Oscar Andrew (Andy) Hammerstein III presents the talk “Carefully Taught”

Grandson of the renowned Broadway librettist and lyricist Oscar Hammerstein II, Mr. Hammerstein is internationally recognized as a writer, lecturer and family historian who has devoted much of his adult life to preserving the archives and influences of one of the most celebrated family legacies in musical theater.

Musical Director: Cary Brown

Featuring Rita Neidich and Henry Thrasher

In this talk, Mr. Hammerstein presents selections from his grandfather’s songbook through a political lens. While Hammerstein’s name may be synonymous with traditional Broadway musicals, his work was often overtly political and decidedly progressive: In “South Pacific,” its seminal “You’ve Got To Be Carefully Taught” confronted hatred head-on; “The Sound of Music” famously dramatized the dangers of fascism; “Carmen Jones” brought Bizet’s opera “Carmen” to Broadway with an all-Black cast—in 1943 no less. Horrified by the emergence of the Third Reich on the global stage and later by rampant racial injustice in the United States, Oscar Hammerstein became a human rights champion and voice in the Civil Rights movement, cofounding the Hollywood Anti-Nazi League and lending support to the Southern Negro Youth Congress, American Committee for the Protection of Foreign Born, National Federation for Constitutional Liberties and myriad social justice organizations.

We remember Oscar Hammerstein II as the renowned lyricist and librettist for such Broadway smash hits as Show Boat, Oklahoma!, Carousel, South Pacific, The King and I and The Sound of Music. His songs were warm and humane and his stories touched on themes of tolerance and understanding. But his decency didn’t end there. Oscar also gave his time and money to dozens of politically progressive causes and so was placed under surveillance by J Edgar Hoover’s FBI.

It is a scathing indictment of the craven priorities of the FBI and reveals Oscar to be an activist in both his work and his life who spoke his mind without fear and who actively fought against the patriotic fascism and institutional racism of his reactionary times. It is for his moral courage that Oscar Hammerstein II should also be remembered. Now is the time to remind – with songs and a story.

L-R: Andy Hammerstein, Rita Neidich, Henry Thrasher, Cary Brown