George William Lattimore (1887 – after 1931) was an American lawyer, sports manager, manager of the

Southern Syncopated Orchestra Southern Syncopated Orchestra (SSO), established first in the U.S. as the New York Syncopated Orchestra, was an early jazz group known for bringing Black musicians to the UK. The group was founded by Will Marion Cook. Members of the group include ...

, and a theatrical and cinema impresario.

Early life

George Lattimore was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

on March 27, 1887, the son of George W. Lattimore.

Basketball

Lattimore was the founder and manager in 1906 of the Smart Set Athletic Club of Brooklyn, the first independent African-American basketball team who were the winners of the first World's Basketball Championship for Afro-people. ''

The New York Age ''The New York Age'' was an American weekly newspaper established in 1887 in New York City. It was widely considered one of the most prominent African-American newspapers of its time.

'', a leading African-American newspaper, reported that the club was reorganised as the Smart Set Athletic Club Incorporated in 1916 with J. Hoffman Woods as Chairman, William F. Trotman as Treasurer and George Lattimore as Secretary.

Southern Syncopated Orchestra

The New York Syncopated Orchestra was formed by

Will Marion Cook William Mercer Cook (January 27, 1869 – July 19, 1944), better known as Will Marion Cook, was an African-American composer, pianist, orchestrator, lyricist, violinist, and choral director.Riis, Thomas (2007–2011)Cook, Will Marion ''Grove Music ...

in January 1919 with Lattimore as the manager. In May and June 1919, the orchestra, renamed the Southern Syncopated Orchestra (SSO), sailed for Britain on a six months' tour. The tour was a notable success. The orchestra was complimented for its varied repertoire and performed for the Prince of Wales (later King

Edward VIII Edward VIII (Edward Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick David; 23 June 1894 – 28 May 1972), later known as the Duke of Windsor, was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Empire, and Emperor of India, from 20 January ...

) at

Buckingham Palace Buckingham Palace () is a royal official residence, residence in London, and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and r ...

."London's jazz legends"
BBC, 15 May 2008. Retrieved 11 October 2014. In 1919, Lattimore and Cook and others from the orchestra attended an event in London organised by a black student organisation, The Coitere of Friends, of which one of the founders was Edmund Thornton Jenkins who taught at the

Royal Academy of Music The Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London, England, is one of the oldest music schools in the UK, founded in 1822 by John Fane and Nicolas-Charles Bochsa. It received its royal charter in 1830 from King George IV with the support of the firs ...

. The event had a

pan-African Pan-Africanism is a nationalist movement that aims to encourage and strengthen bonds of solidarity between all indigenous peoples and diasporas of African ancestry. Based on a common goal dating back to the Atlantic slave trade, the Trans-Sa ...

flavour and the room was decorated with the flags of Liberia and Haiti. Music by

Samuel Coleridge-Taylor Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (15 August 18751 September 1912) was a British composer and conductor. He was particularly known for his three cantatas on the epic 1855 poem ''The Song of Hiawatha'' by American Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Coler ...

was played."The Negro Renaissance: Harlem and Chicago Flowerings" by Samuel A. Floyd Jr. in An internal split within the orchestra meant that at one point two different Southern Syncopated Orchestras were toured Britain at the same time, one led by Cook and the other by Lattimore, resulting in legal action in 1920. The tour was interrupted by tragedy on October 9, 1921 when the SS ''Rowan'', on which the orchestra were travelling from Glasgow to Derry, was involved in an accident and eight musicians were drowned. Lattimore was in Dublin at the time. The orchestra, in various forms, continued touring until 1922. A late incarnation of the SSO was Lattimore's Symphony Orchestra which appeared in Vienna in 1922 featuring trumpeter Tommy Smith, trombonist

Ted Heath Sir Edward Richard George Heath (9 July 1916 – 17 July 2005) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1970 to 1974 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1965 to 1975. Heath also served for 51 year ...

, Buddie Gilmore on drums and William Burns as vocalist.

''Wildest Africa''

''Wildest Africa'', shown at the Philharmonic Hall,

Great Portland Street Great Portland Street is a commercial road in the West End of London which links Oxford Street with the A501 road, A501 Marylebone Road. A mixed-use street of residents and businesses, it divides Fitzrovia, to the east, from Marylebone to the ...

in London in 1922, recorded a zoological expedition to Central Africa led by Prince William of Sweden.

''Cradle of the World''

In 1923, Lattimore was promoting with

Pathé Pathé SAS (; styled as PATHÉ!) is a French major film production and distribution company, owning a number of cinema chains through its subsidiary Pathé Cinémas and television networks across Europe. It is the name of a network of Fren ...

, ''Cradle of the World'', the "most marvellous and thrilling travel film ever screened". In a letter to the pan-Africanist W.E. Du Bois, Lattimore reported that he was having a "successful run" with the film at the Philharmonic Hall, where the SSO had also performed. Lattimore's letterhead by then boasted of the patronage of William of Sweden. In fact, the show received indifferent reviews and lasted only one month. The show, which seems to have been based at least partly on ''Wildest Africa'', included a musical interlude to enliven the proceedings and to cover up the changing of the film reels.

Sol Plaatje Solomon Tshekisho Plaatje (9 October 1876 – 19 June 1932) was a South African intellectual, journalist, linguist, politician, translator and writer. Plaatje was a founding member and first General Secretary of the South African Native Natio ...

, the first General Secretary of the

South African Native National Congress The African National Congress (ANC) is a political party in South Africa. It originated as a liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid and has governed the country since 1994, when the first post-apartheid election resulted ...

(later the African National Congress), who was desperately in need of money, was recruited by Lattimore to take the role of an African tribesman.

Family

Lattimore's brother, Robert P. Lattimore, was also a lawyer and practiced from the same office as George at 26 Cortlandt Street, New York City. In 1926, Lattimore married the British artists' model Dolores (Norine Schofield) in London, her third marriage."Dolores Dies In Poverty", ''

The Daily Express The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first published as a broadsheet i ...

'', August 9, 1934, p. 1. Whittington-Egan, Richard. (1972) ''The Ordeal of Philip Yale Drew: A Real Life Murder Melodrama in Three Acts''. London: Harrap, p. 260. The marriage was described as "secret" in more than one American newspaper. The couple quickly separated but never divorced.Whittington-Egan, 1972, p. 261. Dolores died in 1934.

Death

The date of Lattimore's death is unknown, however, sources for Dolores make no mention of his death and an article about Lattimore appeared in the ''

New York Amsterdam News The ''Amsterdam News'' (also known as ''New York Amsterdam News'') is a weekly Black-owned newspaper serving New York City. It is one of the oldest newspapers geared toward African Americans in the United States and has published columns by s ...

'', August 24, 1932."'30 Negroes (Ladies and Gentlemen)': The Syncopated Orchestra in Vienna". Konrad Nowakowski, ''

Black Music Research Journal The ''Black Music Research Journal'' was a biannual peer-reviewed academic journal published by the University of Illinois Press on behalf of the Center for Black Music Research at the Columbia College Chicago. It covers the philosophy, aesthetics ...

'', Vol. 29, No. 2, pp. 229-282.

References

External links

Chronology of the Southern Syncopated Orchestra.Passport Photos - Jazz Musicians.

The S.S. Rowan survivors. British Pathe.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lattimore, George 1887 births Year of death missing Lawyers from New York City American sports businesspeople 20th-century African-American lawyers