Share Your Memories
Even after books are published, there are always more stories to be told. If you have memories of American Bandstand that you would like to share I'd love to hear from you. Please e-mail me at mdelmont@scrippscollege.edu and, with your permission, I'll include your memories in this section.
For more memories of American Bandstand, please visit my friend Charles Amann's website for his forthcoming book, The Princes and Princesses of Dance.
"My friends Danny & the Juniors sent me this announcement about your book. In 2009 I took Billie Williams to American Bandstand for the first time. She watched me and the other regulars go into Bandstand from her porch located across the street from the Studio. Afterward, she would go into her house and turn on her television to see us dance. Billie is a black lady. She would never tell me how old she was - just that she was a little older than her teeth. Everyday she would see white dancers go into the show but never black dancers. She'd see black performers and feel good about that and just accepted the fact that black dancers didn't go to Bandstand. Well, I thought it was time to take Billie to American Bandstand even if it was fifty years later. I invited Billie as my guest to an American Bandstand Reunion at the Studio. Billie is precious and it was a treasure to see how happy she was when I asked her to jitterbug with me!
Annette John-Hall wrote an article in The Philadelphia Inquirer on July 26, 2009, about me finally taking Billie to Bandstand. I thank you, Matthew, for setting the record straight for "history's sake" and the legacy that we will be leaving for the future generations of the truth of our American Bandstand history at a time of segregation in America."
—
Bunny Gibson (American Bandstand regular 1959-1961)
"I
saw your Democracy Now interview today on FSTV. What a great topic that
has not been previously explored; early civil rights struggles. I love
it. I am a 64 year old white woman who was on the daily dance committee
of the local kids dance show in Baltimore. I think I was 15 at the time.
I was attending a newly integrated high school by choice. I refused to
go to the segregated all white school that my parents preferred and I
loved to dance. I had many very close (negroes, at the time) friends
from school that I partied and danced with regularly, much to the
chagrin of any white people that I knew. Everyday, I took three buses
and walked a considerable distance to get to the local television
station in Baltimore, now WJZ TV, to be on the Buddy Dean show and dance
for an hour. I think it was 1964. The show had been on for several
years and it took me awhile to be able to get on the show. When I
finally got accepted, the show was only on for about six months when it
suddenly was taken off the air and I was told at the time, it was
because someone wanted to integrate it. I did not understand at the time
what the problem with that was, but it ended my ability to dance on tv.
Being on that show and watching it being eliminated because of the
refusal to integrate, was probably my first introduction to ‘how things
work, or not’ in real life. Long story short, and a lot of incidences
in-between as well as after, I married a black man in Baltimore in 1968.
I think we were the third integrated marriage in Baltimore after
Maryland's repeal of the anti-miscegenation law. I am
very interested in your book and your research. Keep up the good work."
—
Carol White
"Even
as a kid growing up in the 50's and a frequent watcher of Bandstand (I
vividly recall the Bob Horn days) I noticed the racial imbalance on
Bandstand….One of the most egregious examples of anti-black prejudice
that I recall from this era happened to Ted Dean, an outstanding
halfback on the NFL 1960 champion Philadelphia Eagles. The Eagles were
much loved, even adored by the fans. And Dean was a vital part of their
success. But when he attempted to move into a suburban neighborhood
(Radnor, I recall), he was greeted with horrible racist protests."
— Lawrence Chase
For more memories of American Bandstand, please visit my friend Charles Amann's website for his forthcoming book, The Princes and Princesses of Dance.
"My friends Danny & the Juniors sent me this announcement about your book. In 2009 I took Billie Williams to American Bandstand for the first time. She watched me and the other regulars go into Bandstand from her porch located across the street from the Studio. Afterward, she would go into her house and turn on her television to see us dance. Billie is a black lady. She would never tell me how old she was - just that she was a little older than her teeth. Everyday she would see white dancers go into the show but never black dancers. She'd see black performers and feel good about that and just accepted the fact that black dancers didn't go to Bandstand. Well, I thought it was time to take Billie to American Bandstand even if it was fifty years later. I invited Billie as my guest to an American Bandstand Reunion at the Studio. Billie is precious and it was a treasure to see how happy she was when I asked her to jitterbug with me!
Annette John-Hall wrote an article in The Philadelphia Inquirer on July 26, 2009, about me finally taking Billie to Bandstand. I thank you, Matthew, for setting the record straight for "history's sake" and the legacy that we will be leaving for the future generations of the truth of our American Bandstand history at a time of segregation in America."
—
Bunny Gibson (American Bandstand regular 1959-1961)
"I
saw your Democracy Now interview today on FSTV. What a great topic that
has not been previously explored; early civil rights struggles. I love
it. I am a 64 year old white woman who was on the daily dance committee
of the local kids dance show in Baltimore. I think I was 15 at the time.
I was attending a newly integrated high school by choice. I refused to
go to the segregated all white school that my parents preferred and I
loved to dance. I had many very close (negroes, at the time) friends
from school that I partied and danced with regularly, much to the
chagrin of any white people that I knew. Everyday, I took three buses
and walked a considerable distance to get to the local television
station in Baltimore, now WJZ TV, to be on the Buddy Dean show and dance
for an hour. I think it was 1964. The show had been on for several
years and it took me awhile to be able to get on the show. When I
finally got accepted, the show was only on for about six months when it
suddenly was taken off the air and I was told at the time, it was
because someone wanted to integrate it. I did not understand at the time
what the problem with that was, but it ended my ability to dance on tv.
Being on that show and watching it being eliminated because of the
refusal to integrate, was probably my first introduction to ‘how things
work, or not’ in real life. Long story short, and a lot of incidences
in-between as well as after, I married a black man in Baltimore in 1968.
I think we were the third integrated marriage in Baltimore after
Maryland's repeal of the anti-miscegenation law. I am
very interested in your book and your research. Keep up the good work."
—
Carol White
"Even
as a kid growing up in the 50's and a frequent watcher of Bandstand (I
vividly recall the Bob Horn days) I noticed the racial imbalance on
Bandstand….One of the most egregious examples of anti-black prejudice
that I recall from this era happened to Ted Dean, an outstanding
halfback on the NFL 1960 champion Philadelphia Eagles. The Eagles were
much loved, even adored by the fans. And Dean was a vital part of their
success. But when he attempted to move into a suburban neighborhood
(Radnor, I recall), he was greeted with horrible racist protests."
— Lawrence Chase
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