Tense, treasured times on the Chitlin' Circuit
Assistant dean keeps alive memories of era of black history, entertainment
Laura Hawatmeh and Thomas Gatchell
Issue date: 2/3/10 Section: Features
|
"Daddy, how come there's a cross burning?" she asked.
Her six-foot-seven father yanked her from the window and away from the sight of a symbol of racism.
It is one of many memories that Jones, the assistant dean of the school of architecture, shared with UDM journalism students last week on the cusp of Black History Month.
The Chitlin' Circuit was a loose string of entertainment venues that catered to black audiences in the South and along the Eastern shore during segregation.
Born in 1949, Jones spent most of her first ten years on the circuit with her adoptive parents, living a portion of black history that has almost evaporated with the passing decades.
The experience contributed mightily to the way she now lives her life, she said.
While many famous African-Americans - like Count Basie, Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald - performed on the circuit early in their careers, Jones' parents were not entertainers. They owned fair-like concessions, such as a photo gallery, snowball stand and novelty booth.
Pulling their trailer behind their car, they travelled to predominantly black events in scattered towns across numerous states.
"A lot of the spots we played aren't even on the map anymore," she said.
Maurice and Edyth Young were very protective of their daughter. They had adopted Donzetta when she was five months old, and they took no chances with her safety.
During the hours they worked, they did not let her wander - or experience the attractions.
"I would sit on a bench my father made, from the time the carnival started to the time I went to bed," she said. "They tried to keep me away from the rough stuff."
Her parents were older, and had been in the business long before they adopted Donzetta.
They met when he was a carnival barker and she was four-foot-ten "buck dancer" who shimmied and shook and tried to draw paying customers into the featured tent.
Her father had been a con man for some years, Jones believes.
Part American-Indian and part African-American, Maurice Young operated as Professor Ugama for a while, telling fortunes with a crystal ball that had a snake encased in it.
In those early years, he also owned a freak show, featuring a "frog boy," two-headed cat, "devil's baby" and an Aborigine whose hair allegedly sweated blood.
Be the first to comment on this story