Table Of ContentTHE GEORGE GUND FOUNDATION IMPRINT IN AFRICAN AMERICAN STUDIES
The George Gund Foundation has endowed this imprint to advance understanding of the
history, culture, and current issues of African Americans.
The Nicest Kids in Town
AMERICAN CROSSROADS
Edited by Earl Lewis, George Lipsitz, George Sánchez, Dana Takagi, Laura Briggs, and Nikhil
Pal Singh
The Nicest Kids in Town
American Bandstand, Rock ’n’ Roll, and the Struggle for Civil
Rights in 1950s Philadelphia
Matthew F. Delmont
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University of California Press
Berkeley and Los Angeles, California
University of California Press, Ltd.
London, England
© 2012 by The Regents of the University of California
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Delmont, Matthew F.
The nicest kids in town : American Bandstand, Rock ’n’ Roll, and the Struggle for Civil
Rights in 1950s Philadelphia / Matthew F. Delmont.
p. cm. — (American crossroads ; 32) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN
978-0-520-27207-1 (cloth : acid-free paper) ISBN 978-0-520-27208-8 (pbk. : acid-free
paper)
1. Philadelphia (Pa.)—Race relations—History— 20th century. 2. African Americans—Civil
rights— Pennsylvania—Philadelphia—History—20th century. 3. Segregation—Pennsylvania
—Philadelphia— History—20th century. 4. Civil rights movements— Pennsylvania—
Philadelphia—History—20th century.
5. American Bandstand (Television program)
6. Minorities on television. I. Title.
F158.9.N4D45 2012
323.1196’073074811—dc23
2011038775
Manufactured in the United States of America
20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
In keeping with a commitment to support environmentally responsible and sustainable printing
practices, UC Press has printed this book on Rolland Enviro100, a 100% post-consumer fiber
paper that is FSC certified, deinked, processed chlorine-free, and manufactured with
renewable biogas energy. It is acid-free and EcoLogo certified.
Contents
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. Making Philadelphia Safe for “WFIL–adelphia”
Television, Housing, and Defensive Localism in Bandstand’s Backyard
2. They Shall Be Heard
Local Television as a Civil Rights Battleground
3. The de Facto Dilemma
Fighting Segregation in Philadelphia Public Schools
4. From Little Rock to Philadelphia
Making de Facto School Segregation a Media Issue
5. The Rise of Rock and Roll in Philadelphia
Georgie Woods, Mitch Thomas, and Dick Clark
6. “They’ll Be Rockin’ on Bandstand, in Philadelphia, P.A.”
Imagining National Youth Culture on American Bandstand
7. Remembering American Bandstand, Forgetting Segregation
8. Still Boppin’ on Bandstand
American Dreams, Hairspray, and American Bandstand in the 2000s
Conclusion
Everybody Knows about American Bandstand
Notes
Index
Illustrations
1. Philadelphia turns up its nose at Detroit
2. The Angora Civic Association flier
3. Teens at West Philadelphia High School prom
4. Joe’s Snack Bar ad in West Philadelphia High School yearbook
5. WFIL pitch to potential advertisers
6. WFIL–adelphia broadcast market
7. Bob Horn interviews audience members during the daily roll call
8. By 1955 Bandstand became a space for white teenagers
9. High School Fellowship Clubs brought together students of different backgrounds
10. Teenagers participating in discussion on They Shall Be Heard
11. Students were left to graduate from Thomas Edison High School after new
Northeast High School opened
12. & 13. Before and after pictures depict the loss of the Edison High School’s trophies and
history
14. WCAU-TV “on the scene” report from Little Rock
15. Racial tensions among teenagers in South Philadelphia following Little Rock
16. Georgie Woods with his teenage fans
17. The Re-Vels, one of the most popular teenage vocal harmony groups in
Philadelphia
18. Mitch Thomas debuts on WPFH
19. WFIL–TV advertisement for Dick Clark and American Bandstand
20. Cecil B. Moore presents singer Jackie Wilson and deejay Georgie Woods with
NAACP awards
21. American Bandstand opening credits
22. Dick Clark talks with visiting teens
23. The American Bandstand Yearbook, 1958, picked up the station map theme
24. American Bandstand’s regular dancers became stars
25. Philadelphia Tribune advertisement for “Dick Clark American Bandstand Shoes”
26. Close-up shot of dancers’ feet
27. American Bandstand teens’” new” version of the Stroll
Acknowledgments
I am fortunate to have received encouragement from family, friends, mentors, and colleagues
for as long as I can remember. My mom, Diane Delmont, gets top billing because she has
played the largest role in my life. Among many things, what I value most is that she taught me
the importance of working hard every day and being nice to people. I could not ask for a more
dedicated and caring parent.
My extended family have, each in their own way, shaped the person I have become. Thank
you to Kaye Henrikson, Bobbie and Lindy Stoltz, Katie Stoltz, Terry Lick, Leari Jean and
Jewel Anderson, Frank Bowman, my late aunt Joanne Tucker, Jason Tucker, Mel Wernimont,
Nancy Wernimont, Nicole Wernimont and Ramses Madou, and Zach Wernimont for their love
and support.
Thank you to all of my teachers, especially Mrs. Knox and Mr. Hauer at Burroughs
Elementary School and Mike Byrne, Solfrid Ladstein, Michael Manning, Robert Slater, and
Colonel (Ret.) John Gritz at Saint Thomas Academy. Thanks also to Tim Kelly whose
generosity enabled me to attend Saint Thomas Academy. Thanks to Peter Lindsay for
answering various questions about social theory as a sophomore at Harvard and to Adam
Biggs for reading multiple drafts of my undergraduate senior thesis. I now understand much
better how much work that entails.
While I did not end up working in marketing, Chris Clouser has been a generous and kind
mentor.
I am blessed to have many good friends from different stages in life. Thanks especially to
Jason Christopher, Doug Hoffert, Shawn Anderson, Tim Arnold, Victor Danh, Jake Ewart, Jake
Lentz, Ken Miller, Cabral Williams, Paul Berens, Kevin Berry, John Foley, Peter Fritz, Dave
Semerad, George Smolinski, Joe Wills, Kate Arnold, Kara Alexander, Sonia Berlin, Don
Casey, Jessie and Ben Davis, Holly Eagleson, Emilie Ewart, Kara Hughes, Katie Monin, Sarah
and Matt Sherman, Heather Stroud, Brian and Debra Ballentine, Dave Ben-Merre, and Keri
Holt.
I thank Matt Garcia and Susan Smulyan for being excellent mentors and advisers, as well
as helpful critics of my work. They saw this project grow from its earliest stages and were
always supportive. I also learned a great deal about teaching from watching them; I try to put
this into practice on a daily basis. It’s safe to say that I would not have become the type of
researcher or teacher that I am without them as role models. I also learned a lot from Lynne
Joyrich and Carl Kaestle during our discussions for field exams and while working on my
dissertation. Thanks to Evelyn Hu-Dehart for giving me a place to work at the Brown
University Center for the Study of Race and Ethnicity in the Americas, and for her job advice.
Thanks to James Campbell, Bob Lee, and Ralph Rodriguez for being friendly and supportive.
Thank you to the staff at the Sheridan Center for Teaching and Learning, especially Rebecca
More and Laura Hess, for helping me become a better teacher. Thanks to my graduate school
colleagues in the department of American Civilization, especially Jin Suk Bae, Liza Burbank,
Alma Carrillo, Tom Chen, Joe Clark, Erin Curtis, Sara Fingal, Caroline Frank, Gill Frank, Jim
Gatewood, Morgan Grefe, Karen Inoyue, Jessica Johnson, Stephanie Larrieux, Eric Larson,
Mireya Loza, Angela Mazaris, Gabriel Mendes, Ani Mukherji, Nicole Restaino, Mikiko Tachi,
Gosia Rymsza-Pawlowska, Felicia Salinas, Margaret Stevens, Aslihan Tokgoz, Sarah Wald,
Susanne Wiedemann, and Miel Wilson. Special thanks to Marcia Chatlain and Mario Sifuentez
for being great office mates and friends in graduate school.
The Brown University Graduate School, Temple University Urban Archives, Philadelphia
Jewish Archives Center, and Scripps College all provided financial support to defray research
costs. Margaret Jerrido, Brenda Wright, John Pettit, and the other staff members at the Temple
University Urban Archives were very friendly and helpful on several early mornings and late
afternoons. The staffs at the Philadelphia City Archives, Philadelphia Schools District
building, Philadelphia Jewish Archives Center, and African-American Museum in
Philadelphia were also very generous with their time and expertise. Thanks to Terry Scott at
West Philadelphia High School, Don Synder at South Philadelphia High School, and the
librarians at William Penn High School, Northeast High School, and West Catholic High
School for keeping their schools’ yearbooks in safe places and for allowing me to look at them
after their long school days. Thank you to everyone who took the time to talk to me about their
memories of growing up in Philadelphia. Arlene Sullivan deserves a special thank you for
putting me in touch with several other American Bandstand folks.
My editor at University of California Press, Niels Hooper, has been very supportive in
bringing this project to print. Eric Schmidt, Kate Warne, Mary Francis, Hillary Hansen, Kim
Hogeland and Caitlin O’Hara have also offered support at key stages. Thanks to Sybil Sosin
for her careful copy editing. Thanks to George Lipsitz and Jay Mechling for offering comments
on the draft manuscript that greatly strengthened this book. Thanks also to Josh Kun, Dan
Horowitz, and Erika Doss for their support of my research.
Thank you to Tara McPherson, John Carlos Rowe, and Phil Ethington for organizing an
engaging National Endowment for the Humanities/ Vectors digital humanities seminar, and to
all of the fellows who offered helpful suggestions as I prepared a digital companion to this
book.
I’ve found, at Scripps College, an extraordinary place to teach American Studies. Thanks
to Julie Liss, Rita Roberts, Sheila Walker, Bill Anthes, Nancy Neiman Auerbach, Hal Barron,
Sid Lemelle, Mark Golub, Hao Huang, Eric Hurley, Amy Marcus-Newhall, Stu McConnell,
Lily Geismer, Chris Guzaitis, Frances Pohl, Dan Segal, Diana Selig, Claudia Strauss, Cheryl
Walker, and all my other colleagues at Scripps College and the Claremont Colleges. A special
thanks to Cecilia Conrad, Michael Lamkin, and Lori Bettison-Varga for their early and
consistent support.
Finally, thank you to Robert Scholes for teaching what turned out to be the most important
seminar in my life. Numbers are not real, but if they were I would have to find a very large
number to properly thank Jacque Wernimont for her love. I’ll always associate this book with
our summers in Philadelphia and the many happy memories before and after. We’ll always
