Federal Writers' Project – Life Histories/2020/Fall/105/Section059/Frank Hageman

Short Biography:

Frank Hageman was a magician who was born and raised in New York City. He grew up watching the prominent magician Houdini in countless Broadway shows. Hageman spent endless hours on practicing magic himself. The public enjoyed this kind of entertainment and was not seen in a negative way by most. He caught his “big break” when catching a gig with the circus that came through Brooklyn one time. He signed a contract with them and started to travel, doing shows in different cities throughout several states. The circus went bankrupt and he decided to quit, along with other performers, due to lack of pay. He then caught a ride "down south," but found out that the people he was riding with were violating the Mann Law, so he stopped riding with them, and ended up near Chapel Hill. His entire perspective of the south changed when he arrived in the town. His northern perspective of the south was that it was all so boring and lifeless, but when he arrived in Chapel Hill, his perspective changed quickly. He believed educated people to be “suckers” for illusions so it was right up his ally since it was a University town. He lodged in an empty dorm room during the summer where he made pocket change from teaching amateur magicians some tricks. After living there for a little bit, he recognized and was fascinated with all the different social groups within the college town, and was able to see how these groups interacted with each other from an outside perspective. When school started back in the fall, he and a few friends he made in Chapel Hill then toured the state performing magic shows. Hageman went on for two years in North Carolina performing at local bars, nightclubs, hotel ball-rooms, and even some stage performances at larger venues. However, it was difficult to find these different places to perform because of the Great Depression during this time. After the two years, he finally decided it was time to go back to his native state of New York, where he was more stable economically and not traveling all of the time.

Social Topics:

The Great Depression in the South:

During Frank Hageman’s time traveling around North Carolina, the economy was being hit by the Great Depression. As a magician, Hageman would jump around, city to city, finding places to perform which was difficult, especially during this time. “The average per capita income of Southerners was half the national average” (O’Connor, 1). This greatly impacted Hageman because a lot of venues would not pay for entertainment when they are struggling financially. Also, since “industrial development, however, did not prove such a good thing for many farmers [in the south],” the south was hit harder by the depression than the north (Klitzke, 1). This under development in the south for farmers relates to Hageman because in the south, the agricultural market kept the economy going, and since the Great Depression destroyed that particular market, all other industries were affected in a negative way due to lack of money flow, thus many venues not being able to pay for entertainment (O’Connor, 1). Overall, the Great Depression made it very difficult for Hageman to find places to perform and eventually, drove him to move back to New York.

The Mann Law:

The Mann Law was a law in the 1910s-1930s, and was very important during the time. “The law meant to prohibit sex trafficking but used as a weapon of racism” (FindLaw, 1). This relates to Frank Hageman because when he quit the circus, he caught a ride with somebody from the circus that quit as well, and was traveling down south. The man said that the woman that was with them was his wife when Hageman first joined them. Not until they reached North Carolina did Hageman find out that the person he was with was violating the Mann Law. Knowing how serious this was, Hageman immediately left the ride and started exploring the area around him, which was Chapel Hill.

Social Groups in the College Town:

College towns all across the nation have many different groups throughout their campuses. This relates to Frank Hageman because when he first arrived in Chapel Hill, he was instantly intrigued by all of the different social groups that he observed. Chapel Hill “has had a character and a personality unlike other towns” (Gumprecht, 1). Whether it was fraternities interacting with other clubs, or athletic teams out with just scholars, Hageman observed their interactions between various groups and was intrigued by them. Frank Hageman being a magician was unusual on a college campus at the time, but socially acceptable. Harry Houdini had a large role in making magic seen as normal and good entertainment. Prior to Houdini and Hageman, magic was “regarded as directly and essentially concerned with the psychology needs of the individual” (Middleton, 1). This means that magic was not seen as entertainment before people like Houdini and Hageman. This ties into social groups on college campuses because people from all different groups wanted to take basic magic lessons with Hageman while he was still on campus because no matter what group they belonged to, they were all intrigued by magic as well.

Works Cited

Gumprecht, Blake. The American College Town. University of Massachusetts Press, 2013.

Klitzke, Erin. “The North, the South, and the Politics.” The North, The South, and the Politics. Accessed October 3, 2020. http://www2.gvsu.edu/klitzkee/efforts/schoolwork/northsouthpolitics.htm.

Middleton, John F.M., and Robert Andrew Gilbert. “Globalization of the Magic Concept.” Encyclopedia Britannica. Encyclopedia Britannica, inc., December 22, 2016. Accessed October 3, 2020. https://www.britannica.com/topic/magic-supernatural-phenomenon/Globalization-of-the-magic-concept.

O'Connor, Kiran, and Lorenzo Vasquez. “Effects of Great Depression on the South.” The Indianapolis Chronicle - Home. Accessed October 3, 2020. https://theeappteam.weebly.com/effects-of-great-depression-on-the-south.html.

“What Is the Mann Act?” FindLaw, March 26, 2019.  Accessed October 3, 2020. https://criminal.findlaw.com/criminal-charges/what-is-the-mann-act.html