Was the Auditorium a Space of Inclusionary or Exclusionary Practices?
Considering the countless activities that occurred in the Auditorium during its lifetime, I found myself questioning who was accepted and allowed in this place and at what times? Among the many activities aforementioned, a few may have caught the eye. This building was a crucial resource for many members of the Glassboro community, but also had complicated exclusionary practices.
I assume the recreational activities had a fee, and obviously it costs money to shop at a store, so the apparent excluded individual would be one that was not well-off and struggling financially. Many photos seem to depict well-dressed, put-together looking folks who probably were not poor. I do not think this is the same as being rejected from entering the building for being or looking a certain type of way, so it is not as bad as straightforward exclusion and discrimination. Nonetheless, a poor individual would still not be able to access the same resources because of his or her financial situation.
The Auditorium definitely was a place for some organizations that catered mostly to white men. To name a few, it hosted a Country Club, Masons, and the Odd Fellows, all of which were organizations for men (GCHS 2019).
I think the unimportance and lower status of women in this era is also reflected in the previous photo of Taft’s visit where he is surrounded only by many white men. However, there were events (such as the poultry exhibit pictured) with women in attendance, and there was even a shop for women, so I don’t think they were fully discriminated against.
The most eye-opening activity to me was the minstrel shows. We all know this type of racism was a part of history, but it is hard to think about it happening where you live. Both the Glassboro Country Club and the Fire Company hosted these events within the Auditorium ("Minstrels at Glassboro" 1917). Considering the members were mocking black people for laughs, I’m sure they were excluded from the building as well. These shows were celebratory, too; one occurred to celebrate the opening of the building in 1910 and others served as tradition for celebrating Thanksgiving yearly ("News Happenings Throughout New Jersey" 1912).
A quick examination of the photos I’ve presented so far will allow you to see there aren’t any colored people. I do not have any specific context for the following photo aside from it belonging to the Glassboro archives at the Gloucester County Historical Society, but there appears to be people in hoods, indicating even more so that racism was probably alive and well not only in the Auditorium, but the Glassboro area as a whole.
Overall, I feel dissatisfied with learning the ins and outs of the people that came through this building. It seemed exclusive at times, but then also not at others. This can be seen in the fact that Auditorium hosted those shows discriminating against people of color, but then also hosted a Hiawatha Tribe meeting for the county ("Red Men Have Big Time at Glassboro" 1912). However, I again think that even ties in with favoring white men, as the same event also hosted the Improved Order of Red Men. Despite its name, this organization was predominantly white; their mission, on the other hand, was apparently “to perpetuate the beautiful legends and traditions of a vanishing race and to keep alive its customs, ceremonies and philosophies” (“Improved Order of Red Men”). It is just strange that at times it was appropriate to host women or people of color, and sometimes it wasn’t.
