Is Coalhouse an Italian anarchist?
After we talked in class how some things in Ragtime are completely made up and some things actually happened I did some research to make sure Coalhouse and his terror on New York weren't influenced by something that had actually happened. Even though it seemed to be a part of Doctorow's fictional aspects of the book (presumably we would know about some guy killing firemen all across New York and taking J.P. Morgan's library hostage...), you never know!
All though just a quick Google search validated that there was no Coalhouse Walker Jr. terrorizing fire stations in early 20th century New York, I did stumble upon something else that had some vague (and some not so vague!) connections to Ragtime: the Wall Street bombing.
When I was researching domestic terrorist attacks in early 20th century America, I at first didn't find any that seemed connected to the things that happened in Ragtime, as very few of the attacks actually happened in New York or the eastern United States in general, then I took a look at the Wikipedia page for the Wall Street bombing and some things stood out to me as being very similar to the string of attacks that Coalhouse leads.
First of all, the Wall Street bombing happened on September 20, 1920. This isn't exactly the same time as Coalhouse's terror but it is around the same time, and since we know that Doctorow wrote Ragtime in 1976, this could have definitely influenced his writing. Additionally, the attack on Wall Street was carried out by exploding 100 lbs of dynamite with 500 lbs of heavy iron sash weights on top so they would fly through the air and cause more destruction. This use of explosives is a similar to Coalhouse's terror, as Coalhouse and his group also used explosives to destroy the fire stations and fit J.P. Morgan's library out with explosives. Mother's Younger Brother was in charge of their explosives and we learn by the end of the book that he also creates different types of explosive weapons that would cause much more destruction. It is described that "Younger Brother invented seventeen ordnance devices, some of which were so advanced that they were not used by the United States until World War II" (317). This is similar to the Wall Street bombing as even though putting sash weights on top of dynamite is not extremely "advanced" and complex, it is meant to hurt more people and property. Another connection from Ragtime to the Wall Street bombing was that the casualties were mainly innocents. The firemen and others that Coalhouse killed were not the people directly involved with his harassment by Willie Conklin. At the Wall Street bombing, the 38 people who died were mainly young people who worked on Wall Street as messengers, stenographers, clerks, and brokers.
The Wall Street bombing was never solved, although investigators and historians believe it was carried out by a group of Italian anarchists called the Galleanists. The group was known for postwar social unrest, labor struggles, and anti-capitalist propaganda in the United States. I don't really know how this connects to Coalhouse and his terror attacks, but we have another character who in some way fits with the Galleanists: Emma Goldman! She is also a European anarchist who spoke about labor struggles and anti-capitalism!
Now for the best connection: the Wall Street bombing happened right in front of the headquarters of the bank of the one and only J.P. Morgan -- the same guy whose library was held hostage and rigged with dynamite in Ragtime! The Wall Street bombing destroyed most of the interior space of J.P. Morgan's headquarters and cost $24.4 million dollars in damage in today's currency. This is very similar to what would have happened if the Coalhouse gang had succeeded in blowing up J.P. Morgan's library.
Obviously, the two bombings aren't the same, as there are many details that don't connect, but there is a possibility that the historical Wall Street bombing influenced Doctorow as he was writing Ragtime. What do you guys think? Is this a bit far-fetched or is there a connection?
All though just a quick Google search validated that there was no Coalhouse Walker Jr. terrorizing fire stations in early 20th century New York, I did stumble upon something else that had some vague (and some not so vague!) connections to Ragtime: the Wall Street bombing.
When I was researching domestic terrorist attacks in early 20th century America, I at first didn't find any that seemed connected to the things that happened in Ragtime, as very few of the attacks actually happened in New York or the eastern United States in general, then I took a look at the Wikipedia page for the Wall Street bombing and some things stood out to me as being very similar to the string of attacks that Coalhouse leads.
First of all, the Wall Street bombing happened on September 20, 1920. This isn't exactly the same time as Coalhouse's terror but it is around the same time, and since we know that Doctorow wrote Ragtime in 1976, this could have definitely influenced his writing. Additionally, the attack on Wall Street was carried out by exploding 100 lbs of dynamite with 500 lbs of heavy iron sash weights on top so they would fly through the air and cause more destruction. This use of explosives is a similar to Coalhouse's terror, as Coalhouse and his group also used explosives to destroy the fire stations and fit J.P. Morgan's library out with explosives. Mother's Younger Brother was in charge of their explosives and we learn by the end of the book that he also creates different types of explosive weapons that would cause much more destruction. It is described that "Younger Brother invented seventeen ordnance devices, some of which were so advanced that they were not used by the United States until World War II" (317). This is similar to the Wall Street bombing as even though putting sash weights on top of dynamite is not extremely "advanced" and complex, it is meant to hurt more people and property. Another connection from Ragtime to the Wall Street bombing was that the casualties were mainly innocents. The firemen and others that Coalhouse killed were not the people directly involved with his harassment by Willie Conklin. At the Wall Street bombing, the 38 people who died were mainly young people who worked on Wall Street as messengers, stenographers, clerks, and brokers.
The Wall Street bombing was never solved, although investigators and historians believe it was carried out by a group of Italian anarchists called the Galleanists. The group was known for postwar social unrest, labor struggles, and anti-capitalist propaganda in the United States. I don't really know how this connects to Coalhouse and his terror attacks, but we have another character who in some way fits with the Galleanists: Emma Goldman! She is also a European anarchist who spoke about labor struggles and anti-capitalism!
Now for the best connection: the Wall Street bombing happened right in front of the headquarters of the bank of the one and only J.P. Morgan -- the same guy whose library was held hostage and rigged with dynamite in Ragtime! The Wall Street bombing destroyed most of the interior space of J.P. Morgan's headquarters and cost $24.4 million dollars in damage in today's currency. This is very similar to what would have happened if the Coalhouse gang had succeeded in blowing up J.P. Morgan's library.
Obviously, the two bombings aren't the same, as there are many details that don't connect, but there is a possibility that the historical Wall Street bombing influenced Doctorow as he was writing Ragtime. What do you guys think? Is this a bit far-fetched or is there a connection?
I think a lot of Ragtime was just Doctorow saying "well, that's nice, but what if one thing was changed?" or switching around variables, and finding new reasons for things. I think he maybe got the idea of an explosion from real history, and mixed it in with the Michael Kohlhaas story, and mixed THAT with the civil rights movement, and came up with the Coalhouse Walker story. His story is influenced by everything Doctorow read, big and small, so I think every detail mentioned has a connection.
ReplyDeleteWow, that’s such an interesting connection. It seems like Doctorow really did his research in writing this novel, so I don’t think there’s any way he could have not known about the Wall Street bombing, and so, this can’t be a coincidence. I think he is drawing upon the framework of a story and layering on his own ideas and characters to change it to fit his own needs. Honestly, Coalhouse could have easily bombed JP Morgan’s bank, but I think Doctorow switched it out for a library for the sake of literature. The concept of it being a library full of historical artifacts brought in a plethora of other subplots and ideas. For one, the readers already are introduced to the library earlier, when Morgan shows Ford around, and in addition, the whole idea of blowing up a library is riddled with so many metaphors and potential symbolism.
ReplyDeleteThat's a really interesting connection! We already talked a lot about the connections to the Kohlhaas plot line, and I think that with everything Doctorow's done throughout the novel to connect it to history, this is entirely plausible. I wonder if there are any other connections between Emma Goldman and the Galleanists and Coalhouse's entire movement. Emma Goldman said she had nothing to do with Coalhouse but was ok with it, so does that make Coalhouse's actions more related to anarchy?
ReplyDeleteI think your research into the Wall Street bombing reveals how much effort Doctorow put into Ragtime as a method of blurring history and fiction. An interesting idea is how much the novel would've forced readers in 1972 -- without access to Google or the Internet -- to question the world around us, in the postmodernist fashion. It certainly sounds believable that Coalhouse's plot could be based off of this bombing given the similarity in their anti-capitalist mission.
ReplyDeleteThis is really cool! I almost don't want to believe that Doctorow spent this much time (for it must have been a lot of time, it was the 70s, there wasn't internet like there is today) researching all this stuff in order to make Ragtime, but at the same time I don't doubt it. After all of the historical information stuffed into this book, I think it's entirely possible there is another hidden historical event.
ReplyDeleteThe title of the blog made me laugh but once I read the blog, I totally understand where you are coming from. There's so much historical context hidden in the book, it's super easy to get lost and confused. I think you did a really good job of connecting two events together within the book to make a larger connection. I think your connection is plausible since there's so much going on in Ragtime.
ReplyDeleteThat's super cool! We've already established that Coalhouse is an amalgam of various historical periods and movements, but have mostly been focusing on the Black Panthers and the German character. Anarchists bombings were something of a fixture of the early 20th century/late 19th century, and Coalhouse fits in well with that tradition- and I think it's no coincidence that this particular bombing took place at J.P Morgan's property. This just goes to show many different historical narratives Doctorow is combining!
ReplyDelete