Baltimore's Hawaiian Room at the Emerson Hotel - MAJOR DEVELOPMENT!!! - General Tiki

I ikitnrev Tiki Socialite D.C. / Virginia Joined: Jul 27, 2002 Posts: 1325	I ikitnrev Posted posted on Mon, Feb 21, 2005 12:19 PM 'The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll' is one of Bob Dylan's better known songs - it appears on his greatest hits CD, and I have seen him perform the song live several times. It is a very powerful song - the lyrics can be found here .... http://bobdylan.com/songs/hattie.html I never knew that the caning incident in the song happened at the Emerson Hotel. I wonder whether it was done in the Emerson's Hawaiian Room, or in another ballroom on the hotel property. If Hattie Carroll was struck in the Hawaiian Room, it would certainly qualify as perhaps the most notorious incident to ever take place in a tiki room. But because Zantzinger was drinking bourbon and ginger ale, and not some rum-based tropical drink, I'm wondering if the incident might have happened in some other room. Zantzinger was arrested that night - but for disorderly conduct, not for murder. He was drunk, acting belligerently, and had been hitting several people with his cane all night long, and that is why the police were called in. It wasn't until Hattie Carroll died the following morning that he was charged with homicide. The Washington Post did a story about William Zantzinger back in 1991. He was in trouble then for collecting rent from poor families - the housing was in terrible condition, and Zantzinger didn't even own the property, he lost it in foreclosure years previously when he did not pay property taxes. A version of that article can be found at the following website (scroll down to the first post in English) It provides much detail on the incidents in the Emerson Hotel on February 8, 1963. It is strange that the incident took place during a ball to benefit crippled children, but ended up with the murder of a woman. http://www.maggiesfarm.it/talking214.htm Another good article on William Zantzinger, Hattie Carroll, the Emerson Hotel incident, and the Dylan song appeared just a few months ago in Mother Jones magazine .... http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1329/is_6_29/ai_n6336385 I wonder if one reason that Emerson Hotel information is tough to find is the notoriety of the Carroll/Zantzinger incident. Sometimes when bad things happen, and a nation's view of a location is based on that single incident, people try to erase those bad memories from their lives, and act suspiciously of people who show up and express strong interest in things which remind them of the hidden past. Vern [ Edited by: ikitnrev on 2005-02-21 18:24 ]

'The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll' is one of Bob Dylan's better known songs - it appears on his greatest hits CD, and I have seen him perform the song live several times. It is a very powerful song - the lyrics can be found here .... http://bobdylan.com/songs/hattie.html

I never knew that the caning incident in the song happened at the Emerson Hotel. I wonder whether it was done in the Emerson's Hawaiian Room, or in another ballroom on the hotel property. If Hattie Carroll was struck in the Hawaiian Room, it would certainly qualify as perhaps the most notorious incident to ever take place in a tiki room. But because Zantzinger was drinking bourbon and ginger ale, and not some rum-based tropical drink, I'm wondering if the incident might have happened in some other room.

Zantzinger was arrested that night - but for disorderly conduct, not for murder. He was drunk, acting belligerently, and had been hitting several people with his cane all night long, and that is why the police were called in. It wasn't until Hattie Carroll died the following morning that he was charged with homicide.

The Washington Post did a story about William Zantzinger back in 1991. He was in trouble then for collecting rent from poor families - the housing was in terrible condition, and Zantzinger didn't even own the property, he lost it in foreclosure years previously when he did not pay property taxes.

A version of that article can be found at the following website (scroll down to the first post in English) It provides much detail on the incidents in the Emerson Hotel on February 8, 1963. It is strange that the incident took place during a ball to benefit crippled children, but ended up with the murder of a woman.
http://www.maggiesfarm.it/talking214.htm

Another good article on William Zantzinger, Hattie Carroll, the Emerson Hotel incident, and the Dylan song appeared just a few months ago in Mother Jones magazine ....
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1329/is_6_29/ai_n6336385

I wonder if one reason that Emerson Hotel information is tough to find is the notoriety of the Carroll/Zantzinger incident. Sometimes when bad things happen, and a nation's view of a location is based on that single incident, people try to erase those bad memories from their lives, and act suspiciously of people who show up and express strong interest in things which remind them of the hidden past.

Vern

[ Edited by: ikitnrev on 2005-02-21 18:24 ]

Post #142365 by ikitnrev on Mon, Feb 21, 2005 12:19 PM