In December of 2017 there were a flurry of articles in various
publications about a research paper published by Kyna Hamill, a theater history
professor from Boston University. This paper claimed that “Jingle Bells is
rooted in racism” (*1, *2, *3). What is the story behind these articles? And is
this true?
The Article
Dr. Hamill started researching the history of the famous Christmas
carol after a so-called “Jingle Bells War” – a dispute between two towns,
Medford, Massachusetts, and Savannah, Georgia, that both claimed to be the
birthplace of the song written by James Pierpont. Some of her quotes are:
“Its origins emerged
from the economic needs of a perpetually unsuccessful man, the racial politics
of antebellum Boston, the city’s climate, and the intertheatrical repertoire of
commercial blackface moving between Boston and New York.”
“The traces of
blackface minstrel origins can be found in the music and lyrics, as well as the
elements of ‘male display’, boasting, and the unbridled behavior of the male
body onstage.”
“Words such a
‘thro’, ‘tho’t’, and ‘upsot’ suggest a racialized performance that attempted to
sound ‘southern’ to a northern audience.”
“The first
documented performance of the song is in a blackface minstrel hall in Boston in
1857, the same year it was copyrighted. Much research has been done on the
problematic history of this nineteenth-century entertainment.”
Timeline of James Lord
Pierpont’s Life
James Lord Pierpont was born in 1822 in Boston, Massachusetts (*4). His
father, the Reverend John Pierpont, was a pastor of the Hollis Street Unitarian
Church in Boston, an abolitionist and a poet. At the age of 14 James ran away
to sea aboard a whaling ship. He then served in the US Navy until the age of
21.
By 1845 he had returned to New England where he married and settled in
the late 1840s in Medford, Massachusetts. In 1849 he left his wife and children
with his father and went to San Francisco to open a business during the
California Gold Rush. His business failed.
In 1852, James’ brother, John Jr., accepted a post with the Savannah, Georgia,
Unitarian congregation. James followed him there a few years later, taking a
post as the organist and music director of the church.
In 1852, James published his first song, “The Returned Californian”
which described his experiences in California. The first lines were, “Oh! I’m
going far away from my Creditors just now, I ain’t the tin to pay ‘em and
they’re kicking up a row.” He published many more songs during the following
decade, including polkas, ballads, and minstrel songs.
His first wife died in 1856 and the children of that marriage remained
in Massachusetts with their grandfather. James remarried in 1857 to the
daughter of the mayor of Savannah. In 1859 the church in Savannah closed due
its abolitionist position and his brother returned to the north. James stayed in
Savannah.
During the Civil War, James served in the Confederacy as a company
clerk and he wrote music for the Confederacy. Since his father served as a
military chaplain for the Union Army, James and his father were on opposite
sides during the war.
After the war, James and his family moved to Valdosta, Georgia, then a
few years later to Quitman, Georgia. He and his second wife eventually had four
children. He spent his final days in Winter Haven, Florida, where he died in
1893. At his request he was buried in Savannah.
Prior Controversies
This is not the first controversy about Jingle Bells. Because it was
not until many years later that the song became popular, the authorship of it
was sometimes attributed to James’ brother, John Jr., or even to his father,
John. It has also occasionally been attributed to J. S. Pierpont instead of J.
L. Pierpont. This is somewhat understandable as the original score is simply
marked “J. Pierpont.”
In addition, there is a claim that the song had been written in a tavern
in Medford during 1850. This is also quite obviously incorrect since James was
in California at that time. But the plaque in Medford has that date on it (*5).
[Note that the plaque says,
“’Jingle Bells’ composed here. On this site stood the Simpson Tavern, where in
1850 James Pierpont (1822-1893) write the song ‘Jingle Bells’ in the presence
of Mrs. Otis Waterman, who later verified that the song was written here.
Pierpont had the song copyrighted in 1857 while living in Georgia. ‘Jingle
Bells’ tells of the sleigh races held on Salem Street in the early 1800’s.
Medford Historical Society”]
A Timeline of the Controversy
Medford lay claim to the carol without challenge until 1969 when a
Savannah Unitarian, Milton Rahn, noticed that the song his daughter was playing
on a piano had the composer of J. Pierpont (*6). He had earlier found letters
written by John Pierpont, Jr. the church’s former pastor, and further research
found that James had married in Savannah in 1857, several weeks before he
copyrighted “Jingle Bells.” “I saw this as something to help us get publicity
for the church,” he said.
After Savannah erected a “Jingle Bells” marker across from the church
in 1985, then-Mayor John Rousakis declared the tune a Savannah song. A series
of not-so-jolly exchanges followed. The mayor of Medford wrote in 1989, “We
unequivocally state that ‘Jingle Bells’ was composed … in the town of Medford
during the year 1850!”
Later, in 2001, Ace Collins, author of the book “Stories Behind the
Best-Loved Songs of Christmas”, said that he found a New England newspaper from
the early 1840s that mentioned “One Horse Open Sleigh” (the original name of
the song) debuting in Medford at a Thanksgiving church service. The song proved
so popular, he said, that Pierpont gave a repeat performance at Christmas.
Most recently, Dr. Hamill found a playbill from the Harvard Theater
Collection that shows the song was first performed at Ordway Hall on Sept. 15,
1857, in blackface, during a minstrel show.
Finally, Wikipedia (*1) notes that “The song was copyrighted on
September 16, 1857. The song was originally performed in a Sunday school
concert on Thanksgiving in Savannah, Georgia.”
Resolving the Timeline
Problems
First, it’s pretty obvious that despite the plaque in Medford seemingly
quoting factual information, the date of composition in 1850 is incorrect as
James was in California at the time. The mayor of Medford relied on that
incorrect plaque in his letter to the mayor of Savannah in 1989. [It’s also worth noting that in the 1850’s
the “Simpson Tavern” quoted on the plaque did not yet exist. Mrs. Otis Waterman
at the time ran a boarding house called the “Seccomb House” which did own a
piano at the time, but the building did not become a tavern until some years
later.]
Next, despite the claim of the newspaper article quoted by Ace Collins,
it is highly unlikely that the first performance of the song was in the early
1840s. James was in the Navy until 1843, and all of his other known songs were
written between 1852 and 1863, so this claim is off by at least 10 years.
However, Wikipedia is correct on the date of the copyright. Their copy,
which is in the Library of Congress contains a hand-written inscription which
states that the document was “deposited” on that date and also gives a notation
where the copyright itself is stored (*7).
As Constance Turner, a great-granddaughter of James, wrote in 2003
(*6), “No one really knows where he was when he wrote it – that’s the rub.
Evidently, James was quite the free spirit and he published some bad songs and
one, at least, we know of that’s a very good song.” [Note
that Constance passed away in 2016, but I am in contact with one of her
children so that we can properly add her and her family to the official
Pierpont Family Tree.]
But Was Jingle Bells Racist?
Having addressed all the issues with where and when the song was
written, we need to get back to the initial question on whether the song is
racist. And to do that, we really need to consider the culture and history of
when it was written rather than the standards of today.
First, let’s look at James, the author. He came from a family that was
staunchly against slavery. His father has been called a “leading antebellum
antislavery poet” (*8). Research by the Medford Historical Society in 1903
(*9), noted that he “was a man of such positive convictions concerning slavery
and temperance.” James’ brother, John Jr., also had those types of convictions,
so much so that the Unitarian Church in Savannah was well known for its abolitionist
position.
But does that mean that James himself felt the same way? It is likely
not the case as he can be seen so often distancing himself from the views of
his father – in running away at sea, in leaving his family and going to
California, and in serving in the Confederacy.
During the period that James most likely wrote the song he had not yet
been in the South, so his primary influence was in the culture of Boston. He
was also known to have written other minstrel songs. The original score of the
song (*7) has the words “to John P. Ordway” above the song title on the cover
sheet. John Ordway was a music entrepreneur in Boston who had established a
blackface minstrel troupe in 1845 (*10). James’ first song, “The Returned
Californian”, was written specifically for Ordway. And thus it is quite
apparent from the cover sheet of “One Horse Open Sleigh” that this was also
written for Ordway (and the fact that the first documented performance was in
Ordway Hall (owned by the same individual) is not a coincidence). So James
wrote the song intending that it be performed by Ordway’s blackface
minstrel troupe.
Thus, I believe that a Wikipedia article (*4) got it right when it
says,
“Minstrel songs were
popular in the 1850s. … The lyrics to all minstrel songs reflect and mirror the
endemic racism and racial stereotypes inherent in American society and culture.
Minstrel songs and the minstrel genre exploited racial stereotypes and racially
stereotypical language. The minstrel genre, however, was only a representation
of the wider societal racism in the United States.”
The bottom line of my research is that I believe that the quotes by Dr.
Hamill given earlier in this blog are correct.
In 21st century America, we have long since forgotten, and
can no longer appreciate, the attitudes toward racism that existed 150 years
ago. And so, while we can still sing this popular song written by one of our
Pierpont ancestors and enjoy it, we still need to acknowledge the history of
the times that were behind it.
Notes:
*1 – https://www.wpxi.com/news/national/boston-professor-says-jingle-bells-is-rooted-in-racism/664987192
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