Community hub
Recent from talks
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
Dan Burley
Dan Burley (November 7, 1907, in Lexington, Kentucky – October 29, 1962, in Chicago, Illinois) was an American pianist and journalist. He appeared on numerous network television and radio shows in the US and had two radio shows of his own on WWRL Radio in New York.
He was editor of many African-American publications, including the New York Age, the Amsterdam News, and the magazines Ebony, Jet and Duke. He also appeared in five films, performed with Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway, Milton Hinton, Lionel Hampton, Leonard Feather, Fats Waller, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong, and wrote music for Lionel Hampton and Cab Calloway.
Dan's father, Rev. James Burley, an Evangelist Baptist minister, died while preaching at Mt. Gilead Baptist Church in Texas when Dan was three years old. His mother, Anna Seymour, an educator, (born in Georgia), remarried and in 1915 moved to Chicago and became involved with politics on the Southside within the Republican Party of Ruth Hanna McCormick, Charles Dineen and William "Big Bill" Thompson. His mother taught under Booker T. Washington at Tuskegee University and was the first African American woman to teach at a school then called "Armour Tech", later the Illinois Institute of Technology.
Burley attended Wendell Phillips High and was president of the school paper and on the High School football league. He also played basketball, fulfilled his love of writing, worked as a paper carrier for the Chicago Daily Defender as a teenager and played boogie-woogie piano. While attending Phillips, Burley developed friendships with Lionel Hampton, Milton Hinton, Louis Jordan, and Langley Waller, who later all moved from Chicago to New York City to work in the music, writing and entertainment industries.
By 1929 Burley was the sports editor for the Daily Defender with a featured column syndicated throughout the country. He also wrote for the Chicago Bee, owned by S.B. Fuller who also owned the Pittsburgh Courier, in which Burley had a syndicated column, and who co-owned The New York Age with Burley after he moved to New York.
After moving to New York City Burley became theatrical editor of the Amsterdam News. From 1936 to 1937 he worked as a writer on the paper; three years later he became the managing editor, a position which he held for over twelve years. He became the managing editor of the New York Age, which he co-owned with S. B. Fuller. He was an editor of Ebony magazine from the late 1930s. While in New York, Burley married his first wife, Gustava McCurdy, the first black woman to sing the national anthem at Madison Square Garden. Gustava, at the age of 35, developed cancer and died.
Burley reputedly coined the word bebop and was the creator of The Harlem Handbook of Jive, which sold more than 100,000 copies. It was published in 1941 and reprinted in 1944. Burley's handbook brought mentions from H. L. Mencken, Gertrude Stein, Danton Walker, Winchell and others. The Handbook of Jive was translated into French, Italian, Spanish and Norwegian.
During World War II he served as a war correspondent and led a Special Service USO Unit in China, Burma, North Africa, Egypt and India. Composed of Henry Armstrong, Kenny Washington, Jow Lillard, and Bill Yancy it was rated No. 2 (behind the Bob Hope show) by Variety Magazine.
Hub AI
Dan Burley AI simulator
(@Dan Burley_simulator)
Dan Burley
Dan Burley (November 7, 1907, in Lexington, Kentucky – October 29, 1962, in Chicago, Illinois) was an American pianist and journalist. He appeared on numerous network television and radio shows in the US and had two radio shows of his own on WWRL Radio in New York.
He was editor of many African-American publications, including the New York Age, the Amsterdam News, and the magazines Ebony, Jet and Duke. He also appeared in five films, performed with Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway, Milton Hinton, Lionel Hampton, Leonard Feather, Fats Waller, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong, and wrote music for Lionel Hampton and Cab Calloway.
Dan's father, Rev. James Burley, an Evangelist Baptist minister, died while preaching at Mt. Gilead Baptist Church in Texas when Dan was three years old. His mother, Anna Seymour, an educator, (born in Georgia), remarried and in 1915 moved to Chicago and became involved with politics on the Southside within the Republican Party of Ruth Hanna McCormick, Charles Dineen and William "Big Bill" Thompson. His mother taught under Booker T. Washington at Tuskegee University and was the first African American woman to teach at a school then called "Armour Tech", later the Illinois Institute of Technology.
Burley attended Wendell Phillips High and was president of the school paper and on the High School football league. He also played basketball, fulfilled his love of writing, worked as a paper carrier for the Chicago Daily Defender as a teenager and played boogie-woogie piano. While attending Phillips, Burley developed friendships with Lionel Hampton, Milton Hinton, Louis Jordan, and Langley Waller, who later all moved from Chicago to New York City to work in the music, writing and entertainment industries.
By 1929 Burley was the sports editor for the Daily Defender with a featured column syndicated throughout the country. He also wrote for the Chicago Bee, owned by S.B. Fuller who also owned the Pittsburgh Courier, in which Burley had a syndicated column, and who co-owned The New York Age with Burley after he moved to New York.
After moving to New York City Burley became theatrical editor of the Amsterdam News. From 1936 to 1937 he worked as a writer on the paper; three years later he became the managing editor, a position which he held for over twelve years. He became the managing editor of the New York Age, which he co-owned with S. B. Fuller. He was an editor of Ebony magazine from the late 1930s. While in New York, Burley married his first wife, Gustava McCurdy, the first black woman to sing the national anthem at Madison Square Garden. Gustava, at the age of 35, developed cancer and died.
Burley reputedly coined the word bebop and was the creator of The Harlem Handbook of Jive, which sold more than 100,000 copies. It was published in 1941 and reprinted in 1944. Burley's handbook brought mentions from H. L. Mencken, Gertrude Stein, Danton Walker, Winchell and others. The Handbook of Jive was translated into French, Italian, Spanish and Norwegian.
During World War II he served as a war correspondent and led a Special Service USO Unit in China, Burma, North Africa, Egypt and India. Composed of Henry Armstrong, Kenny Washington, Jow Lillard, and Bill Yancy it was rated No. 2 (behind the Bob Hope show) by Variety Magazine.