Aaron "Albert" Warner (July 23, 1884^[1] – November 26, 1967) was a Polish-born American film executive who was one of the founders of Warner Bros. Studios. He established the production studio with his brothers Harry, Sam, and Jack Warner. He served as the studio's treasurer, until he sold his stock in 1956.^[2]

Early years[link]

Abraham "Wonsal"^[3] or "Wonskolaser",^[4] later Abraham Warner, was born in a part of the Russian Empire that is now Poland, and possibly in the village of Krasnosielc,^[5] He was the son of Benjamin "Wonsal" or "Wonskolaser," a shoe maker born in Krasnosielc, and Pearl Leah Eichelbaum. He came to Baltimore, Maryland with his mother and siblings in October 1889 on the steamship Hermann from Bremen, Germany. Their father had preceded them, immigrating to Baltimore in 1888 and following his trade in shoes and shoe repair. He changed the family name to Warner, which was used thereafter. As in many Jewish immigrant families, some of the children gradually acquired anglicized versions of their Yiddish-sounding names. Abraham and Jacob were late among the children to do so, becoming "Albert" and "Jack" after they came of age.^[6] However, his nickname was "Abe."^[7]

In Baltimore, the money Benjamin Warner earned in the shoe repair business was not enough to provide for his growing household.^[8] He and Pearl had another daughter, Fannie, not long after they arrived. Benjamin moved the family Canada, inspired by a friend's advice that he could make an excellent living bartering tin wares with trappers in exchange for furs.^[8] Sons Jacob and David Warner were born in London, Ontario.^[8][9] After two arduous years in Canada, Benjamin and Pearl Warner returned to Baltimore, bringing along their growing family.^[10] Two more children, Sadie and Milton, were added to the household there.^[11] In 1896, the family relocated to Youngstown, Ohio, following the lead of Harry Warner, who established a shoe repair shop in the heart of the emerging industrial town.^[12] Benjamin worked with his son Harry in the shoe repair shop until he secured a loan to open a meat counter and grocery store in the city's downtown area.^[13][14]

In the late 1890s, Albert became fascinated by the bicycle craze that sweep through the USA.^[15] and his older brother Harry opened a bicycle shop in Youngstown together as well.^[16] The two also tried to open a bowling alley together, but were unsuccessful.^[15]

Albert Warner stayed in school longer than any his three brothers.^[17] In 1900, Warner entered Youngstown's Rayen High School, where he served as quarterback for the school's football team.^[17] Warner eventually dropped out,^[17] and eventually got a job in Chicago as a salesman for the soap company Swift and Company.^[18] Warner's life would soon pursue a new direction after brother Sam was able to purchase Kinetoscope in 1903.^[19]

Film career[link]

As a young man, along with his brother Sam, Albert Warner entered the nickelodeon business, and started displaying copies of The Great Train Robbery from a Kinetoscope at carnivals in Ohio and Pennsylvania in 1903; Sam ran the projector and Albert sold tickets.^[20] In 1905, Harry agreed to join his two brothers' business and sold his Youngstown bicycle shop.^[20] During this time, the three brothers purchased a building in New Castle, Pennsylvania;^[20] with their new building, the brothers established their first theater, The Cascade Movie Palace.^[21] The theater was so successful that the brothers were able to purchase a second theater in New Castle as well.^[22] This makeshift theatre, called the Bijou, was furnished with chairs borrowed from a local undertaker.^[23] In 1907, the three brothers acquired fifteen addiional theaters in the state of Pennsylvania, and named their new business The Dusquesne Amusement Supply Company.^[24] The three brothers then rented an office in the Bakewell building in downtown Pittburgh.^[22] Harry then sent Sam to New York to purchase, and ship, films for their Pittsburgh exchange company,^[22] while he and Albert remained in Pittsburgh to run the business.^[22]

In 1909, the brothers sold the Cascade Theater to open a second film exchange company in Norfolk, Virginia; through this second film exchange, younger brother Jack joined his three brothers' business.^[24] Afterwards, Sam and Jack went to Norfolk, while Harry and Albert stayed in Pittsburgh.^[24] However, one serious threat to the Warners film company was the advent of Thomas Edison's Motion Picture Patents Company (also known as the Edison Trust), which charged distributors exorbitant fees.^[25] In 1910, the Warners sold the family business to the General Film Company, for "$10,000 in cash, $12,000 in preferred stock, and payments over a four-year period for a total of $52,000".^[26] After selling their business, the brothers found work distributing films for Carl Laemmle's Independent Motion Picture Company in Pittsburgh.^[26] In 1912, Sam Warner would help the brothers earn a $1,500 profit with his film Dante's Interno.^[27] In the wake of the success Dante's Interno gave the brothers, Harry Warner, seeing Edison's monopoly threat growing, decided to leave Laemmle and establish an independent film production company for himself and his three brothers, Warner Features;^[28] Albert and Harry opened an office in New York, while Sam was sent to operate the company's new Los Angeles film exchange division, and Jack was sent to run the company's new San Francisco film exchange division.^[28] In 1918, thanks in part to a loan from Ambassador James W. Gerald,^[29] the brothers expanded operations and established a studio near Hollywood, California^[30] Sam and Jack moved to the West Coast to produce films while Albert and Harry remained on the East Coast to handle distribution.

Between the years 1919 and 1920, the studio was not able to garnish any profits.^[31] During this time, banker Motley Flint helped the Warners pay off their debts.^[31] Shortly afterwards, the four brothers then decided to relocate their studio from Culver City to Sunset Boulevard.^[32] The studio rebounded in 1921, after the success of the studio's film Why Girls Leave Home.^[31] As a result of the financial success of the film, its director, Harry Rapf, was appointed the studio's new head producer.^[32] On April 4, 1923, following the studio's successful film The Gold Diggers, Warner Brothers, Inc. was officially established.^[31] Albert remained in New York, where he ran the company's distribution and finances.^[31]

Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc.[link]

Warner Bros' first film, Where the North Begins, drew success for the brothers not seen since My First Four In Germany.^[33] The film also made the dog Rin Tin Tin the studio's first star.^[33] Newcomer director Darryl Zanuck's career was also greatly boosted because of his productions of Rin Tin Tin as well.^[34] Zanuck would eventually become a top producer for the studio as well,^[35] and between 1928 and 1933, served as Jack Warner's right-hand man and executive producer, a position whose responsibilities included the day-to-day production of films.^[36]

After establishing Warner Bros. Pictures, the studio had, unfortunately overdrawn $1,000,000.00 (the amount which Warner had loaned from Flint).^[37] At this, Albert convinced Harry not to purchase the screenrights to the hit play Rain Harry then decided to help ease the company's financial status by acquiring forty theaters in the state of Pennsylvania

More success would also come for the studio after the brothers hired German director Ernst Lubitsch as the head director for the studio as well;^[34] Rapf had departed the studio and accepted an offer to work at MGM.^[38] Lubitsch's first film at the studio, The Marriage Circle, became the studio's most successful film of 1924,^[34] and was also on the New York Times Best list for the year as well.^[34] The studio's 1924 film Beau Brummel also made John Barrymore a top star at the studio as well.^[39] Despite the success the brothers now had, they still could not compete with the Big Three studios (First National, Paramount, and MGM)^[40]

In 1925, Albert's older brother Harry and a large group of independent film-makers assembled in Milwaukee, Wisconsin to challenge the monopoly the Big Three had over the film industry).^[40] Harry and the other independent film-makers at the Milwaukee convention agreed to spend $500,000.00 in newspaper advertisements;^[41] this action would help benefit Warner Bros. profits.^[41] With help from a loan supplied by Golddman, Sachs head banker Waddill Catchings, Warner would find a way to successfully respond to the growing concern the Big Three Studios further induced to Warner Bros., and expanded the company's operations further buy purchasing the Brooklyn theater company Vitagraph.^[41] through this purchase, the Warners now had theaters in the New York area.

In 1925, Sam Warner had also acquired a radio station, KWBC,^[42] After acquiring this radio station, Sam decided to make an attempt to use synchronized sound in future Warner Bros. Pictures.^[43] Harry Warner, however had initial reservations about the idea, in which he is memorably quoted as saying "Who the hell wants to hear actors talk?" when his brother, CEO Sam Warner proposed the idea to him. Under Warner and his brothers leadership, the company came to own and operate some 250 theaters in which to screen its films, and, more importantly, was a successful pioneer of the sound film industry and the company still thrives today. By the February 1926, however, the brothers' radio business had failed, and the studio was suffered a net loss of $333,413.00.^[44]

After a period of refusing to accept the usage of sound in the company's films, Harry Warner now agreed to use synchronized sound in Warner Bros. shorts, as long as it just for usage of background music,^[45] Harry then made a visit to Western Electric's Bell Laboratories in New York,^[46] (which younger brother Sam had earlier visited) and was impressed.^[46] on problem that occurred for the Warners though was the fact that the high-ups at Western Electric were anti-Semitic.^[46] Sam, though, was able to convince the high-ups to sign with the studio after his wife Lina wore a gold cross at a dinner he attended with the Western Electric.^[46] After which, Harry signed a partnership agreement with Western Electric to use Bell Laboratories to test the sound-on-film process.^[47]

After the agreement was signed, Vitaphone was established.^[48] and Sam and Jack decided to take a big step forward make Don Juan.^[49] The film began with eight Vitaphone features filmed in sound.^[50] Despite the success it had at the box office,^[51] the film was not able to match its expensive budget.^[52] Harry was now further convinced not to use any more sound in Warner Bros. pictures.

With Harry now refusing to allow further Vitaphone productions, Paramount head Adolph Zukor took advantage of the situation and tried to offer Sam a deal as an executive producer for his studio if he brought Vitaphone with him.^[53] Sam easily accepted Zukor's offer,^[53] but the offer died after Paramount lost money in the wake of Rudolph Valentino's death in late 1926.^[53] By April 1927, the Big Five studios (First National, Paramount, MGM, Universal, and Producers Distributing) had put the Warners in financial ruin,^[54] and Western Electric renewed the Warner's Vitaphone contract with terms that it was no longer exclusive and that other film company's could test sound with Western Electric as well;^[54] the Warners were even forced to sell some of their stock to Harry Cohn, the head of the independent film company Columbia Pictures.^[55] Eventually, Harry agreed to accept Sam's demands to continue with Vitaphone productions,^[56] and the studio soon began production of the first talkie, The Jazz Singer;^[56] soon after its release, The Jazz Singer would indeed help establish the Warners as the arguably the three most importa figures in the film industry.^[57] On October 5, 1927, Sam would die and younger brother Jack was granted with the power to head all of the studio's production,^[58] despite the fact that Jack still did not have as much power over the studio as Harry did, as he was only the studio's Vice President.^[59]

Kings of the talking Screen[link]

With the success of the Jazz Singers, more talkies followed.^[58] With the large sums of money the Warners now had on-hand, Harry was able to expand business operations further. Harry Warner was able to acquire the Stanley Corporation for the studio,^[60] This purchase gave them a share in rival First National Pictures, of which Stanley owned one-third.^[61] After this purchase, Warner was soon able to acquire William Fox's one third remaining share in First National and was now officially the majority stockholder of the company.^[61] Harry, after purchasing a string of music publishers,^[61] was even able to establish a music subsidiary-Warner Bros. Music- and buy out additional radio companies, foreign sound patents, and a lithograph company as well;^[62] In 1929, with the large amount of money he now had made off of the studio's valuable subsidiaries, Albert acquired a large home in Rye, Westchester County, New York, which he dubbed "Caradel Hall."^[63]

The Great Depression[link]

With the Wall Street Crash of 1929 officially marking the beginning of The Great Depression, Albert saw that the studio was in need of additional star power in order to survive.^[64] Following Albert's advice, Jack and Harry Warner acquired three Paramount stars (William Powell, Kay Francis, and Ruth Chatteron) for studio salaries doubled from their previous ones.^[64] This move proved to be a success, and stockholders maintained confident in the Warners.^[64] In late 1929, Jack Warner would hire sixty-one year old actor George Arliss to star in the studio's film Disraeli.^[65] To everybody's surprise,^[65] the film Disraeli was a success,^[65] and Arliss would win an Oscar for Best Actor for his role in the film and star in nine more films with the studio as well.^[65]

With the collapse of the market for musicals, Warner Bros., under production head Darryl F. Zanuck, turned to more realistic and gritty storylines, 'torn from the headlines' pictures that some said glorified gangsters; Warner Bros. soon became known as "gangster studio.^[66] The studio's first gangster film Little Caesar was a great success at the box office.^[67] and Edward Robinson was cast a star in many of the wave of gangster films the studio produced after Little Caesar^[68] The studio's next gangster film, The Public Enemy,^[69] would also make James Cagney arguably the studio's new top star,^[70] and the Warners were now further convinced to make more gangster films as well.^[69]

Another gangster film the studio produced was the critically acclaimed I Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang, starring Paul Muni.^[71] In addition to Cagney and Robinson, Paul Muni was also given a big push as one the studio's top gangster stars after appearing in the successful film I Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang.^[72] The film I Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang got audiences in the United States to question the legal system in the United States.^[73] and by January 1933, the film's protagonist Robert Elliot Burns-who was still imprisoned in New Jersey- and a number of different chain gang prisoners nationwide in the United States were able to appeal and were released.^[74] In January 1933, Georgia chain gang warden J Harold Hardy-who was also made into a character in the film- sued the studio for displaying "vicious, brutual and false attacks" against him in the film.^[75] After appearing in the film The Man Who Played God, Bette Davis would also become a top star for the studio as well.^[76] In 1933, the studio's very successful film 42nd Street would revive the studio's musicals^[77] Most these new musicals featured Ruby Keeler and Dick Powell as the stars, and were mostly directed by Busby Berkeley.^[78]

By 1931, however, the studio would begin to feel the effects of the Depression as the general public became unable to afford the price for movie tickets.^[79] In 1931, the studio would reportedly suffer a net loss of $8,000,000.00.^[79] The following year, the studio would suffer an additional $14,000,000.00 net loss as well.^[79]

In 1933, relieve for the studio would come again after Franklin Roosevelt became US President in 1933 and was able to rebound the US Economy with the New Deal;^[80] because of this economic rebound, box office profits for Warner Bros. existed once again.^[80] This same year, however, a blow would also occur as the studio's longtime head producer Darryl F. Zanuck would quit, because: (1) Harry Warner's relationship with Zanuck became strained after Harry was strongly against allowing Zanuck film Baby Face to step outside the Hays Code boundaries;^[81] and 2) the studio reduced Zanuck's salary as a result of the financial woes the Great Depression gave the studio's net profits,^[82] and Harry still refused to raise his salary in the wake of the New Deal's rebound.^[83] Zanuck produced his letter of resignation to Jack Warner,^[84] and went on to establish his own company^[83] In the wake of Zanuck's resignation, Harry Warner agreed to again raise the salary for the studio's employees.^[83]

In 1933, the studio was also able to bring newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst's Cosmopolitan films into the Warner Bros. fold.^[85] Hearst had previously been signed with MGM,^[86] but he ended his ties with the company after a dispute with the company's head producer Irving Thalberg over the treatment of Marion Davies;^[87] Davies was a longtime mistress of Hearst,^[87] and was now struggling to draw box office success.^[87] Through the studios partnership with Hearst, Harry's younger brother Jack was also able to sign Davies to a studio contract as well.^[85] Hearst's company and Davies' films, however, could not increase the studio's net profits.^[86] In 1934, Warner officially purchased the Teddington Studio as well.^[88]

In 1934, the studio would suffer a net loss of over $2,500,000.00. $500,000 of this loss was also the result of physical damage to the Warner Bros. Burbank studio that occurred after a massive fire that broke out in the studio around the end of 1934, and destroyed twenty years worth of early Warner Bros. films.^[89] The following year, Hearst's film adaption of William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream would fail at the box office and the studio net loss increased.^[90] During the year 1935, the studio's revived musicals would also suffer a major blow after director Busby Berkeley was arrested after killing three people while driving drunk one night.^[91] By the end of the 1935, however, relief would come for the Warners, as the studio would rebound with a year-end net profit of $674,158.00.^[92]

Post War Era[link]

On November 25, 1947, Albert Warner and other executives in the motion picture industry issued the Waldorf Statement, first promulgating the Hollywood Blacklist. Around this time, Albert also bought a second mansion in Miami Beach, Florida, where he lived for most of the remaining years of his life.^[93] By 1956, the studio was losing money and Albert wanted to retire and live full time in his Miami Beach house.^[94]

In May 1956, the brothers announced they were putting Warner Bros. on the market.^[95] Jack, however, secretly organized a syndicate headed by Boston banker Serge Semenenko that purchased 90% (800,000 shares) of the company's stock.^[96] After the three brothers sold their stock, in an under-the-table deal with Sememenko, Jack officially joined Semenenko's syndicate and bought back all his stock, which consisted of 200,000 shares.^[96] The deal officially completed in July.^[97] Now the company's largest stockholder, Jack appointed himself as the new company president.^[96] By the time Harry and Albert learned of their brother's subterfuge, it was too late.^[97]

Albert read about Jack's dealings while spending time in New York City.^[96] He never spoke to Jack again, but he did later rejoin the company's board of directors to keep Jack "from stealing the stockholders blind."^[96]

Albert Warner died in 1967 in Miami Beach. A funeral service was held in Los Angeles.^[98] Warner was then interred in Brooklyn, next to his first wife Bessie Krieger.^[93] After Albert's second wife Bessie Warner died in 1970 she was interred with him as well in Brooklyn.

Personal life[link]

In 1908, Warner married Bessie Krieger,^[1] in New Castle, Pennsylvania.^[99] Krieger died in 1923 from influenza.^[100] On April 23, 1925, Warner married Bessie Siegal, the widow of his friend,^[101] Jonas Siegal.^[102] The couple remained married until Warner's death in 1967.^[98] Through his marriage to Bessie Siegel, Warner had a stepson, Arthur Jack Steel, who married Ruth Mandel, and had sons John and Lewis Steel (named after Harry Warner's son Lewis Warner). Warner was noted to never adapt the upper class lifestyle, remaining unrefined throughout his life.^[103]

Notes[link]

Bibliography[link]

• Sperling, Cass Warner; Cork Milner and Jack Warner Jr. (1998). Hollywood Be Thy Name: The Warner Brothers Story. University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 0-8131-0958-2. 
• Thomas, Bob (1990). Clown Prince of Hollywood: The Antic Life and Times of Jack L. Warner. McGraw-Hill Publishing Company. ISBN 0-07-064259-1. 
• Warner, Jack L.; Dean Jennings (1964). My First Hundred Years in Hollywood. Random Books. ASIN: B0007DZSKW. 

See also[link]

• Harry Warner (1881–1958)
• Sam Warner (1887–1927)
• Jack Warner (1892–1978)

Allen and Albert Hughes
Albert (left) and Allen (right) Hughes at the 2009 San Diego Comic-Con International
Born	(1972-04-01) April 1, 1972 (age 40) Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Other names	The Hughes brothers
Occupation	Film directors, producers, writers
Years active	1993–present
Style	Action

Albert Hughes and Allen Hughes (born April 1, 1972), known together professionally as the Hughes brothers, are American film directors, producers and screenwriters. The pair, who are twins,^[1] are known for co-directing such visceral, and often violent, movies as Menace II Society, From Hell and The Book of Eli.

Early lives[link]

The Hughes brothers were born in Detroit, Michigan to an African American father and an Armenian American mother, Aida, whose family were Iranian Armenians from Tehran.^[2] Albert is the older of the twins by nine minutes;^[3] although they originally believed themselves to be fraternal twins, they suspect they may be identical despite not having had a DNA test.^[4] Their parents divorced when they were two. The twins moved with their mother to Pomona, California, east of Los Angeles, when they were nine. The mother raised her sons alone while putting herself through school and starting her own business, a vocational center.^[3] Supportive of her sons' ambitions as filmmakers, she gave them a video camera when they were 12.^[5] As a result, the boys spent their free time making short films. When a teacher suggested that they make a "How To" film for an assignment, they complied with a short film entitled "How to Be a Burglar."^[3]

Career[link]

After Allen had a son at the age of 18, Eric Alexander-Hughes, the twins dropped out of high school and soon began working on music videos as teenagers, directing for artists like Tone Loc and Tupac Shakur.^[6] Their first film, 1993's Menace II Society premiered at the Cannes Film Festival. Centering on black, disenfranchised youth, it was made on a budget of $3.5 million when they were only 20 years old. Not only did they co-direct the film, but they also wrote it with screenwriter Tyger Williams. It became a critical as well as a box office success and was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature. Because of their previous experience in directing music videos, they became the first sibling duo since Jerry and David Zucker allowed a waiver by the Directors Guild of America to take co-credit as directors.^[1]

Their second film was Dead Presidents in 1995. Dealing with the black underclass society like their feature film debut, and also starring Larenz Tate, the film centered on war veterans during the racially charged Vietnam War era. The film, which was released at the New York Critics Film Festival, failed to make as much of a profit as their first film.^[3] They followed Dead Presidents with American Pimp, a feature-length documentary about the underground pimp culture and exploitation of women. It premiered at the 1999 Sundance Film Festival. They had originally set out to do an adaptation of Iceberg Slim's novel Pimp, but someone else acquired the rights.^[7] The brothers have stated that the film's perspective was partially shaped by being raised by their mother, who is a feminist, whereas some members of their family "dabbled" in the pimp lifestyle.^[8] In between projects, they filmed several anti-handgun public service announcements.^[9]

In a departure from their previous material, the Hughes brothers co-directed From Hell, the 2001 film adaptation of Alan Moore's graphic novel of the same name about the Jack the Ripper murders in Victorian England, starring Johnny Depp and Heather Graham. Considered too violent and gory by some critics, the film had to be edited in order to avoid an NC-17 rating by the MPAA.^[3] As described by the film's star, there were sometimes disagreements between the twins regarding the direction of the film.^[9] For example, the amount of shown violence was a point of contention between the two; one brother thought that the brutality should be shown, while the other believed implied violence would suffice.^[10]

After From Hell, the brothers separated duties on their next projects, although they stayed in close proximity to one another. Allen directed a few episodes of the American version of the TV series Touching Evil (for which his brother was an executive producer) as well as the 2005 television feature Knights of the South Bronx. In 2005 it was announced that Albert would direct a feature film, called Art Con, without Allen, although no further news was reported on its development.^[5]

Their first film since 2001's From Hell was the post-apocalyptic drama Book of Eli for Warner Bros., which was released in January 2010.^[11] They are attached to direct The Ice Man, a fact-based film about Richard Kuklinski, and a screen version of the classic TV series Kung Fu.^[11][12] It was announced in February 2010 that the brothers have been tapped to direct a live-action adaptation of the 1988 manga Akira.^[13] However, as of May 26, 2011 they are no longer involved in the project.^[14]

Their, next project is Broken City, an upcoming crime/drama starring Mark Wahlberg^[15] as Billy Taggart, Russell Crowe,^[16] Catherine Zeta-Jones,^[17] Barry Pepper,^[18] Kyle Chandler,^[19] and Jeffrey Wright.^[20]

As a team, Allen typically works with the actors while Albert handles the technical aspects of their films, stemming from Albert's experience of taking classes at Los Angeles City College's film school.^[1]

Personal lives[link]

Known for their frank manner as much as their films, the Hughes Brothers have been known to get into altercations. They took the rap artist Tupac Shakur to court in 1994 after he assaulted them during a music video shoot.^[21] Shakur had originally been slated to star in Menace II Society, but was replaced after the incident which apparently stemmed from Shakur disliking the role they had chosen for him. He was later sentenced to 15 days in jail for the assault as well as another incident which occurred a day before his sentencing.^[22]

The brothers have also made no secret of their use of marijuana, and have previously turned down an offer to do anti-marijuana commercials.^[9]

The brothers embrace their African-American and Armenian heritage.^[5]

Allen has a son and Albert has a daughter.^[23]

Filmography[link]

• Menace II Society (1993)
• Dead Presidents (1995)
• American Pimp (1999) – documentary
• From Hell (2001)
• The Book of Eli (2010)
• Broken City (2013)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Albert Hughes at the Internet Movie Database
• Allen Hughes at the Internet Movie Database
• Armenian Dramatic Arts Alliance: Allen Hughes
• Armenian Dramatic Arts Alliance: Albert Hughes

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Carlisle Indian School
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. National Historic Landmark
Native American pupils at Carlisle Indian School, c. 1900.
Location:	Carlisle, Pennsylvania
Area:	24.5 acres (9.9 ha)
Built:	1879
Architectural style:	Colonial Revival
Governing body:	United States Army
NRHP Reference#:	66000658[1]
Significant dates
Added to NRHP:	October 15, 1966
Designated NHL:	July 4, 1961[2]

Carlisle Indian Industrial School (1879–1918) was an Indian boarding school in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1879 at Carlisle, Pennsylvania by Captain Richard Henry Pratt, the school was the first off-reservation boarding school, and it became a model for Indian boarding schools in other locations. It was one of a series of 19th-century efforts by the United States government to assimilate Native American children from 140 tribes into the majority culture. The goal of total assimilation can be summed up in the school's slogan: "To civilize the Indian, get him into civilization. To keep him civilized, let him stay."^[3]

The late 19th century was also a period of continued expansion of public education across the country, with the Reconstruction era (United States) legislatures having created public school systems in the South for the first time, and new northern towns' founding schools to keep up with the settlement of the Midwest and West, as well as expanding immigrant populations in industrial cities.

In the early years of the 20th century, Coach Pop Warner led a highly successful football team and athletic program at the Carlisle School, and went on to create other successful collegiate programs. He coached the exceptional athlete Jim Thorpe and his teammates, bringing national recognition to the small school. In 1912 Carlisle won the national collegiate championship.

After the school closed in 1918, the United States Army took back Carlisle Barracks and used the facility as a hospital to treat soldiers wounded in World War I. Later it established the War College there.

In 1961 the complex was designated a National Historic Landmark (NHL). In later decades the school was re-evaluated by historians and analysts in terms of the psychological damage done to Native American children by assimilation efforts, as well as documented cases of abuse. The school was also recognized for its ideals. In 2000 the former school was the site of a historical commemoration for its Native American students and the full history of the experience.^[4]

History[link]

Yamacraw Creek Native Americans meet with the trustees of the colony of Georgia soon after its founding, July 1734. The Native American boy (in a blue coat) and woman (in a red dress) are portrayed in English clothing.

From the earliest years of the republic, United States leaders struggled with the issues of integrating Native Americans into the European-based society, which they believed was superior and bound to dominate, especially with increasing immigration. Some leaders also hoped to protect the indigenous peoples and their distinct cultures. In the late 18th century, reformers, starting with George Washington and Henry Knox, supported educating native children, in efforts to "civilize" or otherwise assimilate Native Americans into the European-American society.^[5] The Civilization Fund Act of 1819 promoted such policy by providing funding to societies (mostly religious) who worked on Native American improvement. Washington and Knox believed that Native Americans were equals but that their societies were inferior.^[6] Washington had a six-point plan for civilization which included,

1. impartial justice toward Native Americans;
2. regulated buying of Native American lands;
3. promotion of commerce;
4. promotion of experiments to civilize or improve Native American society;
5. presidential authority to give presents; and
6. punishing those who violated Native American rights.^[7]
   

How different would be the sensation of a philosophic mind to reflect that instead of exterminating a part of the human race by our modes of population that we had persevered through all difficulties and at last had imparted our Knowledge of cultivating and the arts, to the Aboriginals of the Country by which the source of future life and happiness had been preserved and extended. But it has been conceived to be impracticable to civilize the Indians of North America — This opinion is probably more convenient than just.

—Henry Knox to George Washington, 1790s.^[8]

The historian Robert Remini wrote that Native Americans were encouraged to think that "once the Indians adopted the practice of private property, built homes, farmed, educated their children, and embraced Christianity, these Native Americans would win acceptance from white Americans."^[9] The United States appointed agents, such as Benjamin Hawkins, to live among the Native Americans and to teach them how to live like European Americans.^[10]

After the American Civil War and Indian Wars ended in the late 19th century, the government encouraged schools on the reservations, as well as expanded missionary activity. The schools on and near reservations were often run primarily by or affiliated with Christian missionaries. They often believed that children had to accept the Christian religion and struggled to suppress traditional ways.^[11] At this time United States society thought that Native American children needed to be acculturated to the general society to help them get ahead and have opportunities in the larger world.

Richard Henry Pratt[link]

Lieut Richard Henry Pratt, founder and superintendent of Carlisle Indian School, in military uniform, 1879.

(See Castillo de San Marcos)

Richard Pratt had served in the Civil War. After the war, Lt. Pratt led the 10th Cavalry Regiment, who became known as Buffalo Soldiers, in the southern plains of the United States. One of Pratt's jobs was to command Native Americans who were enlisted scouts for the 10th Cavalry. In 1875, Pratt transported a small group of 72 Indian prisoners, to Fort Marion, an old Spanish fort in St. Augustine, Florida. The prisoners had been captured in the Indian Territory at the close of the Red River War.

At Fort Marion, Pratt immediately set about improving physical conditions for the Indians. He soon set up an Indian self-guarding system and worked in other ways to help them preserve their dignity. The prisoners became the center of interest by northerners wintering at St. Augustine. They encouraged Pratt in his plans for education, and several participated as volunteer teachers. Some were teachers or had missionary backgrounds. Pratt believed language was critical and that it was easier for Indians to learn English, than for Americans to learn the great variety of Indian languages. He organized volunteers to teach the Indian prisoners language, religion, and customs as a form of cultural assimilation to prepare them for life after release.^[4][12]

When the prisoners were freed in 1878, Pratt encouraged them to seek more education. Seventeen went to Hampton University, a historically black college established soon after the Civil War for freedmen. Others were educated at private colleges in New York state. All funds for their education were raised by private benefactors. Based on their apparent success, Pratt and others thought such education could be useful for other American Indians, especially children.^[12]

Pratt believed a model similar to Hampton Institute would be useful for educating Indians, and worked to gain support for that purpose. The "industrial school", which included trade and farm skills, was seen as more practical for mass education than the classical academic college, which only a small percentage of students attended.^[4] US Senator Pendleton, whose wife had befriended one of the prisoners and supported his education in Syracuse, New York, pushed a bill through Congress to establish a school for American Indians.^[12]

Carlisle Indian Industrial School[link]

Carlisle Students in School Uniform Exercising Inside Gymnasium; Some with Indian Clubs, Others with Gymnastic Equipment; Non-Native Group Watching, 1879.

The federal government authorized Pratt to use the Carlisle Barracks in central Pennsylvania as the site for the school. The first students came from the Lakota tribe. "Pratt saw his education program with the Native Americans as analogous to his domestication of wild turkeys.".^[13] He was said to have taken a nest of wild turkey eggs to be mothered by his barnyard hen, and the fledglings became as assimilated as his best domesticated turkeys. They only needed, in Pratt's words, “the environment and kind treatment of domestic civilized life to become a very part of it."^[14] Pratt believed that the Native Americans should be uprooted from their tribal past to “achieve full participation.” In practice, this meant erasing, as much as possible, any trace of Native American customs, culture, language and religion from the children at the school.

^[15]

Student recruitment[link]

Group of Young Women Students in School Uniform at Gym Class; Some with Indian Clubs; Some on Parallel Bars, Others on Catwalk Above Gym Floor 1880.

Pratt persuaded tribal elders and chiefs that the reason the washichu (Lakota word for white man) had been able to take their land was because the Indians were uneducated. He believed that the Natives were disadvantaged by being unable to speak and write English and that if they had the knowledge, they may have been able to protect themselves. Many of the first children to be sent to Carlisle were sent voluntarily by tribal families. Descendants of Spotted Tail and Red Cloud were among the first sent to the Carlisle School.

As the decades passed, enrollment at the Carlisle School increased, with up to 1,000 students a year. The older students used their skills to help build new classrooms and dorm buildings.

As more schools were developed across the country, the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) put pressure on Indian families to send their children to the boarding schools. To save their children from capture, some parents taught their children a hiding “game” to be used when BIA officers arrived. The Hopi nation surrendered groups of their men to prison sentences in Alcatraz rather than send their children to the schools.^[16]

Education[link]

Elementary school class of Indian students, 1901.

The curriculum included subjects such as English, math, history, drawing and composition. Carlisle students produced a variety of weekly and monthly newspapers and other publications that were considered part of their "industrial training," or preparing for work in the larger economy. These featured their artwork and writing. Angel DeCora (Ho-Chunk) was a Native American art teacher, who fostered cultural pride in her students. After many years of a program emphasizing assimilation into mainstream culture, Carlisle allowed Angel DeCora to teach students about Native American art and the students' tribal cultures.^[17]

Music was a part of the program, and many students studied instruments. After some time, the Carlisle School developed a band, which performed locally. The band was invited to perform in every national presidential inaugural celebration until the school closed.

Students also learned trade and work skills, such as artisan and domestic crafts, which were considered useful at the time. They were taught Christianity and expected to attend church, but had their choice among those in town. The school also had an outing program where the Indian children could go live with white families in the attempt to Americanize them.

The industrial school movement was later criticized for training graduates for lower-class jobs. This argument also took place regarding the institutes established for freedmen's children. At the time, many founders and benefactors believed that such skills training provided practical steps for jobs which the students might realistically get after they returned to their families in home environments, whether Indian reservations in the rural West, or farms and villages in the rural South.

Abuse[link]

During the years of operation, hundreds of children died at Carlisle. Most died from infectious diseases common in the early 20th century that killed many children. More than 175 were buried in the cemetery. The bodies of most who died were sent to their families. Children who died of tuberculosis were buried at the school, as people were worried about contagion.^[4] The new climate, separation anxiety and lack of immunity increased the death toll. Others died while attempting to escape from the school. Some suffered physical, emotional and sexual abuse or malnutrition.^[18] Beatings were a common form of punishment for students' grieving, speaking their native languages, not understanding English, attempting to escape and violating the harsh military rules. Other forms of punishment included hard labor and confinement. According to Dr. Eulynda J. Toledo of the 21st-century "Boarding School Healing Project", children at Carlisle had their mouths washed with lye soap for speaking in their tribal languages.^[18]

The children who arrived at Carlisle able to speak some English were presented to the other children as "translators." The authorities at the School sometimes used the children’s traditional respect for elders to require them to inform on other children’s misbehavior. This was typical of the pattern in the large families of the time, in which older children were required to take care of and discipline younger children.

School officials required students to take new English names. This was confusing, as the names from which they were to choose had no meaning. In traditional Native American culture, people had a variety of formal and informal names that reflected relationships and life experiences. The "renaming" was difficult for many of the children, especially because they could not read and had to pick their names by the way that the writing looked.^{[citation needed]}

Late 20th-century appraisal of the school led to criticism like this: "The boys and girls at Carlisle Indian School were trained to be cannon fodder in American wars, to serve as domestics and farm hands, and to leave off all ideas or beliefs that came to them from their Native communities, including and particularly their belief that they were entitled to land, life, liberty, and dignity....separated from all that is familiar; stripped, shorn, robbed of their very self; renamed."^[16]

Results[link]

Portrait of Native Americans from the Cherokee, Cheyenne, Choctaw, Comanche, Iroquois, and Muscogee tribes in American attire. Photos date from 1868 to 1924.

The Carlisle School was a model for 26 Indian boarding schools which the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) founded across the country by 1902.^[19] In addition, more than 450 schools were run by Christian missionaries, both Catholic and Protestant. Generally they operated from the premise that Native American children needed to assimilate to the majority culture and religion both to survive in the society and to advance. The children were forced to give up much of what they knew about traditional ways. Ideas about the best education have since changed drastically.

Pratt experienced conflict with government officials over his outspoken views on the need for Native Americans to assimilate. In 1904 he was forced to retire as superintendent of the School. After Pratt was forced out, some of the school was upgraded to be a counterpart of colleges and training institutes. Its football teams competed against those of colleges. It had a strong sports program and training for trade industries, as industry represented what directors saw as the area of greatest job expansion at the time. The number of industrial jobs in society had expanded greatly.

When the “noble experiment” at Carlisle ended^[when?], nearly 12,000 children had been through the school. Students came from 140 tribes from all over the United States.^[4] Less than 8% graduated from the full program, while well over twice that percentage ran away.^{[citation needed]}

Legacy[link]

The Carlisle School has a mixed legacy of educational ideals and controversy. It was a model for other Indian boarding schools, of which the government founded 26 by 1902.^[19] More than 450 were set up by Christian missionaries. These were established in years in which Quakers and missionaries led efforts for education of formerly marginalized populations: they founded schools in the rural South for basic and college education of African Americans, and the nation was concerned with educating and assimilating the millions of new European immigrants arriving in northern and midwestern industrial cities.

Many Native Americans are bitter about the deracination that took place at the Indian boarding schools, and the experiences suffered by children taken from their families. Others appreciate the chances their ancestors got for education, having heard positive stories in their family traditions. In 2000 the Cumberland County 250th Anniversary Committee worked with Native Americans from numerous tribes and non-natives to organize a Powwow on Memorial Day: to commemorate the Carlisle Indian School, the students, and their history in all its aspects.^[4]

American football[link]

Jim Thorpe in his Carlisle Indians football uniform

Today, the school is notable nationally for Jim Thorpe and the team the Carlisle Indians. Thorpe was its star athlete and became a double Olympic gold medalist, as well as a professional baseball and football player. The strongest coach was "Pop" Warner (Glenn Scobey Warner), who started at the school when he was 28 years old. He coached for two different periods, 1899–1903 and 1907-1914. Thorpe competed under him from 1907-1911. The Carlisle Indians' winning percentage (.647) is the best of any defunct college football team.

In a new book (2007) about the Carlisle Indians, Sally Jenkins characterized them as "The Team that Invented Football", due to Warner's innovations.^[20] At the beginning of his long and successful career as a coach, Warner turned the team into a national football power and significantly opened up the game's offensive strategy.

In media[link]

• Carlisle Indian Industrial School was depicted in the 1951 movie classic Jim Thorpe. Thorpe thrived under the football tutelage of equally legendary football coach Glenn S. "Pop" Warner.
• Part of the 2005 mini-series on Turner Network Television, Into the West, takes place at the school.
• The PBS documentary In the White Man's Image (1992) tells the story of Richard Pratt and the founding of the Carlisle School. It was directed by Christine Lesiak, and part of the series The American Experience.^[19]
• The Dear America Series young adult fictional diary My Heart is on the Ground by Ann Rinaldi tells the story of Nannie Little Rose, a Sioux girl sent to the school in 1889.

See also[link]

	Pennsylvania portal
	Government of the United States portal
	Indigenous peoples of North America portal

• Hessian Powder Magazine
• Indian boarding school
• Zitkala-Sa
• Cultural Genocide

Citations[link]

References[link]

• Fear-Segal, Jacqueline. "Nineteenth-Century Indian Education: Universalism Versus Evolutionism", Journal of American Studies, 33 (1999), 2, 323-341. 
• Pratt, Richard Henry (1964, 2004). Battlefield and classroom : four decades with the American Indian, 1867-1904. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 0-8061-3603-0. 
• Witmer, Linda F. (1993). The Indian Industrial School, Carlisle, Pennsylvania, 1879-1918. Carlisle, Pa.: Cumberland County Historical Society. ISBN 0-9638923-0-4. 
• Pratt, Richard Henry (1983). How to deal with the Indians: the potency of environment. Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress Photoduplication Service. 
• Daniel E. Witte and Paul T. Mero, "Removing Classrooms from the Battlefield: Liberty, Paternalism, and the Redemptive Promise of Educational Choice", 2008 Brigham Young University Law Review 377
• Eastman, Alaine Goodale (1935). Pratt, the Red Man's Moses. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. LCCN 35021899. 
• Pratt, Richard Henry (1979). The Indian Industrial School, Carlisle, Pennsylvania : its origins, purposes, progress, and the difficulties surmounted. Carlisle, Pa.: Cumberland County Historical Society. 
• Richard Henry Pratt Papers. Yale Collection of Western Americana, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library.
• Adams, David Wallace (1997). Education for Extinction: American Indians and the Boarding School Experience 1875 - 1928,. University of Kansas Press. ISBN 978-0-7006-0838-6. 
• Anderson, Lars (2007). Carlisle vs. Army: Jim Thorpe, Dwight Eisenhower, Pop Warner, and the Forgotten Story of Football's Greatest Battle. Random House. ISBN 978-1-4000-6600-1. 
• Fear-Segal, Jacqueline (2007). White Man's Club: Schools and the Struggle of Indian Acculturation. Lincoln, NA: Nebraska UP. ISBN 978-0-8032-2024-9. 

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Carlisle Indian Industrial School

• Carlisle Indian Industrial School from the Library of Congress at Flickr Commons
• "Carlisle Indian School", Cumberland County Historical Society
• "Carlisle Indian Industrial School Photograph Collection" US Army Heritage & Education Center, Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania
• Richard Henry Pratt Papers. Yale Collection of Western Americana, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library.
• Doctors, Lawyers, Indian Chiefs (2008) ISBN 978-0-9774486-7-8 Life stories of 50 Carlisle Indian School football players
• "Fort Marion Artists", Smithsonian Institution

Coordinates: 40°12′32″N 77°10′41″W / 40.209°N 77.178°W / 40.209; -77.178

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A. U. Wyman

Albert U. Wyman (1833—1915) was a United States banker who served as Treasurer of the United States from 1876 to 1877 and then again from 1883 to 1885.

Biography[link]

A. U. Wyman was born on September 25, 1833 and raised in Madison, Wisconsin.^[1] After completing a common school education, he joined his father's printing office.^[2] He later went into banking, working first in Madison and then in Omaha, Nebraska.^[3]

In 1863, Wyman became a clerk in the Office of the Treasurer of the United States.^[4] He was then appointed Assistant Cashier, holding that office until resigning on January 1, 1868.^[5] He returned to the Office of the Treasurer of the United States on April 1, 1875, becoming Assistant Treasurer.^[6]

On June 28, 1876, President of the United States Ulysses S. Grant nominated Wyman to be Treasurer of the United States, and he was confirmed by the United States Senate the next day.^[7] He assumed office on July 8, 1876 and held office until July 1, 1877.^[8] He re-joined the Office of the Treasurer of the United States on September 1879 as Cashier. ^[9] In 1883, President Chester A. Arthur nominated Wyman to be Treasurer of the United States for a second time, and Wyman held that office from April 1, 1883 to April 30, 1885.^[10]

Wyman then returned to Omaha to work as a banker for the Omaha Trust Company, eventually becoming its president.^[11]

Wyman died in 1915.

References[link]

1. ^ The Banker's Magazine, Vol. 37 (1882-83), p. 795
2. ^ The Banker's Magazine, Vol. 37 (1882-83), p. 795
3. ^ The Banker's Magazine, Vol. 37 (1882-83), p. 795
4. ^ The Banker's Magazine, Vol. 37 (1882-83), p. 795
5. ^ The Banker's Magazine, Vol. 37 (1882-83), p. 795
6. ^ The Banker's Magazine, Vol. 37 (1882-83), p. 795
7. ^ The Banker's Magazine, Vol. 37 (1882-83), p. 795
8. ^ The Banker's Magazine, Vol. 37 (1882-83), p. 795
9. ^ The Banker's Magazine, Vol. 37 (1882-83), p. 795
10. ^ "A New Treasurer Chosen", New York Times, Apr. 23, 1885
11. ^ "Omaha Trust Company Now Wants No Receiver", New York Times, Dec. 9, 1901

Albert Hammond, Jr.
Albert Hammond Jr. playing a show in Paris (2006)
Background information
Birth name	Albert Louis Hammond[1]
Born	(1980-04-09) April 9, 1980 (age 32) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Genres	Indie rock, garage rock, post-punk revival, alternative rock
Instruments	Guitar, vocals, melodica
Years active	1999–present
Labels	New Line, Rough Trade, Scratchie, Black Seal
Associated acts	The Strokes
Notable instruments
Fender Stratocaster Gibson Les Paul Jr.

Albert Louis Hammond, Jr. (born April 9, 1980) is an American musician and member of the garage rock band The Strokes, in which he primarily plays guitar, but also plays keyboards live. He is also a solo musician. His father, Albert Hammond, whose career was primarily in the 1960s and 1970s, had even greater success on the singles charts as a songwriter and occasional singer. He released his debut album Yours To Keep in 2006 and followed up with ¿Cómo Te Llama? in 2008. The Beach Boys, Buddy Holly, Frank Black, Guided By Voices, John Lennon, Matthew Sweet and The Velvet Underground are often cited as his major influences.^[2][3]

Life and career[link]

Hammond was born in Los Angeles, California, the son of British-Gibraltarian singer/songwriter/musician Albert Hammond and Argentine former model and beauty pageant winner Claudia Fernández.^[4] Hammond Jr. was sent to the elite boarding school Institut Le Rosey in Switzerland at the age of 13. While there, he met Julian Casablancas, who would go on to be a fellow band member.^[5]

In 1998, Hammond met up with Casablancas in New York City and together they formed The Strokes with Casablancas' former schoolmates Nikolai Fraiture, Nick Valensi, and Fabrizio Moretti.

His trademark is wearing formal three-piece suits, and has been said by bandmate Julian Casablancas to be the most influential on the band's style. Hammond is usually seen playing a 1985 '70s reissue Olympic White Fender Stratocaster or Gibson Les Paul Jr. that is sometimes used by bandmate Nick Valensi. On the majority of The Strokes' songs he plays rhythm guitar, and solos are played by Valensi. The songs in which Hammond does play solos are "Last Nite", "Trying Your Luck", "Take It or Leave It", "Under Control", "The End Has No End", "Ize of the World", and "Vision of Division". His solos tend to focus largely on more emotional, "bluesy"-type melodical work, and the guitar tends to have a cleaner, softer tone in comparison to Valensi's (with a notable exception found in "Vision of Division"). He often holds his guitar in a high horizontal position, similar to Buddy Holly, which he says is so that he can dance better.

Hammond is set to release his own line of men's suits which he will co-design along with stylist Ilaria Urbinati. The suits will at first only be available at the soon-to-open Confederacy store in Los Angeles which Urbinati co-owns with actor/DJ Danny Masterson. Speaking about the designing endeavor Hammond, Jr. told New York magazine, "I want to make suits that I'm going to have for myself. They're for the person who needs his one suit for a wedding. He'd rather get something like this than go to Men's Wearhouse, pay the same amount, and look like an out-of-date parent." Prices for his line start at $1,250 for the Urbinati-designed trench coat and the $2,000+ price range for his suits. Hammond told NME that the suits will be available in three styles with a new design every season and that he's aiming to keep the line classic.

He previously dated British supermodel Agyness Deyn.

Musical setup[link]

Albert's main guitar is a Fender Stratocaster Arctic White 1985 Reissue of a 1972. He owns three white Stratocasters, a Gibson Les Paul special single cutaway, a Rickenbacker 325, and a Gretsch hollowbody. His amplifier is a Fender Hot Rod DeVille 2x12. His pedal board is made up of an old version of the MXR Micro Amp, a V1 Jekyll and Hyde Ultimate Overdrive and Distortion, and a BOSS TU-2 tuner. In later shows he adds another Micro Amp, and Jekyll and Hyde, and a Boss Digital Delay. He now uses a Mad Professor Deep Blue Delay pedal instead of the Boss Digital Delay.

Songwriting and solo work[link]

This section is in a list format that may be better presented using prose. You can help by converting this section to prose, if appropriate. Editing help is available. (September 2009)

Vocalist Julian Casablancas is the primary songwriter in The Strokes. Hammond co-wrote the track "Automatic Stop" with Casablancas for the group's second album, Room on Fire. He has also been credited with writing three mostly instrumental songs ("Swiss Beats", "Holland", and "By The Way") for the band's 2001 tour video entitled In Transit. These songs were reworked for his later solo album and have different titles ("Everyone Gets A Star", "Bright Young Thing", "In Transit"). He wrote "Elephant Song" when he was required to record a song for his Sound 101 class during his freshman year and used the school's recording equipment. The song was played at a few shows before the release of The Strokes' album. They later re-recorded the song as a special giveaway for fan club members.

In October 2005, Hammond and Ben Kweller released a version of "Wait" on This Bird Has Flown – A 40th Anniversary Tribute to the Beatles' Rubber Soul.

Hammond released a solo album entitled Yours To Keep in the U.K. through Rough Trade Records on October 9, 2006 and in North America through New Line Records/Scratchie Records on March 6, 2007. Produced by Thin Lizard Dawn vocalist Lattimer and recorded at the Electric Lady Studios in New York City, the album features several musical guests, such as Sean Lennon, Ben Kweller, The Strokes' manager Ryan Gentles, Jody Porter of Fountains of Wayne, Chris Feinstein, Mikki James, Sammy James, Jr. (The Mooney Suzuki) and The Strokes' lead singer, Casablancas. Bassist Josh Lattanzi and drummer Matt Romano serve as the backing band, with Hammond on guitar and vocals. The first single taken from the album, "101", was released exclusively through iTunes on September 4, 2006. The music video to "In Transit" was directed by Joaquin Phoenix.

Hammond has said to have been "waiting to make a record like this for years".^[6] Early support from his bandmates in the Strokes was only evident after Casablancas' role playing bass and back-up vocals on the track "Scared", though all of the members (with the exclusion of Nick Valensi, who was busy taking care of his newborn children) attended his shows in and around New York.

"101" was the follow-up single to "Everyone Gets A Star". The music video debuted online in March 2007.^[7] This will be available in general music stores, unlike "Everyone Gets A Star" which was only available through UK iTunes Music Store. It was released on November 27, 2006.

In November 2006, Hammond was announced to be joining Incubus on tour during their North American tour for their new album Light Grenades.

On 16 March 2007 at the South by Southwest festival, Hammond performed a twelve song set including covers of Frank Black's "Old Black Dawning" and Guided By Voices' "Postal Blowfish".^[8] Hammond also regularly covered The Cars' "Don't Cha Stop" in live performances.

The Yours To Keep album was released in North America on March 6, 2007; he also supported Bloc Party on their world tour before making stops at Montreal's Metropolis and Toronto's Kool Haus. After this, Hammond headlined two North American tours along with a European tour. The North American tour featured his friends, The Mooney Suzuki.

Hammond announced that "In Transit" will be his next solo single, featuring a cover of Frank Black's "Old Black Dawning" as the b-side. It was recorded live from the Bowery Ballroom.

On 29 August 2007, Hammond announced on MySpace that he was going back into the studio to record his second album in October 2007 for five weeks.

On 20 March 2008, Hammond posted a blog entry on MySpace in which he revealed the title of his second album, ¿Cómo Te Llama?. Furthermore, he wrote that it contained 13 songs with a total length of 46 minutes and 30 seconds. He also said he hoped to be touring with the new album until the end of 2008. The album was released on July 7, 2008.^[9]

Albert has also produced the new track "123 Stop" by New York band The Postelles.

On 27 May 2008, Hammond released "GfC", the first single off ¿Cómo Te Llama?, on iTunes in the US. The song has already been played extensively live on his 2007 tour. A non-album song entitled "& So it Goes" was released as a B-side along with the single.

On 29 May 2008, Hammond was Myspace's featured artist and exclusively premiered his new album ¿Cómo Te Llama? uploading all the tracks of the album on his official Myspace page.

On 8 July 2008, Hammond played a small show at the Virgin Megastore, Union Square, in New York City to celebrate the release of his new album. A noted absence from Hammond's band was recording bassist Josh Latzanni. Steve Schiltz of the band Longwave, who toured with Hammond on his first album was also missing. Although Hammond was supposed to play only 2 or 3 songs, he ended up playing almost 10, with a selection that included both new and old tracks.

On 11 July 2008, Hammond began his worldwide tour in support of ¿Cómo Te Llama? with a sold-out show at the landmark venue Spaceland in the Silverlake neighborhood of Los Angeles, CA with a capacity of only 260 people. This was his only west coast appearance.

On 23 August 2008, Hammond's website officially announced that Hammond would be the support act of the British band Coldplay during their European Tour, which kicked off on September 1 in Strasbourg, France.

Discography[link]

The Strokes[link]

Main article: The Strokes discography

Studio albums[link]

Singles[link]

See also[link]

• List of Gibraltarians
• Music of Gibraltar

References[link]

• Spin Magazine feature, October 2003, retrieved 25 March 2007
• Star Magazine web feature, 28 March 2007

External links[link]

• Albert Hammond, Jr. official website