This Day In History 12 January- 1926 Original Amos ‘n’ Andy debuts on Chicago radio

 

   On this day in 1926, the two-man comedy series “Sam ‘n’ Henry” debuts on Chicago’s WGN radio station. Two years later, after changing its name to “Amos ‘n’ Andy,” the show became one of the most popular radio programs in American history.

   Though the creators and the stars of the new radio program, Freeman Gosden and Charles Carrell, were both white, the characters they played were two black men from the Deep South who moved to Chicago to seek their fortunes. By that time, white actors performing in dark stage makeup–or “blackface”–had been a significant tradition in American theater for over 100 years. Gosden and Carrell, both vaudeville performers, were doing a Chicago comedy act in blackface when an employee at the Chicago Tribune suggested they create a radio show.

   When “Sam ‘n’ Henry” debuted in January 1926, it became an immediate hit. In 1928, Gosden and Carrell took their act to a rival station, the Chicago Daily News’ WMAQ. When they discovered WGN owned the rights to their characters’ names, they simply changed them. As their new contract gave Gosden and Carrell the right to syndicate the program, the popularity of “Amos ‘n’ Andy” soon exploded. Over the next 22 years, the show would become the highest-rated comedy in radio history, attracting more than 40 million listeners.

  By 1951, when “Amos ‘n’ Andy” came to television, changing attitudes about race and concerns about racism had virtually wiped out the practice of blackface. With Alvin Childress and Spencer Williams taking over for Gosden and Carrell, the show was the first TV series to feature an all-black cast and the only one of its kind for the next 20 years. This did not stop African-American advocacy groups and eventually the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) from criticizing both the radio and TV versions of “Amos ‘n’ Andy” for promoting racial stereotypes. These protests led to the TV show’s cancellation in 1953.

   The final radio broadcast of “Amos ‘n’ Andy” aired on November 25, 1960. The following year, Gosden and Carrell created a short-lived TV sequel called “Calvin and the Colonel.” This time, they avoided controversy by replacing the human characters with an animated fox and bear. The show was canceled after one season.

 Also on This Day, 1777 Hugh Mercer dies from wounds received in Battle of Princeton

    On this day in 1777, American Brigadier General Hugh Mercer dies from the seven bayonet wounds he received during the Battle of Princeton.

   Mercer’s military service ranged over two continents and three armies. Born in Rosehearty, Scotland, Mercer studied medicine at the University of Aberdeen and first served as an assistant surgeon in Bonnie Prince Charlie’s army of 1745. After the Scots uprising against the British met its devastatingly bloody end at Culloden on April 16, 1746, Mercer returned to Aberdeenshire, where he spent a year in hiding before moving to Pennsylvania in March 1747.

  Once in America, Mercer enlisted in the army of the Hanoverian king, George III, whom he had sought to overthrow during the uprising in Scotland. During the Seven Years’ War, he first served in General Edward Braddock’s disastrous expedition of 1755, in which he was wounded, and then again with Lieutenant Colonel John Armstrong’s army at the raid of Kittanning in 1756.

  From 1760 to 1775, Mercer worked as an apothecary and practiced medicine in Fredericksburg, Virginia. When the colonies took up arms against the British, he quickly returned to his rebellious roots. When first commissioned as a captain in the Continental Army, Mercer was charged with leading the Independent Company of the Town of Fredericksburg. He was soon made a lieutenant colonel, commanding a militia battalion. By December 1775, he was a full colonel and the first commander of the 3rd Virginia Regiment, with luminaries including James Monroe and John Marshall under his command. General George Washington personally requested Mercer’s promotion to brigadier general in June 1776.

  Six months later, Mercer led a brigade during the Battle of Princeton. Although famed medic Benjamin Rush tended to Mercer’s seven bayonet wounds, he could not save his medical colleague and fellow Patriot. Mercer died in the Thomas Clarke House on the eastern end of the battlefield, nine days after the battle ended in victory for the Patriots.