Since lockdown started I’ve become fascinated by the era of #ragtime and #silentcinema. There’s one extraordinary story from the 1910s which grabbed me, and I think is really worth sharing right now. Long thread incoming.
Vernon Castle was the son of a pub landlord born in Norwich, who moved to across the Atlantic to New York in 1906. He became a bit part comedy dancer/actor on the vaudeville circuit. 
In 1910 Vernon met Irene Foote, the daughter of a NY doctor. She was a middle-class suburban liberal, while Vernon was a working-class Englishman. The two fell in love and they married a year later. Irene had dreams of going on the stage and she convinced him to focus on dancing.
When they were offered parts in a musical in Paris they jumped at the chance and though the show was a flop they managed to find work as dancers in the Café de Paris. They performed the latest American ragtime dance crazes, such as a Grizzly Bear, and became a sensation.
This didn’t translate into fame in America, but it did open doors on their return. Vernon could sing and act, and provided energy and dash in their dances. Irene was a serene dancer, a fashion trendsetter, and handled the business.
They danced in vaudeville and Broadway theatres and eventually met James Reese Europe, an African American bandleader and composer born in Mobile, Alabama. In 1912 set up the Clef Club in Harlem, a mix of musicians' hangout, fraternity club, labour exchange, and concert hall.
His major success came as leader of Europe’s Society Orchestra, which became one of the most important ragtime bands and broke out of the confines of Jim Crow America, to reach popularity among young white society. Europe wrote and recorded some of the biggest ragtime hits.
He was a pioneer. “We have developed a kind of symphony music that, no matter what else you think, is different and distinctive… We colored people have our own music that is part of us. It’s the product of our souls; it’s been created by the sufferings and miseries of our race.”
The Castles combined with Europe and his. When in one theatre the pit band refused to let black musicians take their place, Vernon insisted that Europe and the band play on stage instead. Which seems to have blown everyone’s mind and from then on became one of their signatures.
Managed by Elisabeth Marbury, an out lesbian, all three were now set to become wildly famous, and create several music and dance crazes. The one which launched them all to stardom in 1914 was the ‘Castle Walk’, an accessible form of one-step danced to a tune composed by Europe.
While Europe was well-known, the white Castles became marketable celebrities. They endorsed all sorts of products and set up a dance school. Social dancing was a major pastime for all classes. They taught an elegant and simple style of dance which could be learnt by all.
Irene also became a fashion icon. Photos of her and what she was wearing featured regularly in magazines and women began to follow where she led. When Irene cut her hair into a bob, she set the trend that would last for the next decade.
When #WW1 broke out their story becomes even more surprising. The Castle-Europe trio broke up as Vernon decided to return to Britain and join the Royal Flying Corps. Though he was a recruitment asset he was not spared from combat. He flew 300 missions and won the Croix de Guerre.
Meanwhile, Irene Castle went to Hollywood and became a film star, appearing in 18 films in a few years. During a period of leave, they met up in London and were pressed into a benefit performance. This was their last dance together.
In 1918 Vernon was transferred to train young US pilots in Texas. This could be just as dangerous as combat with fragile planes and inexperienced flyers. During one training flight, his plane stalled manoeuvring to avoid hitting a trainee. It crashed to the ground and died age 30
Vernon was buried in the Bronx and Irene posed for the bronze figure mourning over his grave. She would remarry several times and become a clothes designer, but on her death was interred next to Vernon.
Years later, their lives would be turned into a film staring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. However, the role of Europe would be completely omitted, and even the Castles’ black valet would be recast as white.
Turning back to James Reese Europe, when America entered the Great War he too joined up. Prefiguring the path taken by Glenn Miller in WW2, he was made an officer and bandleader. In the segregated army Europe joined a black unit, the 369th Infantry Regiment.
When they arrived in France the 369th were assigned to the French Army because many white American soldiers refused to fight alongside blacks, and they were actively hated by members of the US command. Despite this the unit earnt the nickname the 'Harlem Hellfighters'.
Europe and band acted as stretcher bearers during battle and kept up morale playing ragtime and early jazz on the march or in camp. They were soon noticed by British and French troops serving alongside them, and for many would have been their first introduction to black music.
When the war ended the bands fame in France had spread to the civilian population and they began a series of concerts and recorded several records.
In 1919 Europe and the band returned to the US. One fateful day tensions during rehearsals led to an argument, in which one of the already unstable band members became enraged and stabbed Europe in the neck with a penknife. He died in hospital a few hours later.
On his death a fellow musician said that, “Jim Europe was the living open sesame… [he raised black men] to positions of importance as real musicians. I think the suffering public ought to know that in Jim Europe, the race has lost a leader, a benefactor, and a true friend.”
