Washington's Black Community In The Early 20th Century

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Many people played significant roles in the story of Washington's black community in the early 20th century, but no one better personified the elegance, the dynamism and the spirit of that society than Duke Ellington. He embodied the powerful connection between cultural success and economic achievement among African-Americans. And he was a creature of the fertile, talented, secure middle-class society that nurtured him. As musical historians Marc Tucker and John Hasse have observed, the Duke was shaped by Washington's black community - by its schools and churches; by the elegance and etiquette his father learned as a butler and caterer to some of Washington's most prominent families; and by the confident aspirations of his elders. It was into

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