Stacks: Reconstructing the Past

Now this is a group chat that I would love to be in. If you cannot make it like this then don't put me in.

I want to know more about her, and her research process. This was not an easy task, and I am sure she had to write many letters to the DOD.

Clara Barton Missing Soldiers Office Museum After working on battlefields and in hospitals of the Civil War, Clara Barton found a new calling in the early months of 1865. She became keenly aware of...

After my series on the Cake Walk, my next set is going to be on the histories of America's political parties. I was reading comments from a post that mentioned the "Great Switch." I want to dive into this to show how this "Great Switch" happened, and how it hurt the Republican Party. Meaning the feelings of the party. The Republican Party never changed. But the Republican Party is divided by those that strictly adhere to the Constitution from those that just lightly use it as a guidance. But this was always the case, even when when Democratic-Republicans vs. the Federalist were competing with each other.

I will use the books that I mentioned earlier: Understanding American Political Parties, Grand Old Party, and the Party of the People.

He is right; however, after Reconstruction the party struggled to maintain footing in the South. Many black individuals felt abandon by the party. This is not what caused the switch. It was during the Civil Rights Movement when black voters began voting for Democrats. It was encouraged by Martin Luther King. I never understood why he did this, but he lost supporters from both whites and blacks. My research shows that the Democrats wanted to keep their power in the South. They didn't want to compete with the Republican Party for house seats. So they figured with the help of MLK they can win the Black vote and control the South. This is the party shift that people always talks about. However, that was not the case at all. It was made to look that way. But if you research the two parties, the Democrats changed their narrative to win the black vote. That narrative, from the Civil Rights to now, never changed. The Republican Party was very hurt by all of this. For it was the Republicans that formed the abolishment movement, the underground railroad, fought in the Civil War to end slavery, formed the Freemans Bureau, fought against Jim Crow, and all they said was, "When you realize that they are using you; you will be back."

Secondary Sources:

Understanding American Political Parties

Grand Old Party

Party of the People

I don't remember the author's from these books; I read them when I was in high school when I was trying to decide on which political party that I wanted to represent. But if you want to know the history behind each, then read the three books. It's an eye opener for sure.

Nick Cannon Calls the Democratic Party the ‘Party of the K*K’ and Says ‘I F— With Trump’ Nick Cannon says the Democrats are the 'party of the K*K.'

History really shows how one bad decision can mess everything up.

What do y'all think about this

Cake Walk SUMMARYFive African Americans--three men and two women--perform a cakewalk, a dance featuring fancy strutting that was named after the prize awarded in the o...

What do y'all think about this?

Cake Walk SUMMARYFive African Americans--three men and two women--perform a cakewalk, a dance featuring fancy strutting that was named after the prize awarded in the o...

Series: The Harlem Renaissance: It's Connection to Southern History

When you hear “cake walk,” you probably think of the game—walking in a circle, like musical chairs, waiting to land on a number and win a cake.
But during the Harlem Renaissance, the Cake Walk had a very different meaning.

An individual named Eli Green wrote and produced a popular piece called *The Cake Walk*, and like today, he paired it with specific dance steps. The dance and music became widely popular, especially in places like New York City.

It’s unclear how widely this was known among Southern African Americans, but what is clear is that Eli Green helped shape a cultural moment—almost like the MC Hammer of his time.
I found a silent film and music of his Cake Walk dance, linked below.

STACKS — Reconstructing the Past.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QifiyNm6jG4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXUYxslc4og...
https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/.../0c513b30-c591...

Cake Walk SUMMARYFive African Americans--three men and two women--perform a cakewalk, a dance featuring fancy strutting that was named after the prize awarded in the o...

Series: Harlem Renaissance: Its Connection to Southern History
Part I: The Great Migration and the Artistic Expression of Black America

Topic 1: The Origins of Slavery and Black Artistic Freedom on Southern Plantations

Disclaimer: The term “slave” is used intentionally to reflect the historical language and the full weight of the institution, while
recognizing the humanity of the people subjected to it.

In my first posts of the series, I discussed the Cakewalk and how it became a major hit in New York. But did you know that this dance originated on plantations throughout the American South? Even more interesting, it was deeply rooted in African cultural traditions brought over during the trans-Atlantic slave trade.

Africans who were forcibly brought to the Americas carried with them rich traditions—dance, music, song, folklore, foodways, and crafts like calabash making. These traditions did not disappear under slavery. Instead, they adapted and fused with European influences in the South. The Cakewalk is one of the clearest examples of this cultural survival and transformation.

In a world where Africans and African Americans were enslaved with little to no freedom, cultural expression became a vital outlet. Through food, dance, music, art, and craftsmanship, they maintained identity, community, and resilience. While it may seem surprising that slavers allowed such expressions, historical accounts suggest multiple reasons. Some may have viewed these activities as harmless entertainment, while others actively participated as spectators. Slave narratives frequently describe enslavers attending weddings, funerals, religious gatherings, and other social events within enslaved communities—this was not uncommon, but part of plantation life.

The Cakewalk itself was widely performed across the South, though it was not always called by that name. It gained national attention during the Ragtime era when performers such as Eli Green brought it to stages in New York, giving it the name “The Cakewalk.” While he did not invent the dance, he helped popularize and commercialize it for broader audiences.

Before its rise in northern cities, the Cakewalk existed as a plantation dance—often performed in front of white audiences, but rooted in Black expression. In New York, where audiences had never encountered anything like it, the dance became wildly popular. At the same time, in the Jim Crow South, it was likely dismissed or avoided by white society due to its association with Black culture.
While racism shaped every aspect of this history, what is equally important is how African cultural traditions endured. The Cakewalk survived slavery, was passed down through generations like oral traditions and folklore, and continued through the Civil War and Reconstruction. After emancipation, it could be performed with greater freedom, no longer under constant surveillance.

It is worth imagining what that freedom felt like for formal slaves—to dance not as spectacle, but as expression. Performers like Eli Green and others carried this cultural legacy to northern cities, where it evolved into stage performances, social dances, and even early film.

The story of the Cakewalk reminds us that even under the harshest conditions, culture survives—and often thrives.

Primary Sources:

Communal Serving Calabash Bowls, Spoons, Stacked - Image:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/.../File:Gourds_-_communal...
New York Public Library Digital Collections:
https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/.../0c513b30-c591...

Secondary Sources:

The Cakewalk: A Dance full of Curves and Resistance
https://capemaymag.com/.../the-cakewalk-a-dancefull-of.../

The Cake Walk: A Study in Stereotype and Reality:
https://www.jstor.org/stable/3787107

Who Takes the Cake? The History of the Cakewalk:

https://americanhistory.si.edu/.../who-takes-cake-history...
Who takes the cake? The history of the cakewalk
americanhistory.si.edu