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Georges F. Doriot: 1899–1987: Dream Builder

Edward Morris

in Wall Streeters: The Creators and Corruptors of American Finance

The chapter describes Georges Doriot and the formation of the American Research and Development Company, the world’s first venture capital firm.

The Gaitherization of Contemporary Southern Gospel

Douglas Harrison

in Then Sings My Soul: The Culture of Southern Gospel Music

This chapter provides the first comprehensive academic treatment of Bill Gaither and the Bill and Gloria Gaither Homecoming Friends concert tour and video series. It explores the private origins of ... More

This chapter provides the first comprehensive academic treatment of Bill Gaither and the Bill and Gloria Gaither Homecoming Friends concert tour and video series. It explores the private origins of Bill Gaither's public oeuvre. The focus here is on the way Gaither's life and music crystallize a set of widespread anxieties and ambitions among the generations of Cold War, postmodern evangelicals who follow his music. The chapter identifies the strategic manner in which Gaither Homecomings repurpose the habits of early-twentieth-century singing-convention style in southern gospel. It then concludes by demonstrating how these updated patterns of expression refract the music's long-standing function as a pressure regulator between tradition and modernity in postmodern America.Less

Time Present and Time Past: The Homecomings, 1991–1999

Ryan P. Harper

in The Gaithers and Southern Gospel: Homecoming in the Twenty-First Century

The first chapter focuses on the first decade of the Homecoming franchise. The first Homecomings occur against the backdrop of late 1980s/early 1990s American politics, economics, evangelicalism, and ... More

The first chapter focuses on the first decade of the Homecoming franchise. The first Homecomings occur against the backdrop of late 1980s/early 1990s American politics, economics, evangelicalism, and mass entertainment. It is through these early videos that the Gaithers must establish the trust of an audience often alienated by televangelism and other subgenres of contemporary Christian music.Less

Between Jesus and John Wayne: Constructing Guy Penrod

Ryan P. Harper

in The Gaithers and Southern Gospel: Homecoming in the Twenty-First Century

The second chapter examines Guy Penrod—singer in the Gaither Vocal Band through the Homecomings’ most successful run, and the face of the franchise during its heyday. The first of three chapters that ... More

The second chapter examines Guy Penrod—singer in the Gaither Vocal Band through the Homecomings’ most successful run, and the face of the franchise during its heyday. The first of three chapters that focus on a particular Homecoming figure, chapter two investigates the Homecoming “construction” of Penrod as a rugged yet sensitive family man during and beyond the “Promise Keeper” era, in which American evangelical masculinity is going through significant changes. Penrod exemplifies how the Gaithers choose and contour performers to satisfy and challenge fans’ expectations.Less

Let’s Just Praise the Lord: (A)Politics of the Homecomings

Ryan P. Harper

in The Gaithers and Southern Gospel: Homecoming in the Twenty-First Century

Chapter three explores the (a)politics of the Homecomings. For several reasons, the Gaithers intend their gospel programs to be free of politics—primarily free of the party endorsements that have ... More

Chapter three explores the (a)politics of the Homecomings. For several reasons, the Gaithers intend their gospel programs to be free of politics—primarily free of the party endorsements that have saturated and often harmed the ministries of a number of their fellow public evangelicals, dating back to the Nixon-Billy Graham era, into the heyday of the Religious Right. Notwithstanding some kinds of Homecoming “apoliticism,” there are several senses of “politics” resident, implicitly and explicitly, in Homecoming discourse. The appearances and disappearances of these “politics” in the Homecoming world exposes the promises and perils that face American evangelical communities—and, more broadly, the American democratic community of which they are an important constituent.Less

Preaching to the Choir: Gloria Gaither and Homecoming Intraevangelicalism

Ryan P. Harper

in The Gaithers and Southern Gospel: Homecoming in the Twenty-First Century

Chapter four focuses on Gloria Gaither, the principal lyricist in the Gaither duo and the chief scriptwriter for most Homecoming videos and products. Gloria is a monumental yet marginal presence in ... More

Chapter four focuses on Gloria Gaither, the principal lyricist in the Gaither duo and the chief scriptwriter for most Homecoming videos and products. Gloria is a monumental yet marginal presence in the Homecoming world, as are her theological contributions. The chapter explores how Gloria—as woman, as artist—simultaneously expands and fortifies the boundaries of Homecoming evangelicalism and theology—primarily through her careful augmentations of conservative evangelical tropes.Less

Some Work of Noble Note: The Homecomings in the Twenty-First Century

Ryan P. Harper

in The Gaithers and Southern Gospel: Homecoming in the Twenty-First Century

Chapter five picks up chronologically where chapter one ended: the turn of the century. It focuses on what happens as the Homecomings leave the American South, when a number of the gospel “legends” ... More

Chapter five picks up chronologically where chapter one ended: the turn of the century. It focuses on what happens as the Homecomings leave the American South, when a number of the gospel “legends” to whom the early videos pay tribute die. When the Gaithers have a decade’s worth of Homecoming social capital at their backs, they demonstrate the ability to more explicitly push at the demographic boundaries of their fan base.Less

“Gloom, Gloom, Gloom”

Yanek Mieczkowski

in Eisenhower's Sputnik Moment: The Race for Space and World Prestige

This chapter discusses Eisenhower's response to the Gaither Committee's ominous report concerning the U.S. national security. The committee conducted a massive review of the country's defense ... More

This chapter discusses Eisenhower's response to the Gaither Committee's ominous report concerning the U.S. national security. The committee conducted a massive review of the country's defense posture, examining whether the United States could survive a nuclear first strike from the Soviet Union and retaliate. The results show that a Soviet first strike would destroy up to 50 percent of the American population. Eisenhower, thus, assigned the Gaither Committee to enhance America's offensive missile capabilities. Furthermore, the committee was tasked to create a network of fallout shelters—not merely bomb shelters to shield citizens from blasts—to protect Americans from radioactivity after a nuclear attack.Less

A Poster Child of Change: GSIA

in The Roots, Rituals, and Rhetorics of Change: North American Business Schools After the Second World War

This chapter examines the role of the Graduate School of Industrial Administration of the Carnegie Institute of Technology (GSIA) in the post-war reform of business schools in North America. It ... More

This chapter examines the role of the Graduate School of Industrial Administration of the Carnegie Institute of Technology (GSIA) in the post-war reform of business schools in North America. It explains that GSIA was founded in 1949 on the kind of vision that the Gaither Report to the Ford Foundation advocated and it became a “poster child” for the foundation's efforts for the reform of business schools. It argues that despite its youth and small size, the GSIA provided a model for making business schools more academic, more analytical, more interdisciplinary and more effectively research-based.Less

Apocalyptic Warnings

in Better Safe Than Sorry: The Ironies of Living with the Bomb

Fear became established in the minds of the people of the United States during n the “war on terror.” Warnings from the White House and its critics reinforced each other, creating an echo chamber of ... More

Fear became established in the minds of the people of the United States during n the “war on terror.” Warnings from the White House and its critics reinforced each other, creating an echo chamber of public fears. Nuclear anxieties after 9/11 motivated the Bush administration to be clearer with the truth. These anxieties were justified, but they caused the distraction of many Americans. It is noted that exceptional leadership and dogged persistence were important to the possible decrease of nuclear dangers during the Cold War. Five particularly horrific years of living dangerously in the nuclear age are observed: 1945, 1949–1950, 1962, 1983, and 2001. NSC 68 and the Gaither Committee report provide two of the significant clarion calls of nuclear danger. The strategic concept of George W. Bush for preventing new nuclear dangers primarily depended on U.S. military dominance. Cohesion among major powers was one of the casualties of the second U.S. war against Saddam Hussein.Less

Introduction

Derrick E. White

in Blood, Sweat, and Tears: Jake Gaither, Florida A&M, and the History of Black College Football

This book tells the history of college football at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) through the lens of Alonzo “Jake” Gaither’s playing and coaching career. After World War II, ... More

This book tells the history of college football at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) through the lens of Alonzo “Jake” Gaither’s playing and coaching career. After World War II, Gaither, as a coach, transformed Florida A&M University (FAMU) into the most dominant Black college football program over the next three decades. FAMU’s winning program was buttressed by the development of sporting congregations, a network of athletes, administrators, coaches, sportswriters, and fans that emerged in the first half of the 20th century. Finally, the growth of Black college football reflected a broader tension in African American higher education between integration and self-determination.Less

Florida A&M Develops a Sporting Congregation

Derrick E. White

in Blood, Sweat, and Tears: Jake Gaither, Florida A&M, and the History of Black College Football

This chapter examines the development of Florida A&M’s football program. From its beginnings in 1896 through the early 1930s, FAMU’s football teams were not very good. Ironically, FAMU’s football ... More

This chapter examines the development of Florida A&M’s football program. From its beginnings in 1896 through the early 1930s, FAMU’s football teams were not very good. Ironically, FAMU’s football program improved during the Great Depression to propel the football program forward. Notably, FAMU launched its Orange Blossom Classic football game in 1933. This was followed by the hiring of William Bell as head coach in 1936, and Gaither as an assistant coach in 1937.Less

A Double-V Campaign On the Field and Off

Derrick E. White

in Blood, Sweat, and Tears: Jake Gaither, Florida A&M, and the History of Black College Football

During World War II, the FAMU football program faced challenges from the growing war effort, which drafted increasing numbers of faculty, staff, and students. Head Coach William Bell volunteered for ... More

During World War II, the FAMU football program faced challenges from the growing war effort, which drafted increasing numbers of faculty, staff, and students. Head Coach William Bell volunteered for services after the 1942 season, leaving the program reeling. Additionally, Gaither was diagnosed with two cancerous brain tumors in the spring of 1942. Gaither and the FAMU football program survived through war’s end.Less