm?_y=1958&_f=md004260. Accessed 12 Feb. 2025.
- “800 Make Reservations To Attend Melody Fair.” Historical Newspapers from 1700s-2000s - Newspapers.Com, Poughkeepsie Journal, 1958, www.newspapers.com/image/115079527/?match=1&terms=%22Melody+Fair%22.
- “Nov 02, 1958, Page 4 - Poughkeepsie Journal at Newspapers.Com.” Capacity Crowd Sees Melody Fair, Poughkeepsie Journal , 2 Nov. 1958, www.newspapers.com/image/114427700/.