FYI: Digital project on American Bandstand now online

From: Matthew Delmont [[email protected]]

Digital project on American Bandstand now online, featuring video clips,
100+ images and preview of forthcoming book "The Nicest Kids in Town:
American Bandstand, Rock ‘n’ Roll, and the Struggle for Civil Rights in
1950s Philadelphia" (University of California Press, American Crossroads
series, Feb 2012).

Counter to host Dick Clark’s claims that he integrated American
Bandstand, this project reveals how the first national television
program directed at teens discriminated against black youth during its
early years and how black teens and civil rights advocates protested
this discrimination.  The project also brings to light the civil rights
activism of black deejays like Georgie Woods and Mitch Thomas, whose
locally televised teen dance show debuted fifteen years before “Soul
Train” and influenced the dance styles on “American Bandstand.”

View "The Nicest Kids in Town" digital project at:
http://scalar.usc.edu/nehvectors/nicest-kids

Matt Delmont
Assistant Professor, American Studies, Scripps College
Twitter: @mattdelmont
Website: http://mattdelmont.com
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"The Nicest Kids in Town: American Bandstand, Rock 'n' Roll, and the
Struggle for Civil Rights in 1950s Philadelphia" available in February
2012.
Book website: http://nicestkids.com
Digital project: http://scalar.usc.edu/nehvectors/nicest-kids