{"id":139,"date":"2016-08-16T13:35:44","date_gmt":"2016-08-16T13:35:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.soton.ac.uk\/srfb\/?p=139"},"modified":"2016-08-16T13:35:44","modified_gmt":"2016-08-16T13:35:44","slug":"wartime-washington-a-bourgeois-town","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.soton.ac.uk\/tdby\/2016\/08\/16\/wartime-washington-a-bourgeois-town\/","title":{"rendered":"Wartime Washington – a bourgeois town"},"content":{"rendered":"

Leadbelly found wartime Washington a bourgeois town in his 1938 song of the same name – in DC at the invitation of folklorist Alan Lomax, he and his wife were repeatedly refused hotel accommodation.\u00a0 How ironic given that well over thirty per cent of the federal capital’s population was African American, and service and support staff were overwhelmingly black.\u00a0 The Fairey family lived in Washington from the summer of 1940 to the start of 1945, for most of that time CRF serving as Director-General of the British Air Commission.\u00a0 Leaving aside the difference in the racial and ethnic composition between the respective capitals of the United States and the United Kingdom in the 1940s, the contrast between the American and British home fronts was stark – on those occasions during the war when the now Sir Richard Fairey returned home (crossing the Atlantic courtesy of Pan Am Clipper, Douglas Skyliner, and requisitioned liner) the difference between the quality of life enjoyed by Americans and the austerity experienced by the British was striking.\u00a0 Having written around 17,000 words of my chapter on Fairey’s wartime years, a few more days will see its completion.\u00a0 Sitting at home in the conservatory with my leg propped up on cushions and crutches by my side, one day after my knee operation, I’m aware that completion will be delayed for a little while.\u00a0 Nevertheless, it won’t be that long; and then I shall just have to research and write a lengthy chapter on Fairey’s final decade.\u00a0 Add a conclusion and a forward\/acknowledgements, and the manuscript will be finished.\u00a0 At that point I shall await Jane Tennant completing her reading of each chapter, and spend time at Pittleworth Manor\u00a0viewing home movies to spot anything relevant.\u00a0Last Monday I went further up the Test and visited Bossington at the invitation of Sarah Jane Fairey to examine a fascinating collection of photographs and news cuttings previously held at Yeovilton.\u00a0 At least one of those photographs I envisage featuring on the cover of The Man Who Built The Swordfish<\/em>, which will now definitely be published by I.B. Tauris.\u00a0 Onwards and upwards, albeit limping along the way!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Leadbelly found wartime Washington a bourgeois town in his 1938 song of the same name – in DC at the invitation of folklorist Alan Lomax, he and his wife were repeatedly refused hotel accommodation.\u00a0 How ironic given that well over thirty per cent of the federal capital’s population was African American, and service and support … <\/p>\n

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