I was initially drawn to
this play by the title. Then I
discovered the play was written by a woman I had never heard of, even though I
have done extensive research on women playwrights. So I decided to read the
play. Fanny Bixby Spencer’s life (1879-1930), her ideas and her position on
several political issues of her time are all clearly reflected in this play.
Fanny Bixby was born into
a family that owned Rancho Los Cerritos, an estate that covered thousands of
acres and was located about sixteen miles south of Los Angeles,
California. Her father founded the city
of Long Beach, California on part of his acreage. Fanny received an education
at private boarding schools, including Pomona Preparatory School. She attended Wellesley College for two or
three years. She studied economics and sociology—a new career field that led her
to becoming a social worker. Fanny began working as a volunteer at Boston’s
Denison Settlement. Eventually Fanny decided not to stay in college since she
wanted to commence working full-time to improve conditions for those in need.
Even though Fanny Bixby
had been born into a family of means, reputation and social standing, she was
an independent thinker. In 1908, she was
hired by the Long Beach Police Force to serve as its first policewoman. She was one of the first police women in the
United States. She soon joined the
Suffragettes and participated as an active member. Prior to World War One, Fanny was an active
speaker for two political causes: she was a pacifist and a member of the
Socialist Party. As a pacifist, Fanny
Bixby believed that armed conflict between nations is never acceptable. She was
opposed to war. Due to Fanny’s many pacifist activities, she was ostracized by her
friends.
Following the passage of
the 1917 United States Espionage Act, Fanny Bixby curtailed her antiwar
speeches. Once World War One was
concluded, she commenced speaking about pacifist beliefs. She did not believe World War One would be
the war to end all wars, so she continued, until her death, her antiwar
speaking crusade.
Fanny Bixby was, in
addition to being an active speaker, an author of poems and magazine
articles. In 1916 she published her book
of poems titled Within and Without.
Many of these poems were published in newspapers throughout the United States.
She met William Carl Spencer in 1913 and they were married in 1918. They shared many of the same political
views. The couple had no children of
their own, but they raised a number of foster children from different ethnic
backgrounds.
Sometime in late 1920,
Fanny Spencer wrote a play titled The
Jazz of Patriotism (an anti-war play). Fanny Spencer produced the play
October of 1928 in Los Angeles at the Egan Theatre. She had rented the theatre
for a two week run. Martin Volkoff, one of her foster sons, was interviewed for
a newspaper article that appeared in the Independent
Press-Telegram on January 24, 1971. He remembered that the play was
directed by Josephine Dillon, Clark Gable’s first wife and manager—Gable was a
bit player in films at this time. Dillon
also acted one of the roles. He recalled
the play did not make any money and that “Mrs. Spencer gave most of the tickets
away.” He also remembered that Fanny
Spencer was delighted to have her name on the front page of a French newspaper
that quoted some lines of her play.
Fanny Spencer states in
the Introduction to The Jazz of
Patriotism:
In writing and publishing
this play which deals with actual facts and
circumstances of
the war period, I have had a two-fold intent to draw
a picture of life among the stay-at-homes and to bring to light the
elements of a profound and misunderstood philosophy.
The play is divided into
four acts. Act One takes place somewhere
in the United States during the Summer of 1917.
This act is set in the Sunday School room of a church. Act Two is during the Fall of 1917 and it is
in the living room of Mrs. Holden’s home.
Mrs. Holden is the protagonist and the character who represents Fanny
Spencer’s political position. In Act Three it is the Winter of 1918. The setting is the kitchen of the
Schweitzer’s home. They are a family of
German emigrants. Act Four takes place
during the Fall of 1918 and it is in Mrs Holden’s living room again. I have the sense that this act should have
been set in Winter of 1918 like the previous act, but Fall is what is printed
in the script.
The play demonstrates the
abuse Mrs. Holden and her family faced as well as the plight of a family of
German emigrants. By-in-large the major
characters in the play are either patriotic or deemed unpatriotic. The play
explores the unfair treatment of those viewed as unpatriotic. It is an
interesting read as well as informative about the sentiments of many citizens
on the home front.
As I mentioned at the top
of the post, I was initially drawn to the title of the play. I believe Fanny
Bixby Spencer clearly makes her play live up to the title. She understood the elements of jazz and
applied them to the voices, characters and situations. She utilized deliberate
distortions of intensity as well as a complexity of ideas without a middle
ground. At times this play pulses off the page taking hold of the reader even
if the reader does not adhere to the extremes of either ideology.
Reference:
Harris, Marcia Lee. Fanny Bixby Spencer:
Long Beach’s Inspirational Firebrand.
Charleston:
The History Press, 2013.
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