Swing Music and the Great Depression
This lecture utilizes Big Band Swing to demonstrate the importance of popular music to Depression and World War II audiences. Lewis Erenberg examines the competing values contained in the music and shows how racial integration first surfaced in the world of swing because of the insurgent nature of the New Deal Era. This lecture is based on Lewis Erenberg’s research and book Swingin’ The Dream.
Lewis Erenberg is a Professor of History at Loyola University Chicago who is especially interested in the history of popular culture and entertainment. He has spoken at numerous seminars and lectures series and was a National Humanities Center Fellow from 2003-2004. Erenberg has also authored numerous books and articles, including The Greatest Fight of Our Generation: Louis vs. Schmeling and Swingin’ The Dream: Big Band Jazz and The Rebirth of American Culture.
