21–22 Frederick flees to Angora, city character and population, “Villa Djan”: S, May 5, 1927, 2; Ahmad, 91. competition: Argus; “Angora Made into a City of Jazz Bands,” CDM, Oct. 6, 1926, 14; “Life Is Less Hectic in Constantinople,” NYT, July 8, 1928, 50. French consul generaclass="underline" French Consul to American Consul, June 18, 1927, DPT 660. creditors seize Maxim: S, May 18, 19, 21; Dec. 19, 1927, 2; June 17, 1927, 3. “ex-Villa Tom”: S, June 17, 1927, 3. job in Angora: “Mr. Thomas de Maxim invite ses créanciers à Angora,” P’st, April 26, 1928, 3; the note is dated April 1 and mentions that the report of Frederick’s sighting in Angora was “delayed”; other evidence also suggests that the encounter was during the last half of 1927.
23–24 in Angora prison: “Dancing Negro in Angora Jail for Old Debts,” Milwaukee Journal (The Green Sheet), Monday, Jan. 16, 1928, n. p.; Allen to USSS, Nov. 1, 1928, CPI 409; Elvira to Allen, March 8, 1933, CPI 443; Argus. demise of Yildiz Casino: Crosby to USSS, Sept. 28, 1927, DPT 539; Grew to USSS, Oct. 24, 1927, DPT 539.
25–26 Constantinople prison: “Sultan of Jazz Dies in Poverty,” Boston Post, July 9, 1928, 10. prison conditions: Constantinople To-Day, 336–43; S, Nov. 20, Dec. 22, 1927, 2; “Prison Life Is Easy in Constantinople,” NYT, Feb. 2, 1930, 53. illness: Allen to West, July 20, 1928, CPI 409. death and funeraclass="underline" S, June 13, 1928, 3; Sperco, 144; SE; FC. “Sultan of Jazz”: W. G. Tinckom-Fernandez, “Life Is Less Hectic in Constantinople,” NYT, July 8, 1928, 50.
Epilogue
1–2 Elvira in Czechoslovakia, restrictions on employment, legal problems, journey to Germany, return to Constantinople: Elvira to Allen, March 8, 1933, CPI 443.
3–4 brothers’ difficulties, Fred’s passport applications, U. S. government changes mind: DPT 423, 430, 629.
5–6 Elvira’s appeaclass="underline" DPT 629; USSS to Consul General, Sept. 17, 1935, Central Decimal File, box 577, 367.1115, Thomas, Bruce, and Frederick/2, RG 59. SS Excello: Bruce Thomas, Application for Passport Renewal, June 20, 1938, box 16, General Records, U.S. Consulate General, Istanbul, RG 84. Fred’s work in Manhattan: Frederick Thomas Jr.’s application for Social Security Number, Sept. 1, 1938. Bruce tries to enlist: Central Name Index, 1940–1944, box 1219, RG 59. African-American newspapers: New York Amsterdam News, February 7, 1948, 2; a garbled variant appeared in CDe, February 14, 1948, 7. Fred asks for State Department’s help: Central Name Index, 1945–1949, box 456; 1950–1954, box 463, RG 59.
7–8 Bruce travels to United States: Central Name Index, 1950–1954, box 463, RG 59. meeting with Mikhaiclass="underline" Interview, Nov. 8, 2006. Bruce’s death: Bruce Thomas Certificate of Death, State of California, County of Los Angeles, Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk. Fred’s death: Death Notice, February 12, 1970, Democrat and Chronicle (Rochester, NY), 7B; e-mail from Younglove-Smith & Ryan Funeral Home, Rochester, NY, October 30, 2008. Olga’s traces: Interview, Nov. 8, 2006. Irma’s fate: CPI 383; interviews, Nov. 8, 2006; June 16 and 18, 2009. Mikhail’s life, Chantal Thomass: Interview, Nov. 8, 2006; http://www.chantalthomass.fr.
Index
Abdülmecid II, 1
Adel, Stepan Osipovich, 1, 2
Adil, Fikret, 1, 2
Adrianov, Aleksandr Aleksandrovich, 1, 2, 3
African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) Church, 1
alcohol consumption, 1, 2, 3, 4
alcohol laws, 1, 2
Alexandra, Tsaritsa, 1, 2, 3
Alexis, Tsarevich, 1
Alhambra Theater, 1
Allen, Charles E., 1, 2, 3, 4
background and overview, 1
Fred and Bruce Thomas’s passport applications approved by, 1
on Frederick, 1
Frederick’s interview with, 1
Frederick’s passport application sabotaged by, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Karp Chernov and, 1
Larry Rue on, 1
Ravndal and, 1
Robert Skinner and, 1
Wilbur Carr and, 1
American Civil War, 1
Anglais, Hôtel des, 1
Anglo-American Garden Villa (“Stella Club”), 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
finances, 1
in the media, 1
name of, 1
opening weeks, 1
popularity and success, 1, 2
shows, 1, 2, 3
Angora, 1
Angora (Ankara), Frederick’s escape to, 1
anti-Semitism, 1
Apollo, 1
Aquarium, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
advertisements, 1
antiforeign riots and, 1
benefit evening at, 1
boxing matches at, 1
Bruce Lockhart and, 1
Charles Aumont and, 1, 2, 3, 4
description and overview, 1
finances, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
Frederick began working at, 1
Grand Duke Sergey at, 1
Grigory Konsky and, 1, 2
living quarters at, 1
Maxim, Apollo, and, 1, 2
in the media, 1, 2
military officers at, 1
nationalization of, 1, 2
Odessa and, 1
performers at, 1, 2, 3
drafted into army, 1
foreign, 1
parade led by, 1
popularity and success, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
reopening, 1
rivals, 1, 2, 3
shows at, 1, 2, 3, 4
ballet, 1
operettas and farces, 1, 2
sexuality in, 1
“siege” of, 1
“Skating-Palace” at, 1
“soldiers’ theater” at, 1
staff of, 1, 2
control of Aquarium transferred to, 1, 2
drafted into army, 1
Arkansas, 1
Armstrong, Harold, 1
Auditorium Hotel, 1
Aumont, Charles, 1, 2
Austria-Hungary, 1, 2
Bagge, Picton, 1
Berlin
Frederick Thomas in, 1
Irma Thomas in, 1, 2
Valli Thomas in, 1
Berry, Burton Y., 1
“Bertha and Thomas” partnership, 1, 2, 3
See also Anglo-American Garden Villa
Berthet, Mr., 1, 2
biracial people, 1
Bloody Sunday, 1
boardinghouse, Frederick’s, 1
Bolshevik Revolution. See October Revolution
bourgeoisie, terror against. See terror
Bowen, George, 1
boxing, 1, 2
Brest-Litovsk, Treaty of, 1, 2, 3
Brist, George L., 1
Bristol, Mark L., 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
Britain, 1
Brooks, Billy, 1, 2
Bruce, Blanche K., 1
Brusilov Offensive, 1
Burri, Alfred, 1, 2
Cameron, Lucille, 1
Cantacuzene, Mikhail Mikhaylovich, 1
Carr, Wilbur J., 1, 2
Carter, Harry A., 1, 2
Catholicism, 1
Chaliapin, Fyodor, 1, 2
“Champion Osman, the Tambura-Player,” 1
Chanticleer (Maxim), 1. See also Maxim
Cheka, 1, 2, 3
Chernov, Karp, 1
Cherry Hill Methodist Church, 1
Chicago, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
churches, 1
Russian, 1, 2, 3