history’s stories
CENTRAL BATTLEFIELD TRUST By Ralph “Tuffy” Hicks
DEDICATED TO: LUKE SYDNOR, AUDREY BEAZLEY, EDDIE RESIO AND JIM MERCER
Tuffy is Front Porch's resident FXBG historian
June 2018
What’s in a Song?
graduation garb
link ray
By donna mccague
Fredericksburg has been a place where many ideas were developed that has changed the course of history in our nation going back to the days of John Smith and the colonies. The fires of Revolution and the Statutes of Religious Freedom began here. Recently while attending a local Civil War event I spoke with my longtime friend Paul Scott; whose family has roots deep in the Fredericksburg community. Paul's father, mother and brother David were involved in the medical community and Paul practiced law for many years. Paul and David like myself are both retired and still active in the community, Paul is on the Board of Directors of the Central Virginia Battlefields Trust, Incorporated (CVBT). The CVBT was formed in September 1996 in Fredericksburg when the group was organized as a non-profit organization dedicated to saving sites related to the Civil War. One of the first sites saved was the school site that I once attended atop Marye's Heights known as Montfort Academy. Mary Washington College wanted to turn the area into an asphalt parking lot. Most of the site of the Southern entrenchments and artillery sites had already been obliterated by the athletic complex without any regard to preservation, along with other sites on the campus. In June 1997 the area was acquired, and just a few months later 100 acres on Route 3 at the Chancellorsville intersection (McLaws Wedge) was purchased. This was the beginning of an organization that by 2017 would be responsible for saving over 1,200 acres of land around Fredericksburg that the Union and Southern armies had occupied or fought over. Generous bequests from estates such as retired Historians Ralph Happel and Brian Pohanka have supported these efforts. The membership of the group today has members not only from Virginia but states as far west as Oregon and Washington state and Texas. We sometimes forget that the War between the States had over 750,000 casualties and of that total the Fredericksburg area would have nearly 100,000 with the battles of Fredericksburg, Salem Church, Chancellorsville, Wilderness and Spotsylvania. For over a hundred years the area did not see much change, however, with the Interstate highway system and expansion of the government, local development rapidly took over without any regards to the encampments or battlefields. At the CVBT annual meeting in April the group welcomed members from across the United States to celebrate its preservation successes. Many of the sites saved were visited by the group. Their motto is "Preserving Dirt and Grass", simply said but, WELL DONE!!! Today many developers support the efforts of the CVBT. This article reminded me to look back at my notes on Memorial Day, May 29, 1999 in my remarks. ("Today the armies come from all directions. Instead of wagons they drive bulldozers. Instead of blue or gray, they wear hard hats. Instead of muskets, they carry site plans.") The benefits of the Central Virginia Battlefield Trust are obvious, it is apparent that preserved battlefield land soon will be the only green space in the region, that is becoming densely urbanized. For information on donations or membership contact Trust P. O. Box 3417, Fredericksburg, VA 22402, or visit the website at www.cvbt.org.
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OUR HERITAGE
Front porch fredericksburg
Fredericksburg Graduates ca. 1900 Commencement ceremonies, commonly known as graduation, have been taking place since the 12th century. Colleges and universities started forming between the 12th – 13th centuries heavily influenced by the clergy. Graduation apparel largely consisted of clerical garb because of the church’s involvement in the start of higher learning institutions. Indoor heating wasn’t around like it is today forcing many graduates to wear long robes and hoods to keep warm. Can you imagine going to school in the dank, cold buildings of medieval times? The clergy also wore a hat called the biretta which appears to be the prototype for the graduation cap of today. During the 14th - 15th century, the sophisticates of the day such as artists, humanists, and students began wearing the biretta. So the long robes evolved into the graduation gown, and the biretta evolved into the cap. It was also known as a mortar board because of its resemblance to the tool used by masons. Thus, we have the companion graduation garb of the cap and gown of today. Commencement ceremonies, once reserved for baccalaureate degrees and above, are ever present today at kindergarten, grammar schools, middle schools, and high schools. While graduation ceremonies differ around the globe, the United States is probably unique in celebrating the achievements of very young children through the post graduate level. You can even find graduation ceremonies in some preschools! The competitive nature of our culture no doubt has influenced the evolution of graduation ceremonies to a broader age group of students.
removed for parties at the family home. Today, graduates wear more casual attire under their cap and gown. The cap, or mortar board, is often painted with expressive symbols and colors. The traditional toss in the air of graduations caps was actually started by graduates at the U.S. Naval Academy in 1912. It does make it easier to find your own because of the “personalized” decorations! Many of today’s graduates are off to party with their classmates and friends at the venue of their choice. “Sorry, mom and dad, we’ll catch up with you later.”
By jon gerlach
When you enjoy a meal at Fat Boys’ Smokehouse & Burgers, or the rumbling growl of restored cars at the Fredericksburg Classic and Muscle Car Show, you might not realize what happened here. The corner of Jeff Davis Highway and Fall Hill Avenue was once the site of the Old Armory Building. Fredericksburg City Council Member Billy Withers recalls attending Milt Grant dance contests there: “it was a place where kids could go to hear music, dance and have a great time”. At one dance in 1957, a powerful sound was born that would turn American pop culture on its head. Called “Rumble”, the song profoundly influenced the great Rock & Roll artists of our time, including Pete Townsend, Jimi Hendrix, Jeff Beck, The Beatles, and many others.
To serious aficionados of Rock & Roll, Link Wray is a household name. He and his two brothers Vernon and Doug traveled the Route 1 music circuit in the 1950s under the name “Link Wray and his Ray Men”. Born in poverty in North Carolina, the trio learned songs from their Shawnee Indian mother while she worked the cotton fields. One day a traveling carnival worker named Hambone turned Link on to playing bottleneck slide guitar. The rest is, well, history. One night at the Old Armory in 1957, someone requested a song that Link did not know. So he improvised, and banged out an instrumental the likes of which had never been heard before. The “power chord” was born, with heavy distortion and feedback. How did this happen? For the 1996 British documentary “Rumble Man”, the deeply religious Link Wray put it plain and simple:
“1957 in Fredericksburg, Virginia, my Jesus God just zapped it right into my soul, you know, and I just gave it to the kids.” The crowd went wild, demanding several encores of the raunchy sound. Knowing they were onto something, the Wrays tried recording the sound the next year. Only after using a pencil to puncture holes in his speaker cone was Link satisfied with the flapping rawness of the sound. In 1958 they recorded it under the Cadence Records label. The producer’s step-daughter named the song “Rumble”, and Link Wray was off to the races. “Rumble” has a unique distinction: it’s the only instrumental song ever banned from the airwaves. Loud, distorted, face-melting electric guitar had not yet arrived on the scene. This was the age of melodic music: think Andy Williams, Perry Como, and you get the picture. Radio stations in Boston and New York refused to play the song in 1958, fearing it would incite “juvenile delinquency” along the lines of the knife
fight that accompanied “The Rumble” piece in the Broadway musical “West Side Story”. The ban backfired: eager youth clamored to hear the new sound, and sales would reach some 4 million copies. Link Wray went on to perform his sound internationally into his 70s, passing away in 2005. Just this Spring, “Rumble” was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. When barbeque wafts through the air and muscle cars flex their immense power, remember the young man who revolutionized Rock & Roll. It changed forever how we hear music. So … what’s in a song? Well, here it’s history.
An attorney and retired archaeologist, Jon Gerlach chairs the Architectural Review Board in Fredericksburg. Painting by Jon Gerlach
The history of many of our local schools is preserved at the Central Rappahannock Heritage Center. Take a look at a few of the classic graduation pictures from the archives and see how our ancestors looked in this special rite of passage. You may even find remnants of their clothing in the cedar chest in the family attic.
Donna McCague. is an active volunteer and is the Volunteer Coordinator at the Heritage Center.
Up until about the 1970s, white gloves and dresses were typically worn by girls and suits and ties for the boys. The cap and gown was worn during the commencement exercises and then
front porch fredericksburg
June 2018
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