I have been reading with great interest an advance copy of Jack Kennedy: Elusive Hero by Chris Matthews. During my lunch break today, Atlantic City came up on the pages of the book.

By October of 1959 JFK had already spent the previous three years getting his run for president in order, building up support across the country. According to Matthews’ well-researched book, Kennedy knew that Hubert H. Humphrey would be a tough opponent for the Democratic nomination and HHH was popular with the unions. Union support was essential for any candidate running for the Democratic nomination. Therefore, Kennedy made sure he was given a slot to address the United Auto Workers Union at their convention in Atlantic City.

Yes, folks, Atlantic City was an important convention town and hosted the UAW back in ’59.

Here is the excerpt from Matthews’ book:

“At the UAW event, Kennedy further closed the distance between himself and Humphrey. The Minnesotan delivered a rousing speech … Still, according to reports, the ‘wild and frenzied’ reception given Jack Kennedy by the convention-goers surpassed it.”

After winning that tight race with Richard Nixon in 1960, Kennedy later returned to the UAW convention in 1962 in Atlantic City. I came across this video of that speech.

ATLANTIC CITY — “Things are changing in Atlantic City,” says Jimmy Darmody (a character portrayed by the actor Michael Pitt) at the beginning of the trailer — or teaser as HBO officially calls it — for the much anticipated second season of Boardwalk Empire.

HBO’s hit drama series has been racking up Golden Globes, Emmy nominations and wins since its first season last fall.

Boardwalk Empire’s second season will start Sunday night, Sept. 25, at 9pm, the same time slot it had last year for its debut season. The Prohibition-period piece set in Atlantic City in the early 1920s was one of the most successful programs on the cable channel in recent history. Many critics — and, likely, HBO executives — are suggesting it may become as big as The Sopranos.

In Atlantic City, all of the international attention has led to trolley tours around the historic seaside resort; Nosh Like Nucky and other dining/bar specials at the city’s restaurants and casinos — with one casino, Resorts, completely re-branding itself as a 1920s-themed property, with flapper-girl uniforms for all of the on-property cocktail waitresses and throwback uniforms for the bell hops and parking attendants — as well as ’20s-era and Old A.C.-oriented programs, historical events, initiatives and exhibits presented by the ever-popular Atlantic City Free Public Library — where you can see the expanding Atlantic City Experience exhibit, as well as a rare original photo of the real Nucky Thompson  — Enoch “Nucky” Johnson — and a variety of special events with tie-ins to the show.

Last year, before the national live premiere on Sunday, Sept. 19, which was shown at Caesars, an official premiere party was held in New York City the week before. It was followed by a star-studded second premiere party — with most of the cast in town for the event — held in Atlantic City at One Atlantic, overlooking the ocean atop The Pier Shops at Caesars.

During the Caesars premiere event, the Atlantic City Convention & Visitors Authority (ACCVA), Atlantic City Weekly, Stockton College, and the ACFPL, teamed up to plan and present Atlantic City History: Conversations & Storytelling, a one-hour panel discussion with five Atlantic City historians, writers, museum curators and “old-timers,” who spoke to the crowd at Caesars, an hour before the 9pm premiere episode being shown live, about a variety of topics with regard to Atlantic City history.

The event was turned into a 13-part video series, all episodes of which can be seen by clicking here.

As of now, nothing has been revealed by Caesars Entertainment or HBO about premiere events in Atlantic City, and the ACCVA has not sent out any related news releases to the press.

By the time summer is winding down, Atlantic City — as well as the rest of the country (hello tourism district people!) — will be going gaga for Boardwalk Empire styles, music, clothes, dances — everything — and the city itself, attempting to pull itself out of slump with regard to casino revenues, attracting new business and development projects, will be gearing up for a full-blown 1920s makeover ala last year.

Boardwalk Empire is the best thing that has happened to Atlantic City in a long, long time. Perhaps it could save the city.

Join our Boardwalk Empire Fan Club page on Facebook and you could win a poster from the first season of Boardwalk Empire. (Must be 18 or older to enter)

Whaddya think? A Boardwalk Empire: Season One DVD with the two HBO documentaries on Atlantic City among the bonus features in time for the holiday shopping season?

Probably.

Malcolm Tent (left) is the popular local musician who has a gig playing at Lucy the Elephant Saturday, June 18 (noon-4pm) for the new book signing by local children author Steve Winklestein, Lucy’s Great Adventure.

Gary Mule Deer (right) is a comedian who has been around for decades and will be opening for Johnny Mathis July 10 at Borgata.
If these two get in the same room, it will be hard to tell them apart!

Sandy Warren's will discuss her book at Saturday's event at the Atlantic City Free Public Library.

On Saturday, April 2, there will be a free concert and book discussion at the Atlantic City Free Public Library (ACFPL) focusing on the music and lives of late jazz greats Art Blakey and Johnny Andrews.

The event will take place at 2pm Saturday in the main library’s meeting room at 1 North Tennessee Avenue in Atlantic City.

Eddie Morgan will perform some of Blakey’s recordings and some of Andrews’ favorite tunes. Blakey’s longtime companion Sandy Warren will also be on hand to discuss her book, Art Blakey Cookin’ and Jammin’. Her book is filled with some their favorite recipes, rare Blakey family photos and remembrances of the drumming legend who passed away in 1990. Andrews passed away last year.

For more information, call (609) 345-2269 ext. 3115.

Roving camera man and friend of Atlantic City Weekly Charlie Pinkett shot and produced this video piece at the “Celebrating the Northside” event, held Feb. 10 at the All Wars Memorial Building in Atlantic City:

Click on image for video, courtesy Charlie Pinkett.

The event included Boardwalk Empire and The Northside author Nelson Johnson, in addition to Ralph Hunter, founder and president of the African-American Heritage Museum of Southern New Jersey.

The Black History Month event was “designed to bring people together to celebrate the historic role of the Northside community  to share stories and be inspired.” Among the sights and sounds at the event were pieces by local artist Tyrone L. Hart  — whose art graces the cover of the newly published Northside book, a follow-up to author Nelson Johnson’s Boardwalk Empire — as well as local educator. community leader and musician Eddie Morgan and his Jazz Ensemble, and a history of the Northside presentation given by Hunter.

Bianca Dennis, an Atlantic City High School senior and Boys and Girls Club Champions of Youth member who will attend Columbia University in the fall, also gave a special reading.

According to the event organizers, “In The Northside, author Nelson Johnson brings the untold story of Atlantic City’s black community vividly to life, from the arrival of the first African Americans to Absecon Island in the early 19th century through the glory days of the ‘World’s Playground.’ Drawing on dozens of personal interviews and painstaking archival research, he reveals long-forgotten details about the people on whose backs the gambling mecca was built and offers a wide-ranging survey of the accomplishments of more recent generations.  A portion of the sales of The Northside will be split between United Way of Atlantic County and the Boys and Girls Club of Atlantic City, according to publisher Plexus Publishing, Inc.”

Click here to watch Atlantic City Weekly’s two-part video series on the “African-American Experience,” featuring a panel of six local historians and authors, filmed during the viewing party of the premiere of HBO’s Boardwalk Empire at Caesars Atlantic City on Sept. 19, 2010. Visit Atlantic City Weekly’s Boardwalk Empire Notes page here.

Sarah Spencer Washington

Upcoming Black History Month programs include book talks, jazz program

The Atlantic City Free Public Library began its Black History Month celebration in memorable fashion by debuting an exhibit – The Black Northside Empire: A Photographic Look at Atlantic City’s African-American Community – on Tuesday, Feb. 1. The local community filled the library’s meeting room to view the photo exhibit, created by African-American Heritage Museum of Southern New Jersey founder Ralph E. Hunter, Sr.

Hunter and several of the attendees — including Elwood Davis, Art Dorrington, Tyrone Hart, Joanna and Karlos LaSane and Ada McClinton — shared some of their memories of Atlantic City and the Northside.

A.C. Free Public Library director Maureen Frank and Ralph Hunter Sr. are pictured during Tuesday's opening of the exhibit.

The exhibit includes more than 60 photographs highlighting influential African-American people as part of  February being Black History Month.

For more on this story, go here.

In an interview with the New York Daily News. Michael Lombardo, HBO’s programming president, says that officials at the cable giant feel “strongly” about the soon-to-debut Boardwalk Empire HBO series, which is based on the book by Atlantic County judge Nelson Johnson and which premieres on HBO Sunday, Sept. 19, at 9pm EST.

“We didn’t want to hold it,” Lombardo tells the paper of the series, which gives a close account of Atlantic City in the 1920s and the Prohibition era. “This is a show we felt strongly about and we think it will resonate even in the fall.”

The article, published today, also includes an interview with director Martin Scorsese, who directed the pilot and is one of the show’s executive producers. Scorsese says he would “love” to direct more episodes of Boardwalk Empire — are we talking second season already? — if his busy schedule allows.

He also tells the Daily News why he thinks Prohibition benefited the criminal element.

“It allowed crime figures at the time, Luciano and Capone and Rothstein, to organize to become more powerful,” Scorsese tells the Daily News, “something that pulled all the way through until the 1970s.”

Having watched the first episode, all we can say is that although some of the names have been changed in the cable TV series from the non-fiction book, you’ll hear all of the names mentioned by Scorsese above in the series. Meanwhile, the main character of the series, Enoch Thompson, played by Steve Buscemi (pictured above in the series’ first episode) is based on Enoch “Nucky” Johnson, the one-time main man of Atlantic City during its early 20th century heyday.

Read the entire story and interview with Scorsese here.

If you’re looking for a breezy summer read for your beach days, check out A Boardwalk Story, author J. Louis Yampolsky’s coming of age tale set in the summer of 1939 in Atlantic City. Go here for the story.