The Fortean Society was a New York City -based society started in the United States in 1931 during a meeting held in the flat of American writer Charles Hoy Fort , in order to promote his ideas of Forteana .
83-566: Its first president was Theodore Dreiser , an old friend of Charles Fort, who had helped to get his work published. Founding members of the Fortean Society included Tiffany Thayer , Booth Tarkington , Ben Hecht , Alexander Woollcott , and many of New York's literati such as Dorothy Parker . Other members included Vincent Gaddis , Ivan T. Sanderson , A. Merritt , Frank Lloyd Wright , and Buckminster Fuller . But "Fort had his share of detractors; his friend H. L. Mencken said his head
166-581: A "wide and enduring appeal". Newspaper and magazine columnist H. L. Mencken remarked that it is a "high honor to write songs that a hundred million people all know and all love" in a reference to Dresser's work. The Indiana General Assembly named his most famous song, "On the Banks of the Wabash", as the state song on March 14, 1913. In total, Dresser composed and published more than 150 songs and also left behind several unpublished compositions. His last work
249-582: A Catholic church in Brazil, Indiana , but left after less than a year. Shortly thereafter, Charley Kelly, a traveling minstrel, hired Dresser to join his act as a piano player. The two traveled around southern Indiana, playing wherever they could to earn a meager income. After a few months, Kelly disappeared with their money during a show, leaving Dresser with no funds to pay their lodging or food bills. Dresser spent two days in jail as punishment. After his release Dresser went to Indianapolis in search of work and
332-434: A crime that attracted widespread attention from newspapers. While the novel sold well, it also was criticized for its portrayal of a man without morals who commits a sordid murder. Though known primarily as a novelist, Dreiser also wrote short stories, publishing his first collection of 11, entitled, Free and Other Stories in 1918. His story "My Brother Paul" was a biography of his older brother Paul Dresser , who became
415-565: A famous songwriter in the 1890s. This story formed the basis for the 1942 romantic movie My Gal Sal . Dreiser also wrote poetry. His poem "The Aspirant" (1929) continues his theme of poverty and ambition: a young man in a shabbily furnished room describes his own and the other tenants' dreams, and asks "why? why?" The poem appeared in The Poetry Quartos , collected and printed by Paul Johnston , and published by Random House in 1929. Other works include Trilogy of Desire , based on
498-625: A fire destroyed the Sullivan mill; a year later he suffered a work-related head injury. In 1867 his father and two partners purchased and operated a new mill, but the business lost its roof in a storm and the men sold it for a loss. As a young boy living in Sullivan, Dresser may have seen his first minstrel groups and medicine-wagon shows. The town was frequented by bands that played many of the era's popular and patriotic songs at numerous carnivals, festivals, circuses, and fairs. By 1871 Dresser's family had returned to Terre Haute, where his father secured
581-466: A great American business novel." Renowned mid-century literary critic Irving Howe spoke of Dreiser as ranking "among the American giants, the very few American giants we have had." A British view of Dreiser came from the publisher Rupert Hart-Davis : "Theodore Dreiser's books are enough to stop me in my tracks, never mind his letters—that slovenly turgid style describing endless business deals, with
664-408: A great artist, and that no other American of his generation left so wide and handsome a mark upon the national letters. American writing, before and after his time, differed almost as much as biology before and after Darwin . He was a man of large originality, of profound feeling, and of unshakable courage. All of us who write are better off because he lived, worked, and hoped." Dreiser's great theme
747-619: A home. In 1882 he visited his family, whom he had not communicated with in more than three years. Through correspondence, Dresser learned they were in a desperate financial situation. His father and the family's older children were living in Terre Haute, while his mother and the younger children worked on a farm in Sullivan. Known for his generosity, Dresser sent his mother a substantial sum of money and arranged for his three youngest siblings to move into his Evansville home and took care of their needs. Because Dresser kept no diary, most of what
830-478: A job in another woolen mill. About 1870, Dresser's father, a devout Catholic and known for his "religious zealotry" according to his son Theodore, sent his eldest son to St. Meinrad Seminary in southern Indiana to study for the priesthood. While living with his family in Sullivan, Dresser was befriended by Father Herman Joseph Alerding , a local priest who was a St. Meinrad graduate. Alerding may have taught Dresser to play brass musical instruments and influenced
913-591: A job with Barlow, Wilson, Primrose, and West, a prominent traveling minstrel group that was among the most famous in the nation at the time. After traveling with minstrel shows, Dresser went to New York City around 1879. According to an 1898 interview, he hoped to find work in Augustin Daly 's theatre. By 1881 Dresser had returned to Indiana and took a job at the Apollo Theatre in Evansville . At
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#1732783332062996-550: A lack of a firm moral code, and literary situations that more closely resemble studies of nature than tales of choice and agency . Dreiser's best known novels include Sister Carrie (1900) and An American Tragedy (1925). Dreiser was born in Terre Haute, Indiana , to John Paul Dreiser and Sarah Maria (née Schanab). John Dreiser was a German immigrant from Mayen in the Rhine Province of Prussia , and Sarah
1079-433: A living wage, falls prey to several men, and ultimately achieves fame as an actress. The novel sold poorly and was considered controversial because it featured a country girl who pursues her dreams of fame and fortune through relationships with men. The book has acquired a considerable reputation. It has been called by Donald L. Miller the "greatest of all American urban novels." In 1901 Dreiser's short story "Nigger Jeff"
1162-472: A national audience. He stopped selling his songs through midwestern publishers, moved to New York City, and turned to Willis Woodward and Company, a New York City music publisher located in the area that later became known as Tin Pan Alley . Woodward and Company printed "nearly three dozen" of Dresser's songs. Dresser continued traveling with The Two Johns show until the end of 1889 and composed music after
1245-475: A noted author. In July 1863 the family moved to Sullivan, Indiana , where Dresser's father became foreman of the newly opened Sullivan Woolen Mills. Although his father worked in other woolen mills in Ohio and Indiana, he was not a successful businessman or manager of a mill. During Dresser's youth the family struggled with periods of poverty and misfortune. In 1865 Dresser's father temporarily lost his job after
1328-450: A peculiarly American kind of crime, a form of "murder for money", when "the young ambitious lover of some poorer girl" found "a more attractive girl with money or position" but could not get rid of the first girl, usually because of pregnancy. Dreiser claimed to have collected such stories every year between 1895 and 1935. He based his novel on details and the setting of the 1906 murder of Grace Brown by Chester Gillette in upstate New York,
1411-406: A performer; he began by writing songs featured in his shows and later wrote and sold songs to others' acts. Dresser moved to New York City , and in 1893 Dresser joined Tin Pan Alley 's Howley, Haviland and Company, a New York City sheet music publisher, as a silent partner . At the height of his success, Dresser was a nationally known entertainer, successful songwriter, and sheet music publisher. He
1494-462: A seduction every hundred pages as light relief. If he's the great American novelist, give me the Marx Brothers every time." The literary scholar F. R. Leavis wrote that Dreiser "seems as though he learned English from a newspaper. He gives the feeling that he doesn't have any native language". One of Dreiser's strongest champions during his lifetime, H. L. Mencken , declared "that he is
1577-603: A traveling minstrel act and performed in several regional theaters before joining John Hamlin 's Wizard Oil traveling medicine-wagon show in 1878. Dresser composed his first songs while working for Hamlin. He settled in Evansville, Indiana , for several years while continuing to work as a traveling performer and musician. Eventually, he became a nationally known talent and participated in several traveling acts, including The Two Johns , A Tin Soldier , and The Danger Signal . Dresser's songwriting talent developed during his years as
1660-528: A week. One music historian attributed "Wabash"'s success to the "perfect marriage of words and music", where the flow of the music matches the words in a perfect fashion. Millions of people sang this popular song in the U.S. It was a featured song in music halls, on vaudeville stages, and in male quartet performances across the country. In addition, the song's popularity spread internationally to places frequented by American travelers. Other songwriters wrote comic parodies of Dresser's songs as well. For example, at
1743-660: A year, performing as an actor and singer, before they disbanded near the end of 1877. Next, Dresser went to Chicago , where John Austin Hamlin hired him to sing and perform in his traveling shows marketing Wizard Oil , a patent medicine . > Dresser composed his first songs while working for Hamlin. They were marketed as the Paul Dresser Songster (a songbook of sheet music) and sold to audiences after his performances. Few details are known of Dresser's life between 1878 and 1880. Around 1878 Dresser may have taken
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#17327833320621826-578: Is also named after him. In 2011, Dreiser was inducted into the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame. Paul Dresser Paul Dresser (born Johann Paul Dreiser Jr. ; April 22, 1857 – January 30, 1906) was an American singer, songwriter , and comedic actor of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Dresser performed in traveling minstrel and medicine-wagon shows and as a vaudeville entertainer for decades, before transitioning to music publishing later in life. His biggest hit, " On
1909-405: Is his music. Although Dresser had no formal training in music composition, he wrote ballads that had wide popular appeal, especially home-and-mother songs and songs of lost sweethearts and dead heroes. Warm and "genuinely tender", they represented a middle-class perspective. While Dresser's melodies and lyrics were often sad, they could also be "spirited and bubbly" or "emotional and sentimental" with
1992-628: Is known about his personal life came from his brother, Theodore. While living in Evansville, Dresser began a long-term relationship with a local woman, whom Theodore identified as Annie Brace, the proprietor of Evansville's most prominent brothel . Her professional name was Sallie Walker and she may have been the subject of one of Dresser's most famous songs, " My Gal Sal ". Historians believe that Annie Brace and Sallie Walker may have both been aliases for Minnie Holland, although this has not been confirmed. The relationship continued for several years, but
2075-483: Is long but, because of him, those who follow will never have to face the road through the wilderness of Puritan denial, the road that Dreiser faced alone. Alfred Kazin characterized Dreiser as "stronger than all the others of his time, and at the same time more poignant; greater than the world he has described, but as significant as the people in it," while Larzer Ziff (UC Berkeley) remarked that Dreiser "succeeded beyond any of his predecessors or successors in producing
2158-740: Is named in his honor. The Paul Dresser Birthplace is maintained at Henry Fairbanks Park in Terre Haute by the Vigo County Historical Society. In 1967 the Indiana General Assembly designated the home as a state shrine and memorial. The property is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and the National Music Council lists the home as "A Landmark of American Music". The village of Dresser , also called Taylorville,
2241-760: Is situated on the west bank of the Wabash River in Vigo County and was also named for the songwriter. Dresser Drive, a street in the Forest Hills neighborhood of Anderson, Indiana , is named for him, as is the Dresser Bridge, which crosses the Wabash River , near Attica, Indiana . Actor Victor Mature portrayed Dresser in the musical film My Gal Sal (1942). The plot bears little resemblance to Dresser's life, and songs actually written by Dresser are mingled with songs attributed to him in
2324-617: The Chicago Daily Globe under the name Carl Dreiser. By 1895 he was writing articles for magazines. He authored articles on writers such as Nathaniel Hawthorne , William Dean Howells , Israel Zangwill , and John Burroughs and interviewed public figures such as Andrew Carnegie , Marshall Field , Thomas Edison , and Theodore Thomas . His other interviewees included Lillian Nordica , Emilia E. Barr, Philip Armour , and Alfred Stieglitz . In 1895, Dreiser convinced business associates of his songwriter brother Paul to give him
2407-669: The Great Terror and the non-aggression pact with Adolf Hitler . Dreiser joined the Communist Party USA in August 1945 and later became the honorary president of the League of American Writers . Although less politically radical friends, such as H. L. Mencken , spoke of Dreiser's relationship with communism as an "unimportant detail in his life", Dreiser's biographer Jerome Loving notes that his political activities since
2490-681: The atomic bomb as a hoax. The Fortean Society Magazine (also called Doubt ) was published regularly until Thayer's death in Nantucket, Massachusetts in 1959, when the society went on hiatus and the magazine came to an end. Writers Paul and Ron Willis, publishers of Anubis , acquired most of the original Fortean Society material and revived the Fortean Society as the International Fortean Organization (INFO) in 1961. INFO continues to this day and went on to incorporate in 1965, publish The INFO Journal: Science and
2573-405: The "south", away from his family and career. His brother Theodore speculated that Dresser may have had an affair and possibly fathered a child or he contracted syphilis . Dresser's song “The Curse”, written in 1887, may have referred to this period in his life. Its lyrics refer to a dead child and a lover turned enemy. Whatever the case, Dresser did not return to his family or resume performing for
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2656-464: The 'Old Swimmin' Hole." The location of where the song was written is referenced in a short story in The Atlantic by Elizabeth Stuckey-French. She wrote, "Paul Dresser wrote 'On the Banks of the Wabash' at Mudlavia." For a period Dresser was the most famous composer in the nation. Wabash was the best selling song of its time in terms of sheet music sold; over one million copies had been sold in
2739-469: The 1930s). Helen tolerated Dreiser's affairs, and they remained together until his death. Dreiser and Helen married on June 13, 1944, his first wife Sara having died in 1942. Dreiser planned to return from his first European vacation on the Titanic , but was talked out of it by an English publisher who recommended he board a cheaper ship. Dreiser was an atheist. Dreiser had an enormous influence on
2822-601: The Apollo he occasionally acted, but normally provided music for the plays. In Evansville, Dresser honed his skills as a musician and eventually became a nationally renowned talent. He also wrote a "humor-and-advice" column for a local newspaper, the Evansville Argus . By the time he left Evansville in 1886 he was "a local favorite" who toured the country giving performances. In March 1881 Dresser went to Chicago, where he headlined his own act. He also starred as one of
2905-467: The Banks of the Wabash, Far Away " (1897), was the best selling song of its time. Although Dresser had no formal training in music composition, he wrote ballads that had wide appeal, including some of the most popular songs of the era. During a career that spanned nearly two decades, from 1886 to 1906, Dresser composed and published more than 150 songs. Following the success of "Wabash", many newspapers compared Dresser to popular composer Stephen Foster . "On
2988-509: The Banks of the Wabash, Far Away " (1897), which took Dresser's career to its pinnacle. In "Wabash" Dresser reminisced about his childhood home in Indiana, which was near the Wabash River . With the success of "Wabash", many newspapers compared Dresser to popular music composer Stephen Foster . When asked what inspired him to compose the song, Dresser replied, "The same sweet memory that inspired that other Hoosier, James Whitcomb Riley, to sing
3071-593: The Banks of the Wabash, Far Away" became the official song of Indiana in 1913. The Paul Dresser Birthplace in Terre Haute is designated as a state shrine and memorial. Dresser was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970. Dresser grew up in a large family (including his brother, novelist Theodore Dreiser ) and lived in Sullivan and Terre Haute, Indiana . He had a troubled childhood and spent time in jail. Dresser left home at age sixteen to join
3154-541: The House of Four Pillars, an 1830s Greek Revival house in Maumee, Ohio . There Dreiser began work on his first novel, Sister Carrie , published in 1900. Unknown to Maude, Arthur sold a half-interest in the house to Dreiser to finance a move to New York without her. In Sister Carrie , Dreiser portrayed a changing society, writing about a young woman who flees rural life for the city (Chicago), fails to find work that pays
3237-927: The Howley and Dresser partnership declared bankruptcy. Determined to continue as a music publisher, Dresser established the Paul Dresser Company with money borrowed from his brother, Ed, but this venture failed as well. According to one biographer, Dresser's generosity "had few limits". In December 1900, Dresser's father died. Although the two had not been close, Dresser wrote a poem in his father's honor. In addition, Dresser gave money to "tramps, hangers-on, and to those who were simply down on their luck." He also helped support his siblings, including his brother, Theodore. Dresser began giving out money to his friends to help them. Despite his falling income, Dresser continued to spend liberally. He gave away large sums of money to his friends and family, spent vast sums at
3320-544: The Sea", "See That No One Plucks the Flowers from My Grave", and "My Mother Taught Me How to Pray" were supposedly published by Arthur P. Schmidt; however, one of Dresser's biographers reported that "1886 is the first year in which a published Dresser song can be documented." Few details are known of the period from late 1883 to the summer of 1886. In 1884 Dresser claimed to have an undisclosed illness. For two years he remained in
3403-523: The Unknown for over 35 years and created the first conference dedicated to the work and spirit of Charles Fort, the annual FortFest. The original magazine Doubt and society were not connected to the present-day magazine Fortean Times , created by a British Fortean and long-time correspondent to Paul Willis, Bob Rickard, who encouraged Willis to publish. Much of the Fortean Society material including material from Fort, Dreiser and Hecht, excepting many of
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3486-559: The age of twenty he had changed his surname to Dresser. His father, a German immigrant from Mayen , was a weaver and dyer who eventually became the manager of a woolen mill in Indiana. Dresser's mother, born near Dayton, Ohio , was a Mennonite who was disowned after her elopement and marriage. After Dresser's three older brothers died in infancy, he became the eldest of the family's ten surviving children. One of Dresser's sisters nicknamed him "Pudley" because of his "chubbiness." Dresser's younger brother, Theodore Dreiser , would become
3569-532: The brothers frequented Broadway theaters, popular restaurants, and hotel bars as well as the city's brothels and saloons. In the mid-1890s Dresser began composing his most famous songs, including " Just Tell Them That You Saw Me " (1895). Dresser's songs, along with others published by Howley, Haviland and Company, were included in the top minstrel acts and shows around the country. Dresser's success continued with "We Were Sweethearts for Many Years" (1895), "Lost, Strayed or Stolen" (1896), and his most famous hit, " On
3652-520: The city's brothels and saloons, and by 1903 he was nearly impoverished. Without the means to support himself, Dresser was unable to continue his lifestyle in New York City. In addition, his obesity made it difficult for him to attract women, leaving him depressed and alone. Dresser's health began to deteriorate rapidly at the end of 1905, when he wrote to his sister that he was ill, but gave no details. After his finances finally gave out, Dresser
3735-517: The company's songs. Dresser stopped traveling and performing during the summer so he could focus on composing music and promoting the new company. In 1894 he invited his younger brother Theodore to join him in New York. Theodore went to work for Howley, Haviland and Company as editor of the firm's trade journal, Ev'ry Month , which promoted their newest songs. Theodore later became a nationally known novelist. During their time together in New York,
3818-549: The couple never married. In 1889 they had a falling out because of Dresser's frequent affairs with other women, including prostitutes. In the early 1880s Dresser worked with a group of vaudeville performers, including James Goodwin, John Leach, and Emma Lamouse. Their shows in Chicago attracted very large audiences, in part because the theater's owner kept admission fees low. In 1883 Dresser had his first songs published as sheet music since his time working with Hamlin. "Essie, over
3901-505: The decision to send Dresser to seminary school. Dresser quickly found the Benedictine seminary too strict and confining and decided to leave. Dresser would later claim to have gotten into trouble with the priests for teaching the younger boys "tricks of various kinds." Although his family had moved to Terre Haute, Dresser returned to Sullivan after he left St. Meinrad. He stayed with family friends while working on local farms during
3984-590: The deportation of Emma Goldman , and the conviction of the trade union leader Thomas Mooney . In November 1931, Dreiser led the National Committee for the Defense of Political Prisoners (NCDPP) to the coalfields of southeastern Kentucky to take testimony from miners in Pineville and Harlan on the pattern of violence against the miners and their unions by the coal operators. The pattern of violence
4067-654: The early 1930s had "clearly been in concert with ostensible communist aims with regard to the working class." Dreiser's appearance and personality were described by Edgar Lee Masters in a poem, Theodore Dreiser: A Portrait , published in The New York Times Review of Books . While working as a newspaperman in St. Louis, Dreiser met schoolteacher Sara Osborne White. They became engaged in 1893 and married on December 28, 1898. They separated in 1909, partly due to Dreiser's infatuation with Thelma Cudlipp ,
4150-517: The editorship of a magazine called Ev'ry Month , in which he published his first story, "Forgotten" a tale based on a song of his brother's titled "The Letter That Never Came". Dreiser continued editing magazines, becoming editor of the women's magazine The Delineator in June 1907. As Daniels noted, he thereby began to achieve financial independence. During 1899, Dreiser and his first wife Sara stayed with Arthur Henry and his wife Maude Wood Henry at
4233-498: The explosive growth in recorded music soon dwarfed sheet music sales. Despite these changes Dresser continued to write in his own genre, known as "mother-and-home" songs to later generations. In 1900 Dresser published one of his last hit songs, " The Blue and the Gray ". Although Dresser's songs were popularized by Richard Jose and others, his music was falling out of style. Sales of his music quickly decreased. In 1900, although he
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#17327833320624316-541: The featured acts in a benefit concert for Daniel Decatur Emmett (the composer of "Dixie") at the Chicago Academy of Music . Dresser's act was a success and he was able to secure appearances in Boston , Philadelphia , and New York City as well as a number of smaller cities, including Indianapolis , Louisville , Cincinnati , and Pittsburgh . Between shows Dresser returned to Evansville, where he had purchased
4399-686: The film but written for the movie by Harry Dacre , Ralph Rainger and Leo Robin . Dresser's works in the film include: "Come Tell Me What's Your Answer, Yes or No", "I'se Your Honey If You Wants Me, Liza Jane", "On the Banks of the Wabash", "The Convict and the Bird", "My Gal Sal", and "Mr. Volunteer (You Don't Belong to the Regulars, You're Just a Volunteer)". Theodore Dreiser wrote a biographical sketch of his elder brother's life in Twelve Men , published in 1919. An academic study of Dresser's life, On
4482-459: The firms on Tin Pan Alley. Dresser's songs and acts were usually sad and melodramatic, but a few were romantic and silly. At the height of the Panic of 1893 , Dresser formed a partnership with Frederick Haviland and Patrick Howley as a silent partner in Howley, Haviland and Company. The New York City firm published Dresser's works, while he recruited new songwriters and encouraged singers to perform
4565-400: The first year. The Chicago Record reported that "Wabash" "has had the most enormous sale of any popular song." Newspapers reported that Dresser earned over $ 50,000 ($ 1,555,400 in 2020 dollars) in the first year of sales; Dresser boasted that he made far more than their estimates. Popularity of the song continued for several years. In August 1898, the song was still selling over 10,000 copies
4648-476: The generation that followed his. In his tribute "Dreiser" from Horses and Men (1923), Sherwood Anderson writes (almost repeated 1916 article ): Heavy, heavy, the feet of Theodore. How easy to pick some of his books to pieces, to laugh at him for so much of his heavy prose ... [T]he fellows of the ink-pots, the prose writers in America who follow Dreiser, will have much to do that he has never done. Their road
4731-436: The life of Charles Tyson Yerkes (1837–1905), who became a Chicago streetcar tycoon. It is composed of The Financier (1912), The Titan (1914), and The Stoic . The last was published posthumously in 1947. Dreiser often was forced to battle against censorship because his depiction of some aspects of life, such as sexual promiscuity, offended authorities and challenged popular standards of acceptable opinion. In 1930 he
4814-482: The night. Dresser was jailed for ten weeks before his trial, convicted, fined, and sentenced to another month of jail time. Released in June 1876, Dresser, who was not yet twenty years old, returned to his parents' home in disgrace. In 1876 Dresser secured a job as an organist and singer with the Lemon Brothers , a traveling minstrel group from Marshall, Illinois . Dresser stayed with the group for more than
4897-403: The nineteenth century ended, American taste in popular music turned to less sentimental fare: patriotic songs, ragtime (more syncopated African-American styles than the minstrel songs and cakewalks ), union and labor songs, and songs created for and derived from the more recent ethnic immigrant communities. At the same time, a new group of writers and composers began to dominate Tin Pan Alley and
4980-537: The notes of Charles Fort which were donated to the New York Public Library as a collection, was incorporated into the International Fortean Organization (INFO). Theodore Dreiser Theodore Herman Albert Dreiser ( / ˈ d r aɪ s ər , - z ər / ; August 27, 1871 – December 28, 1945) was an American novelist and journalist of the naturalist school. His novels often featured main characters who succeeded at their objectives despite
5063-567: The official state song of Indiana . In 1900, with selling sheet music copies "Wabash" still selling "extremely well", Howley, Haviland and Company opened a new and larger office in New York City. In addition, the firm had offices in Chicago and San Francisco and representation in Toronto and London. Dresser also contributed to a book on composing music, Hits and Hitters: Secrets of the Music Publishing Business . As
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#17327833320625146-467: The outbreak of the Spanish–American War , a folk version of "Wabash" with different lyrics began circulating. "On the Banks of Havana, Far Away" ridiculed the war. In 1902 the song was so well known that after power outage at the arena on Coney Island left thousands of people in the dark, the entire crowd sang "Wabash" to prevent a panic while repairmen fixed the lighting. In 1913 "Wabash" became
5229-741: The public until 1886, when John Stewart Crossy approached him to act and sing music in his comedy, The Two Johns . Dresser agreed and resumed traveling the show circuit. Dresser continued to compose music during the height of his performing career. Between 1886 and 1893 he published nearly fifty songs, including "The Letter That Never Came" (1886), "I Believe It for My Mother Told Me So" (1887), and "The Pardon that Came Too Late" (1891). These early successes may have encouraged Dresser to pursue songwriting rather than performing. In addition, he may have realized that publishing music would provide even more financial success than composing or performing. By 1888 Dresser believed his songs would have popular appeal to
5312-483: The show season ended. In 1890 Dresser began performing in A Tin Soldier . Managed by Frank McKee, the Charles Hale Hoyt production was in its fourth season when Dresser joined the twelve-member cast. Dresser, who had been large since his youth and weighed nearly 300 pounds (140 kg), performed as a jolly plumber in the nationally acclaimed show. "Days Gone By" and other Dresser songs were included in
5395-526: The show. He began to have a dispute with Hoyt over the use of his songs, and Hoyt's refusal to acknowledge him as the composer. Dresser left the act in April 1891 and traveled the country performing in The Danger Signal . Dresser also began to sell his songs to other acts for use in their performances. After they made his songs famous, Dresser would then publish the sheet music and sell them through
5478-423: The society's direction, and forbidding them to use the name Fortean. During World War II , for example, Thayer used every issue of Doubt to espouse his politics. He particularly opposed civil defense , going to such lengths as encouraging readers to turn on their lights in defiance to air raid sirens . In contrast to the spirit of Charles Fort, he not only dismissed flying saucers as nonsense, but also dismissed
5561-428: The summer of 1871 through the summer of 1872. The fourteen-year-old Dresser then returned to Terre Haute and worked a series of odd jobs to help support his family. Dresser continued his education at the St. Bonaventure Lyceum academy in Terre Haute and took piano lessons from a local music teacher, his only formal musical training. During this time the relationship between Dresser and his father quickly deteriorated and
5644-405: The teen may have had run-ins with the local police. Whatever the reason, Dresser returned to Sullivan to work on a friend's farm, away from the city. After his return to Terre Haute in 1874, Dresser and his father resumed their hostile relationship. Dresser also resumed to his old habits of spending time with delinquents and drinking. At age sixteen Dresser took a job as a teacher and musician at
5727-507: The teenage daughter of a colleague, but were never formally divorced. In 1913, he began a romantic relationship with the actress and painter Kyra Markham . In 1919, Dreiser met his cousin Helen Patges Richardson (1894–1955) with whom he began an affair. Through the following decades, she remained the constant woman in his life, even through many more temporary love affairs (such as one with his secretary Clara Jaeger in
5810-464: Was An American Tragedy , published in 1925. From 1892, when Dreiser began work as a newspaperman, he had begun to observe a certain type of crime in the United States that proved very common. It seemed to spring from the fact that almost every young person was possessed of an ingrown ambition to be somebody financially and socially. Fortune hunting became a disease with the frequent result of
5893-474: Was "The Judgment Day is Coming", published posthumously in 1906. Dresser was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970 and is described as one of the "most important composers of the 1890s." The Paul Dresser Memorial Association was established in 1922, but their plans for an elaborate memorial in Vigo County , near Terre Haute , were never fully realized. In Terre Haute, Paul Dresser Drive
5976-600: Was characterized by severe poverty, and his father could be harsh. His later fiction reflects these experiences. After graduating from high school in Warsaw, Indiana , Dreiser attended Indiana University in 1889–1890 without taking a degree. In 1892, Dreiser started work as a reporter and drama critic for newspapers in Chicago , St. Louis , Toledo , Pittsburgh and New York . During this period he published his first work of fiction, The Return of Genius , which appeared in
6059-478: Was filled with 'Bohemian mush ' ". The first six issues of the Fortean Society's newsletter, Doubt , were each edited by a different member, starting with Theodore Dreiser. Tiffany Thayer thereafter took over editorship of subsequent issues. Thayer began to assert extreme control over the society, largely filling the newsletter with articles written by himself, and excommunicating the entire San Francisco chapter, reportedly their most active, after disagreements over
6142-439: Was forced to leave the hotel where he was living and move to his sister's and brother-in-law's home in New York City. Dresser died at their home on January 30, 1906, at 6:23 p.m., from a brain hemorrhage. He also suffered from alcoholism, obesity, and depression. A funeral was held in New York City on February 2, but because Dresser died penniless, his remains were held at Calvary Cemetery on Long Island until his funeral bill
6225-499: Was from the Mennonite farming community near Dayton, Ohio . Her family disowned her for converting to Roman Catholicism in order to marry John Dreiser. Theodore was the twelfth of thirteen children (the ninth of the ten surviving). Paul Dresser (1857–1906) was one of his older brothers; Paul changed the spelling of his name as he became a popular songwriter. They were raised as Catholics. According to Daniels, Dreiser's childhood
6308-407: Was generous, especially to family and friends, and a lavish spender. The turn of the century brought him financial distress when his music fell out of style. In 1905 his music publishing business declared bankruptcy . He died the following year. Paul Dresser was born Johann Paul Dreiser Jr. on April 22, 1858, in Terre Haute, Indiana , the fourth son of Johann Paul and Sarah Mary Schanab Dreiser. By
6391-550: Was known as the Harlan County War . Dreiser was a committed socialist and wrote several nonfiction books on political issues. These included Dreiser Looks at Russia (1928), the result of his 1927 trip to the Soviet Union , and two books presenting a critical perspective on capitalist America, Tragic America (1931) and America Is Worth Saving (1941). He praised the Soviet Union under Joseph Stalin during
6474-772: Was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature by Swedish author Anders Österling , but was passed over by the Nobel Committee in favor of Sinclair Lewis . Politically, Dreiser was involved in several campaigns defending radicals he believed victims of social injustice. These included the lynching of Frank Little , one of the leaders of the Industrial Workers of the World , the Sacco and Vanzetti case,
6557-404: Was not a competent businessman, Dresser became an acting partner in his publishing business, which was renamed Haviland, Howley, and Dresser. His partners hoped Dresser's name would help spur more business, but the enterprise was not a success. Haviland left the partnership in 1903. Dresser continued to write songs, but none brought the financial success that the business needed to survive. In 1905
6640-538: Was paid. On March 19 Dresser's remains were moved to St. Boniface Cemetery in Chicago, where a funeral and final burial took place on November 23, 1907. With no funds to purchase a memorial stone, Dresser's grave remained unmarked until 1922, when the Indiana Society of Chicago had a boulder from the banks of the Wabash River brought to Chicago to mark his burial site. Dresser's most significant legacy
6723-486: Was published in Ainslee's Magazine . It was based on a lynching he witnessed in 1893. Dreiser's short story " Old Rogaum and His Theresa " was originally published in 1901. His second novel Jennie Gerhardt was published in 1911. Dreiser's portrayals of young women as protagonists dramatized the social changes of urbanization, as young people moved from rural villages to cities. Dreiser's first commercial success
6806-503: Was reunited with his mentor, Father Alerding, who had been recently moved to the city. Although Dresser was only a teen, Alerding gave him a job as a teacher at St. Joseph Catholic Church. In 1876, after he had taught for a full year, Dresser returned to his family in Terre Haute. Almost immediately he resumed his old way of life and spent most of his savings on liquor at a local bar. As his money ran low, Dresser turned to crime, robbing two saloons of whiskey and cash after they had closed for
6889-686: Was the tremendous tensions that can arise among ambition, desire, and social mores. Dreiser Hall, erected 1950 on the Indiana State University campus in Terre Haute, Indiana, houses the University's Communications Programs, Student Media ( WISU ), Sycamore Video and "The Sycamore" (annual yearbook), classroom and lecture space as well as a 255-seat proscenium theater. It was named for Dreiser in 1966. Dreiser College, at Stony Brook University located in Stony Brook, New York,
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