Frank Fairfax

Frank Thurmond Fairfax (25 November 189925 January 1972) was the organizer of Philadelphia's Protective Union Local 274 (1935–1971), a charter of the American Federation of Musicians (AFM/AFofM) for black musicians. Fairfax was also a bandleader, musician, music arranger and songwriter, performing in Philadelphia and other northeastern cities.[Ace Tooter], "Philadelphia Tribune" March 28, 1942 ProQuest document ID:531344378

Background

Born in Bessemer, VirginiaWriggle, John. "Chappie Willet, Frank Fairfax, and Phil Edwards' Collegians: From West Virginia to Philadelphia" Black Music Research Journal, Vol. 27, No. 1" Spring, 2007 p. 8 on November 25, 1899, Frank Thurmond Fairfax was sixth of the eleven offspring of Matthew L. Fairfax, a preacher, and Maria Elizabeth Cash.Scanlon, Mary Pauline [Fairfax Family Has Acquired Ten Bachelor Of Arts Degrees] "The Herald-Advertiser, Huntington, W. V." January 27, 1934 The family later moved to Huntington, West Virginia. Frank Fairfax worked his way through West Virginia State College and earned his B.S. degree in Business Administration in the spring of 1921. While attending college, he joined the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity and became active in vocal and instrumental groups, studying under Clarence Cameron White.Frank T. Fairfax's Obituary He learned to play the trumpet, trombone, tenor saxophone, and drums.

Career When Frank Sr. joined Phil Edwards' Collegians, a West Virginia territory touring orchestra, in 1929, he left his family with his mother and some siblings in Huntington, West Virginia. His wife and children joined him when he settled in Philadelphia in 1935.

Organizer of Protective Union Local 274

During the summer of 1933, Edwards' Collegians migrated to Pennsylvania for a dance tour.Nelson, Nels "The Man Who Knew When The Fight Was Over", Philadelphia Daily News February 6, 1972 Upon arriving in Philadelphia in the fall of 1933, the band signed for a steady gig at The Rafters in West Philadelphia and "ran straight into union trouble." This was a Union band, carrying "Conditional Membership" cards from the American Federation of Musicians. Fairfax, the band's manager, found union recognition in this area unfavorable to black musicians."Music Union Leader Dies", Philadelphia Tribune February 5, 1972 He wrote, "The musicians needed new union cards. The dues of (white) Local 77, AFM were then $15 a year, over and above a stiff initiation fee that the members of Edward's Collegians simply could not afford. Each musician received only $3 for a night's work."

Frank Fairfax contacted the president and secretary of the American Federation of Musicians: Joe Weber and William J. Kerngood, respectively, and after much discussion, was authorized to organize a new local in Philadelphia. Fairfax was instructed to secure the names and addresses of at least 75 interested (black) musicians. Damon Fisher, James Shorter, Harry Monroe, F. E. Walker, and a few others assisted him in recruiting the musicians to make the required number for the charter.

After negotiations between Fairfax, Kerngood and the president of Local 77, the white union which claimed as members among many others, all the musicians of the world renowned Philadelphia Orchestra,Kirkland, Leon Pelzar, 'Jimmy' Adams founded the Philadelphia Clef Club, Philadelphia Tribune December 11, 1998 it was agreed that a charter would be granted under certain conditions satisfactory to Local 77 (prices, etc. must be the same) when $2.00 from each of the 75 musicians was collected and tendered.

During the last few days of 1934, Fairfax received the charter, local seal and all other necessary materials for starting the new Local 274. He called the first meeting for nomination of officers (2nd floor, Little Harlem Bar, 400 block of south 18th Street). The charter was dated for January 6, 1935. Fairfax acted as chairman for this meeting. Their first election was held at the YMCA, 1924 Christian Street. Below are the elected officers of the new Local:

President............................George W. Hyder Vice President....................Harry Monroe Secretary............................Frank Fairfax Assistant Secretary.............Harold Allen Treasurer............................Wesley Fitzgerald Sergeant-at-arms................Damon Fisher

The configuration of officers changed periodically, throughout the duration of Local 274's existence, and Fairfax always held official positions, including president"Philly Union Gives Marva Final Okay", Afro-American Company of Baltimore City Feb. 25, 1944 but primarily executive secretary. Regarding union membership, bass player William Oscar Smith wrote, "The union opened an entire new dimension for the expansion and recognition of our art. I was one of the charter members of Local 274, American Federation of Musicians. Little did I realize the impact that membership would have on the rest of my life."

Local 274 received many commendations from civic and community groups for outstanding work, even, on numerous occasions, by the Federation itself, for running an organized and "good" Local."Black Officers of Musicians' Local No. 274 Say Whites Are Welcome; Refuse to Disband", Philadelphia Tribune April 24, 1971 Throughout the years, Local 274's conduct was considered "exemplary" and their efforts on the part of the Federation were well recognized.

During the post 1964 era of widespread desegregation under federal law, the AFofM was targeted by the AFL-CIO as one of the nation's most segregated labor organizations. One by one, black musicians’ unions in cities such as Pittsburgh, Detroit and Chicago were forced to merge with their respective local white unions.

In 1966, members of Local 274, under the leadership of their president James 'Jimmy' Adams, created the Clef Club, a separate entity but the "social arm" of Local 274. It had its own charter and its own liquor license. When, in 1968, the American Federation of Musicians handed down an order requiring Local 274 to disband and merge with Philadelphia Local 77, the members of Local 274 vigorously resisted the order, contending that their local, unlike the white local, never had refused to accept members because of race and that 274 was, in fact, already integrated.Black Musicians Union Loses Key Legal Battle, Philadelphia Tribune July 6, 1971 When the predominantly black local refused to obey the order to merge, The executive board of the AFofM ordered its expulsion in March, 1971. Subsequently, Local 274's officials filed a legal action in U.S. District Court seeking an injunction to restrain their expulsion from the AFofM on the grounds that such a merger "would deprive its members of control of their own affairs, their meeting house and their clubhouse liquor license.""Union Won't Merge; Loses Charter" Afro – American Company of Baltimore City July 17, 1971 However, in April, 1971, Judge Edward R. Becker stayed the March, 1971 expulsion. In his 23-page opinion refusing Local 274's plea to invalidate the expulsion, Judge Becker pointed out that Philadelphia was the last of the 37 cities to end dual unionism based on race in the musicians' field.

Local 274's President Jimmy Adams prevailed in court against Local 77 when the latter sought to absorb all the assets of Local 274 when its charter was revoked in the spring of 1970. Instead of those assets going to Local 77, they went to the Philadelphia Clef Club, which eventually purchased a building on 13th and Washington Ave. In 1995 the Philadelphia Clef Club moved to its current location at Broad and Fitzwater Streets on Philadelphia Avenue of the Arts.McCarthy, Jack "Riffing on Philly Jazz History" Historical Society of Philadelphia Nov. 12, 2013

Following the expulsion of Local 274 from the AFofM in April, 1971, the musicians from Local 274 eventually joined Local 77, which, according to Diane Turner Ph.D., diminished Black musicians' power and status in the music industry. 1993

In May, 1971, Frank Fairfax moved to Local 77, AFofM and began serving as Assistant to the Project Chairman of the Music Performance Trust Fund."Music Union Leader Dies", Philadelphia Tribune Feb. 5, 1972 Concurrently, he served as Secretary of the Philadelphia Clef Club of the Performing Arts, Inc. until his death.

Musician

Frank Fairfax's documented career as a professional musician began in 1928, when he played bass horn and trumpet alongside singer/trombonist Clyde Bernhardt (1905–1986) and many other musicians in Henry P. McClane's Society Orchestra, a West Virginia-based dance band. From July, 1929 through 1934, Fairfax was playing trombone for Phil Edwards' Collegians, a college dancing orchestra formed in 1928 in Bluefield, West Virginia, that toured the Eastern seaboard.[Frank T. Fairfax's Obituary], At some point in the first half of 1930, Edwards' Collegians landed a job as the house band for Cincinnati's Greystone Ballroom, from whence it regularly broadcast over WLW for a least eighteen months. Such was its reputation that in 1931 it earned eighth place in the Pittsburgh Courier's Most Popular Band Contest, a consequence, at least in part, of its presence on the airwaves. In 1932 and 1933, still led by Phil Edwards but managed by Frank Fairfax, the Collegians made an extensive tour of the southeastern United States. According to Cleophas "Chico Hicks, who played banjo and guitar for the band beginning in 1932, Fairfax took a large role in the booking and business management of the Collegians. The group's representative would travel ahead of the orchestra to different towns to find bookings, and then would meet with Fairfax, who would configure the schedule.Wriggle, John [Chappie Willet, Frank Fairfax, and Phil Edwards' Collegians: From West Virginia to Philadelphia" Black Music Research Journal, Vol. 27, No. 9 Spring, 2007, p. 9 Hicks also recalled that the group embarked on an extensive tour of the eastern United States, extending down the East Coast into the Deep South, through Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, and Arkansas. Crisscrossing the region between performances at country clubs, dance halls, and local radio stations, the orchestra traveled in two 1926 Packards and a "Chevy cattle truck," which carried most of the instruments. Fairfax and Hicks usually rode in the truck. Fairfax also wrote some of the music arrangements for Edwards' Collegians. However, a significant portion of the Collegians' repertoire consisted of Archie Bleyer's stock arrangements ordered from New York, including "Too Tired," "Muddy Water," "Just Around the Corner, Smoke Gets in Your Eyes, and Dvorak's "Humoresque."Wriggle, John "Chappie Willet, Frank Fairfax, and Phil Edwards' Collegians: From West Virginia to Philadelphia" Black Music Research Journal, Vol. 27, No. 1 Spring, 2007, p.1 Being able to sight-read new tunes was an important component of performing with the band. By September 1933, Chappie Willet assumed leadership of the band, and subsequently it relocated the Philadelphia. They landed a steady job at the Rafters Club in West Philadelphia. Fairfax remained business manager and was first trombonist in Chappie Willet's Orchestra in Philadelphia and also while performing with the same band on the campus of Princeton University in March, 1934."Chappie Willet's Band Takes East", The Chicago Defender (National Edition) March 7, 1934, page 5 By late 1934 the band broke up.

Bandleader