Arthur Franklin Fuller

Arthur Franklin Fuller (* 1880 in Chicago ; † after 1935) was an American author, composer and anti-discrimination activist.

Life

Fuller, the son of a choir director, joined the choir of St James Church in Chicago at the age of seven or eight, later became a solo soprano, performed in concerts, and won several awards. After his voice broke, he worked briefly as a choirmaster in the Episcopal Church. However, various injuries and illnesses meant that he was no longer able to perform such tasks from 1899: Among other things, according to his own statement, he suffered accidents while fishing and bathing in his youth, was bitten by a dog suspected of rabies, hit by a horse's hoof and fell after all, difficult in a kind of test of courage In 1897 he barely escaped from a burning building in which he was working at the time. A little later he took a position as organist and choirmaster at St. Paul's Cathedral in Fond du Lac ( Wisconsin ), but finally gave up this work again due to overload. His next position in Kingston, New York , he took against the advice of his doctor. Soon he was again very busy as an organist and composer and finally suffered a heart attack in the organ gallery. Since he was not recovering sufficiently from this disease, he consulted numerous doctors who were unable to help him.

Finally unable to walk or sit, Fuller began to travel across the United States in a wooden, covered car to lie in, selling his self-written writings and compositions. He had to struggle with the legislation, which forbade disabled people to appear in public and trade or even beg, and had to move regularly to sell his books. His efforts to find a steady job were also reflected in two film appearances. Nothing seems to be known about Fuller's death.

Works

Fuller's works had titles such as An Odd Romance (1915), Fifty Thousand Miles Back-Ridden (1915) and An Odd Soldiery (1915). The latter book dealt primarily with the allegation of hypochondria to which he was exposed because his various ailments were never clearly diagnosed. It also contained pictures of Fuller lying in his car and accompanied by an assistant. In this work he offered $ 1,000 to anyone who could cure him - but only on the condition that this sum would be paid to him, the patient, in the event of failure. While in An Odd Soldiery, on the one hand, he dealt intensively with his ailments, on the other hand he advocated the thesis that he should be regarded as completely normal and respected as a musician and writer. For this purpose, another picture was added to the tape, on which no aids or other indications of his physical limitations could be seen.

Fifty Thousand Miles Back-Ridden (1915) is the sequel to An Odd Soldiery and describes Fuller's travels through the United States and the problems he encountered in the cities. In Brooklyn, where he came from Jackson (Mississippi) in 1910 , he had come across John D. Godfrey, who worked for the Bureau of Charity and for the police and had the task of "mendicant parasites" (" begging parasites ”) from the streetscape. A 1905 newspaper article celebrating the COS (Charity Organization Society) praised Godfrey's services, but Fuller gave a critical picture of the COS and its envoys. Godfrey told him in no uncertain terms that his sight was undesirable, and Fuller objected to the principles that Godfrey advocated: “Why should a cripple or afflicted man be compelled to have the public begged for him - why should he not beg himself ? ”With this question he objected to the“ ugly laws ”, which forbade unsightly people to beg in public, although he often distanced himself from the mass of beggars and did not see his sales activities as begging. He also turned against mood-makers in newspapers who accused the beggars of secretly hoarding wealth and of deceiving the public about their situation in life.

In the last volume of his autobiographical writings, Wrestling the Wolf (1919), Fuller described his efforts to live independently from his own work instead of being cared for in institutions.

In addition to the autobiographical books, Fuller also wrote numerous volumes of poetry and song texts, for which he also composed the music. In 1935 came a record called The Ray of Sunshine with compositions for voice and piano by Fuller. Dorothy Kelleher was the singer.

Arthur Franklin Fuller also had small roles in two films produced by Cecil B. DeMille . We Can't Have Everything has not survived, but a copy of Till I Come Back to You from 1918 still exists. Fuller plays a wounded German soldier in this film.

Afterlife

Fuller's writings were rediscovered by Susan M. Schweik in the course of her studies on discriminatory legislation in the USA in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. She describes his life and his struggle against the laws and institutions in her work The Ugly Laws .

literature

• Susan W. Schweik, The Ugly Laws. Disability in Public , New York and London 2009, ISBN 978-0-8147-4057-6 , pp. 263-278

Individual evidence

1. ↑ http://metapsychology.mentalhelp.net/poc/view_doc.php?type=book&id=5324&cn=135
2. ↑ http://www.ebooksread.com/authors-eng/arthur-franklin-fuller/an-odd-soldiery-the-tale-of-a-sojourner--llu/1-an-odd-soldiery-the- tale-of-a-sojourner - llu.shtml
3. ↑ http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?_r=1&res=9F05E1DA163EE733A25757C1A9639C946497D6CF
4. ^ Fifty Thousand Miles Back-Ridden , p. 180, quoted in Susan M. Schweik, The Ugly Laws , New York and London 2009, p. 270
5. ↑ http://cgi.ebay.com/1935-Sheet-Music-MY-RAY-OF-SUNSHINE-Fuller-KELLEHER_W0QQitemZ380216381676QQcmdZViewItemQQimsxZ20100320?IMSfp=TL1003201310008r32324