Who Was Joseph E. Pullum?

Sometimes I'm researching something and follow it down a rabbit hole that leads to another rabbit hole. And here we are...

I recently watched PBS' "American Experience" episode on Alabama native Joe Louis and his June 1938 championship fight with Max Schmeling. Well worth watching, by the way. During the program I heard a song from the 1930's about Louis on the soundtrack. Hmm, I thought, I wonder who wrote and sang that ditty. A little time on Google led me to a 2001 New York Times article discussing  the songs written about Louis. In it the author noted that composer and music researcher Rena C. Kosersky has identified over 40 songs about the boxer from the 1930’s & 1940’s. The first was Joe Pullum’s “Joe Louis Is the Man” recorded 27 July 1935 in San Antonio. 

Lo and behold, Pullum was born in Anniston. Let's investigate. 

Wikipedia gives his birthdate as December 25, 1905, but Pullum's World War II draft registration card--filled out by Pullum on October 16, 1940, in Houston, Texas-- gives the date as December 20, 1907 [see below]. That earlier date appears in the California Death Index 1940-1997 [accessed via Ancestry.com]; Pullum died in Los Angeles on January 7, 1964. 

According to the Alabama Select Marriage Indexes, 1816-1942 [Ancestry.com], his parents William Pullum and Dora Ross were both Alabama natives and married in Calhoun County on April 3, 1898. The family moved not long after Joseph's birth, since the 1910 U.S. Census shows them living on Andrews Street in Houston, Texas. In addition to Joseph and his parents, the census lists two older siblings, William Jr. who was ten years old and Carlton, who was six. By the 1920 census, they had moved to Meyer Street and added sister Evelyn, who was eleven, and Mary A. Ross, presumably Dora's mother, to the family group. 

By 1930 only Joseph and his parents were listed in the household at 1211 Arthur Street. The record notes that he could read and write and worked as a presser in a cleaning shop. The 1937 City Directory for Houston has the same trio at the same address, but Joseph is working as a musician. His father was a porter. Brothers William, Jr. and Carlton and their wives are listed at other addresses in the city. 

Pullum made a total of 30 recordings on Bluebird Records between April 1934 and February 1936; most were done in San Antonio. A vocalist, Pullum worked with two pianists on those sessions, Rob Cooper and Andy Boy. In the 1940's he moved to Los Angeles and recorded with another pianist, Lloyd Glenn, for Swing Time Records in 1948. Other than a rumored demo made in 1953, that was the end of Pullum's recording career. 

Pullum appears in California voter registration records at two different addresses  in Los Angeles between 1946 until 1962. Wikipedia notes that although he died in Los Angeles, he was buried back in Houston. I was unable to find him listed in Find-A-Grave. All of his known recordings were reissued in 1995 on Document Records in two volumes available here and here. 

His very first recording was "Black Gal What Makes Your Head So Hard?" on April 3, 1934, at the Texas Hotel in San Antonio. That number would become his most successful; he recorded several different versions including one titled "My Woman". The recording sold well and was covered by a number of other artists. 

Other songs recorded in the San Antonio sessions included "Mississippi Flood Blues", "Married Woman Blues", "Telephone Blues", "Dixie My Home", and "Cow, See That Train Comin'". 

Pullum is one of numerous blues artists whose lives are poorly documented. Questions here include why did the Pullums leave Anniston for Houston? One source quoted by Wikipedia says Pullum performed on a Houston radio station in  the late 1930's, but that station was absorbed by another in August 1932. Did Pullum perform in public venues such as clubs and roadhouses? Why did he move to Los Angeles, did he perform live there and what did he do for a living until his 1964 death? Where in Houston is he buried?

Perhaps some day at least some of these questions will be answered....

You can find some of Pullum's recordings on YouTube. "Joe Louis Is the Man" is here. 

Source: Wirz' American Music

Recorded August 13, 1935, in San Antonio with Andy Boy on piano

Source: Wirz' American Music

Pullum's entire recorded output was issued on two CDs in 1995 by Document Records; see links above. 

Source: Ancestry.com 

The Boxer Who Played Joe Louis--Three Times

One of Alabama's most famous sports figures is boxer Joe Louis, whose career ran from 1934 until 1951. Considered one of the all-time greats, Louis defended his heavyweight title in 25 consecutive contests and had the longest reign in heavyweight boxing history. His two fights against German Max Schmeling in the 1930's were spectacles of the first order. On June 19, 1936, Schmeling gave Louis his first professional loss when he knocked the "Brown Bomber" out in the 12th round. For the rematch on June 22, 1938, the pair met in Yankee Stadium before a crowd of more than 70,000. Louis defeated Schmeling in the first round. In 2010 an eight foot statue of Louis by Casey Downing, Jr., was erected on the Chambers County Courthouse lawn. Louis was born in Lafayette. 

Naturally, Hollywood brought Louis to the screen in at least three biopics. In 1938 Louis himself had starred in a fictionalized account of his life, Spirit of Youth. The second one was  The Joe Louis Story from United Artists and released on September 18, 1953. Louis was played in that film by a professional boxer, Coley Wallace. Ring of Passion, a made-for-TV movie with Bernie Casey as Louis, appeared in 1978. 

Wallace was born April 5, 1927 in Jacksonville, Florida; he died  January 30, 2005, of heart failure in Harlem, NY. At the time of his death he was married to Pearlie-May Wallace; she died in 2016. The couple had a daughter named Pat. 

As an amateur, Wallace was New York Daily News Golden Gloves heavyweight champion in 1948 and 1949. In the 1948 semi-final he defeated Rocky Marciano in a split decision, an outcome unpopular with the crowd. Wallace is believed to be the only fighter ever to defeat Marciano. You can find more highlights from his amateur career here. 

Wallace's first professional fight took place in April 1950 and his final one in April 1956. In that period he had 29 bouts, with 22 wins [16 by knockout] and seven losses [four by knockout]. His best known pro opponent was probably Ezzard Charles, who defeated Wallace by a knockout in December 1953. Charles held a world heavyweight title and in 1950 defeated his idol Joe Louis who was at the end of his career. Another opponent was Jimmy Bivins, who defeated Wallace by a knockout in September 1952. Bivins never had a title fight, but defeated eight of eleven world champions he faced. He lost to Joe Louis in an August 1951 bout. 

Thus Wallace was in the midst of his professional boxing career when he made this film. In the early 1950's he also worked as a bouncer at the Savoy Ballroom, a legendary music and dancing venue in Harlem that operated from 1926 until 1958. Wallace was a referee in two bouts in 1974 and a judge in several fights in the 1980's. 

Wallace had small roles as Joe Louis in two later films, the 1979 TV movie Marciano and Martin Scorsese's classic Raging Bull [1980] based on the life of boxer Jake LaMotta. In 1956 he starred in a non-boxing film, Carib Gold, along with Ethel Waters. It's also the first known film role of Cicely Tyson. 

The Joe Louis Story has been released on VHS and DVD, and is available on Amazon Prime and for free on YouTube. The boxer's mother, Marva Louis, is played by Hilda Simms in the movie. 

More comments are below. 

Joe Louis [1914-1981] in 1941 

Source: Wikipedia

Source: Wikipedia

Coley Wallace [1927-2005]

Source: BoxRec

On May 14, 1953, Joe Louis and Coley Wallace stand in front of a 1951 poster for what turned out to be the Alabama heavyweight's last fight. Marciano won in the eighth round. 

Source: A 2011 commentary on the film by Louie Shields

This issue of Look magazine 3 November 1953 included an article "Corey Wallace Plays Joe Louis" on pages 86-89. Five photographs by Wil Blanche show Wallace training at his New Jersey gym, etc. 

Source: WorthPoint

Source: Wikipedia

Marciano was first broadcast on the ABC-TV network on 21 October 1979

Frankie Manning and Coley Wallace at the dedication of a Savoy Ballroom plaque 26 May 2002

Source

Wallace's grave in the Calverton Cemetery, Suffolk County, New York

Source: Find-A-Grave

Source: Wikipedia 

In this 1978 TV movie actor Bernie Casey portrays #Alabama native Joe Louis as he fights German Max Schmeling, losing the first fight 19 June 1936 but winning the rematch 22 June  1938 

An article about Louis by William Jerome appeared in the May-June 1937 issue of this magazine.

The Alabama Boxer Who Fought Muhammad Ali

Well, Muhammad Ali was Cassius Clay at the time, but still...

One of the professional boxers native to Alabama was heavyweight Herb Siler. According to most sources, he was born on January 5, 1935 in Brundidge. His Social Security record gives the date as December 20, 1934. That record also lists his parents as Herbert Siler and Catheren McCray. I've so far been unable to find any further information in census or other records.

I've also found nothing on Siler's early life--how long he lived in Brundidge, how he got into boxing, etc. We next find him in Miami at his first fight against Harold Brown on April 25, 1960, at the Palace Arena. He won that bout on his way to a final record of 20 wins [9 by knockouts] and 12 losses [8 by knockouts]. His last fight on May 4, 1967, was a loss, as were the previous five fights. 

Clay was Siler's seventh fight overall and seventh and last bout in 1960.  Clay faced only one previous professional opponent, Tunney Hunsaker, on October 29 in Louisville, Kentucky. Thus Siler had more professional fights, but Clay had defeated all four of his opponents in the Rome Summer Olympics earlier that year. 

Siler and Clay fought on December 27 at the Auditorium in Miami Beach. Clay won in a technical knockout in the fourth round. Clay was just 20 days shy of his 19th birthday. All of Siler's earlier professional bouts took place in Miami or Miami Beach. That pattern would continue for most fights over the rest of his career. 

Another gap of information appears in Siler's life after his boxing career ended in 1967 until 1972. In that year he was found guilty of manslaughter in the death of a friend and served seven years in the Belle Glades Correctional Institute in Florida. At some point he apparently overcame an alcohol addiction and by the late 1980's ran a successful construction company. 

Siler died, again according to his Social Security record, on March 25, 2001. He is buried in Ft. Lauderdale. His grandson is NFL linebacker Brandon Siler.

In November 1966 Ali visited Alabama during the midst of a tour of southern colleges. You can see one of the photographs taken during that visit below.

Our family has some connections to Brundidge which I've written about here. 

Soure: BoxRec

Source: Find-A-Grave

Siler is buried in Forest Lawn Memorial Gardens Central in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida

Source: Find-A-Grave

Muhammad Ali is seen here on November 24, 1966, at the Turkey Day Classic football game played in Montgomery between Alabama State and Tuskegee Institute. You can see many more photographs taken that day here.

Source: Alabama Dept. of Archives and History