Our article, “The Black Eagle of Harlem,” has appeared in Beyond Blackface: African Americans and the Creation of American Popular Culture, 1890-1930, a collection edited by Fitz Brundage and published by the University of North Carolina Press.
The article is a study of Hubert Julian, the black aviator, parachutist and celebrity, considering him as a product of Harlem and the modernity of the 1920s and 1930s. Julian launched himself into prominence with two parachute jumps over Harlem in 1923 and became a fixture flying over funerals and parades. He also made an ill-fated effort to fly across the Atlantic in 1924, drawing a crowd of around 20,000 to watch him takeoff from the Harlem River, on a flight that lasted only a few moments before the plane crashed into Flushing Bay. Successful or not, Julian captivated Harlem as a black exponent of the quintessentially modern marvel of flight.
But Julian’s style proved as fascinating as any of his accomplishments. He donned clothing ranging from uniforms to the morning dress of an English gentleman, and promoted himself as a spectacle that drew the attention of the black, and on occasion, white press. He attached himself to Marcus Garvey’s UNIA, and later, Father Divine, had various roles in Haile Selassie’s Ethiopia, and even co- produced one of Oscar Micheaux’s films. “On the move, on the make,” Hubert Julian embodied the spirit of the 1920s.
For more, see the post “Hubert Julian in Harlem”
Review of Beyond Blackface: Journal of American History (2013) 99 (4): 1267-1268.
