Over the Hookah
Recently, I picked up a most fascinating book from my favorite Colorado bookstore, Gallagher Books. It is an 1896 copy of “Over the Hookah” by a G. (George) Frank Lydston. The book is also autographed by Mr. Lydstron himself and inscribed to an “H.W. Field" on the front page. (I collect autographs as a hobby.)
As far as I can tell, there was only one original printing of “Over the Hookah” and it seems to be a rather small printing. According to eBay, however, it seems there may have been a reprinting in 2015, though I haven’t verified this.
Quickly flipping through the pages, I discovered some fascinating illustration. I quickly closed the book, brought it to the counter, and continued my search.
“Tales of a Talkative Doctor,” reads the title page. Illustrations done by Mr. C. Everett Johnson.
Here’s what I’ve discovered about the author, George Frank Lydston. He was born in 1858, died in 1923. He was a urologist and transplant surgeon. He wrote many medical papers in his field, apparently. It seems he is buried in Chicago at the Rosehill Cemetery.
Ebonics.
Upon finally getting a chance to pop open the book at home, I quickly realized that the book had many passages that featured black Americans speaking in Ebonics.
The only time I had really encountered Ebonics was in reading “Huckleberry Finn” in high school. I distinctly remember my class’s discomfort with reading the passages. While many of us have probably heard Ebonics used in movies, reading it for the first time feels like mockery.
My first reaction to reading it in this book was, “great, this dude’s a racist.”
A discovery I made later on challenged my presumption that Mr. Lydston was a bigot, though this story makes a few twists and turns, so stay with me.
I have to admit, my knowledge of Ebonics is limited, so I decided to take some time to research the topic. I found a short paper on the topic by a Mr. John R. Rickford of Stanford University entitled “What is Ebonics (African American English)?” While most certainly not a comprehensive guide, it proved to be quite useful in contextualizing the topic. Here’s an excerpt I found particularly useful:
What do people think of Ebonics?
That depends on whom you ask. Black writers from Paul Laurence Dunbar to Zora Neale Hurston to August Wilson have made extensive use of it in their work, and some, like James Baldwin ("this passion, this skill, ... this incredible music."), Toni Morrison, and June Jordan have praised it explicitly. Black preachers and comedians and singers, especially rappers, also use it for dramatic or realistic effect. But many other people, black and white, regard it as a sign of limited education or sophistication, as a legacy of slavery or an impediment to socioeconomic mobility. Some deny its existence (like the black Chicagoan whose words "Ain't nobody here talkin' no Ebonics" belied his claim). Others deprecate it (like Maya Angelou, who found the Oakland School Board's 1996 Ebonics resolutions "very threatening" although she uses Ebonics herself in her poems, e.g. "The Pusher").
It should be said, incidentally, that at least SOME of the overwhelmingly negative reaction to the Oakland resolutions arose because the resolutions were misinterpreted as proposals to teach Ebonics itself, or to teach in Ebonics, rather than as proposals to respect and take it into account while teaching standard English. The method of studying language known as 'contrastive analysis' involves drawing students' attention to similarities and differences between Ebonics and Standard English. Since the 1960s, it has been used successfully to boost Ebonics speakers' reading and writing performance in Standard English, most recently in public schools in DeKalb County, GA, and in Los Angeles, CA (as part of the LA Unified School District's Academic English Mastery Program).
Here’s an example of the Ebonics utilized in “Over the Hookah”:
"Standing at the door of the cabin was an old darky–a relic of ‘ ‘fo de war’.’ Our traveler accosted him.
”Hallo! uncle; how are you?’“Howdy, sah? Howdy? I’se right po’ly, sah, thankee, sah.’
Now, there are also illustrations in this book that certainly perpetuate racist tropes, such as watermelons and the like. Those were unfortunately common during this time period, but are still unacceptable. Was this enough to write off the author as being bigoted?
(What I haven’t been able to find is valuable insight into the practice of white authors utilizing Ebonics during this time period. It became a rather moot point later on, as you’ll see.)
If you are interested in perusing the pages of “Over the Hookah”, it seems that it has been digitized and put online. Due to the date (1896), it is indeed public domain. I haven’t read it fully, as my journey took me elsewhere.
“That Bogey Man The Jew” (Oh lord)
In researching the author, I came across a book review in the Denver Jewish News of another publication Mr. Lydston published in 1921, entitled “That Bogey Man The Jew.”
This dude was not only a racist, but an anti-Semite as well!
…or was he?
The book supposedly is meant to dispel rumors of Jewish Americans and the notion that they were at the heart of societal ills. The Denver Jewish News stated that “Dr. Lydston’s book is a welcome addition to the defensive literature which the recent unwarranted attack upon the Jew has called forth. It should be given the widest possible circulation, especially among non-Jews.” (It seems this same review was published in the September 29, 1921 issue of The Jewish Press in Omaha, Nebraska)
Another review, from the Union Bulletin (Union of American Hebrew-Congregations) had a similar glowing review in its November 1921 issue, stating that: “What we object to is acquiescing in the part of a Bogey Man assigned to us by our detractors and being compelled to suffer the fate of a social and political scapegoat for all social evils. Dr. Lydston keenly feels the validity of our objection and brilliantly aids us in answering it.”
Well, that’s not what I was expecting.
Perhaps this piece of literature is positive?
Or so I thought, until I stumbled upon an Oregon State University college thesis, written in 1993 by Melissa Barrett Acklin, titled “A Study of the Stylistic Ramifications of Father Charles Edward Coughlin's Sermons from 1930 to 1934.” Here is an excerpt from that thesis:
By the early 1900's, the image of the Jew as a modern day Shy lock was still alive and thriving in America. In 1921, G. Frank Lydston, a doctor from Missouri, published a book, That Bogey Man the Jew, that contributed to a new wave of American xenophobia. The Jews bothered Lydston because "every Jew is a Shy lock... the Jew lives, eats, drinks and thinks money--money, nothing but money."
At this point, you can probably understand the confusion I felt.
So, I decided to find and read “That Bogey Man The Jew” for myself.
(You can as well by clicking here.)
Before reading the full piece, I specifically searched for the portion that Barrett Acklin quoted in her 1993 master’s thesis. I found it immediately on page 45.
Fascinatingly, I discovered that while the quote indeed comes from this book, it is not only done without context, but is done so in a way to portray Dr. Lydston as the exact opposite of what his beliefs were regarding the Jews. Indeed, these accusations were not his, he was simply repeating them in an effort to combat them. These beliefs were attributed to the “Jew-baiter,” the title that Dr. Lyston has given the hypothetical antagonist of this book.
He addresses the term “Jew-baiter” on page 22.
The first 96 or so pages is focused very heavily upon those who attack Jewish Americans, and the fault in their arguments. It also provides some interesting critiques of other defenders of the Jews, such as forcefully rejecting any efforts to silence haters by censorship.
Then, finally, I found a portion of the book I was hoping I wouldn’t.
Lydston lets slip his belief that, indeed, he views the blood of our black brothers and sisters as being inferior.
Are you kidding me?
After reading nearly 100 pages defending Jewish Americans, I find a half dozen more decrying the mixing of black and white Americans as leading to the downfall of our nation (and the supposed impending invasion from Japan because of it).
How does one parse these opinions?
It’s difficult to describe the anger and confusion that one feels when reading a book such as this. You see dozens of pages of elbow-throwing takedowns of those who hate upon the Jews, only to find that the author wants to instead focus that hatred upon black Americans.
Furthermore, how could Jewish-centric outlets such as the Denver Jewish News endorse such a book stating that it “should be given the widest possible circulation”?
I decided to stop reading somewhere around page 106. While I’m sure there’s more in the final 30 pages that may be of interest, I had enough disappointment for one internet journey.
Conclusion
If you’ve joined me down this rabbit hole to this point, you may be wondering what the point of doing this research is?
That’s a fantastic question.
The best answer I can provide is this: the world is a complex place.
Is Dr. Lydston’s defense of the Jews to be disregarded because of his disturbing views on those who are black?
How should we feel of those news outlets that promoted the book with no condemnation - nor mention - of those attacks on black Americans?
Well, I leave that up to you. Viewing those of a previous time through the lens of modernity is fraught with peril, or at least confusion, as this example so perfectly illustrates.
Dig deeper, my friend. You might just find something fascinating, or frustrating. Perhaps both.