"The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll" is a

topical song A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetition ...

written by the

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

musician

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

. Recorded on October 23, 1963, the song was released on Dylan's 1964 album '' The Times They Are a-Changin''' and gives a generally factual account of the killing of a 51-year-old African-American barmaid, Hattie Carroll (March 3, 1911 – February 9, 1963), by then 24-year-old William Devereux "Billy" Zantzinger (February 7, 1939 – January 3, 2009), a young man from a wealthy white tobacco farming family in

Charles County, Maryland Charles County is a county in Southern Maryland. As of the 2020 census, the population was 166,617. The county seat is La Plata. The county was named for Charles Calvert (1637–1715), third Baron Baltimore. Charles County is part of the W ...

, and of his subsequent sentence to six months in a county jail, after being convicted of assault. The melody is largely taken from a folk song called "Mary Hamilton". The lyrics are a commentary on 1960s racism. When Carroll was killed in 1963, Charles County was still strictly segregated by race in public facilities such as restaurants, churches, theaters, doctor's offices, buses and the county fair. The schools of Charles County were not integrated until 1967.

Killing

The main incident described in the song took place in the early hours of February 9, 1963, at the

white tie White tie, also called full evening dress or a dress suit, is the most formal in traditional evening western dress codes. For men, it consists of a black tail coat (alternatively referred to as a dress coat, usually by tailors) worn over a wh ...

Spinsters' Ball at the Emerson Hotel in

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was ...

. Using a toy cane, Zantzinger drunkenly assaulted at least three of the Emerson Hotel workers: a

bellboy A bellhop (North America), or hotel porter (international), is a hotel employee who helps patrons with their luggage while checking in or out. Bellhops often wear a uniform (see bell-boy hat), like certain other page boys or doormen. This o ...

, a

waitress Waiting staff (British English), waitstaff (North American English), waiters (male) / waitresses (female), or servers (North American English), are those who work at a restaurant, a diner, or a bar and sometimes in private homes, attending ...

, and — at about 1:30 in the morning of the 9th — Carroll, a 51-year-old

barmaid A bartender (also known as a barkeep, barman, barmaid, or a mixologist) is a person who formulates and serves alcoholic or soft drink beverages behind the bar, usually in a licensed establishment as well as in restaurants and nightclubs, but ...

. Carroll "had borne 10 children" (at least according to the song) and was president of a black social club. According to a 1991 story in ''The Washington Post'', Carroll was the mother of nine children. Already drunk before he got to the Emerson Hotel that night, the 6'2" Zantzinger had assaulted employees at Eager House, a prestigious Baltimore restaurant, with the same cane. The cane was a 25-cent toy. At the Spinsters' Ball, he called a 30-year-old waitress a "

nigger In the English language, the word ''nigger'' is an ethnic slur used against black people, especially African Americans. Starting in the late 1990s, references to ''nigger'' have been progressively replaced by the euphemism , notably in cases ...

" and hit her with the cane; she fled the room in tears. Moments later, after ordering a bourbon that Carroll did not bring immediately, Zantzinger cursed her, called her a "nigger", then "you black son of a bitch", and struck her on the shoulder and across the head with the cane. In the words of the court notes: "He asked for a drink and called her 'a black bitch', and 'black s.o.b'. She replied, 'Just a moment' and started to prepare his drink. After a delay of perhaps a minute, he complained about her being slow and struck her a hard blow on her shoulder about half-way between the point of her shoulder and her neck." She handed him his drink.''The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll'', presented by Howard Sounes, BBC Radio 4, May 2010. After striking Carroll, he attacked his own wife, knocking her to the ground and hitting her with his shoe. Within five minutes from the time of the blow, Carroll leaned heavily against the barmaid next to her and complained of feeling ill. Carroll told co-workers, "I feel deathly ill, that man has upset me so." The barmaid and another employee helped Carroll to the kitchen. Her arm became numb, her speech thick. She collapsed and was hospitalized. Carroll died eight hours after the assault. Her autopsy showed hardened arteries, an enlarged heart and

high blood pressure Hypertension (HTN or HT), also known as high blood pressure (HBP), is a long-term medical condition in which the blood pressure in the arteries is persistently elevated. High blood pressure usually does not cause symptoms. Long-term high bl ...

. A spinal tap confirmed

brain hemorrhage Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), also known as cerebral bleed, intraparenchymal bleed, and hemorrhagic stroke, or haemorrhagic stroke, is a sudden bleeding into the tissues of the brain, into its ventricles, or into both. It is one kind of bleed ...

as the cause of death. She died in Mercy Hospital at 9 a.m. on February 9, 1963. Zantzinger was initially charged with

murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person without justification or excuse, especially the ...

. His defense was that he had been extremely drunk, and he claimed to have no memory of the attack. His charge was reduced to

manslaughter Manslaughter is a common law legal term for homicide considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is sometimes said to have first been made by the ancient Athenian lawmaker Draco in the 7th ce ...

and assault, based on the likelihood that it was her

stress Stress may refer to: Science and medicine * Stress (biology), an organism's response to a stressor such as an environmental condition * Stress (linguistics), relative emphasis or prominence given to a syllable in a word, or to a word in a phrase ...

reaction to his verbal and physical abuse that led to the intracranial bleeding, rather than blunt-force trauma from the blow that left no lasting mark. On August 28, Zantzinger was convicted of both charges and sentenced to six months' imprisonment. ''Time'' magazine covered the sentencing: After the sentence was announced, the ''

New York Herald Tribune The ''New York Herald Tribune'' was a newspaper published between 1924 and 1966. It was created in 1924 when Ogden Mills Reid of the ''New-York Tribune'' acquired the '' New York Herald''. It was regarded as a "writer's newspaper" and competed ...

'' conjectured he was given a sentence that short to keep him out of the largely black state prison, reasoning his notoriety would make him a target for abuse there. Zantzinger served his time in the comparative safety of the Washington County

county jail A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, correct ...

, some from the scene of the crime. In September, the ''Herald Tribune'' quoted Zantzinger on his sentence: "I'll just miss a lot of snow." His then-wife, Jane, was quoted saying, "Nobody treats his niggers as well as Billy does around here."

Song

Zantzinger was convicted of manslaughter on August 28, 1963, and was not tried by a jury of peers but by a panel of three judges. The sentence was handed down on the same day that Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his "

I Have a Dream "I Have a Dream" is a public speech that was delivered by American civil rights activist and Baptist minister, Martin Luther King Jr., during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom on August 28, 1963. In the speech, King called ...

" speech at the

March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, also known as simply the March on Washington or The Great March on Washington, was held in Washington, D.C., on August 28, 1963. The purpose of the march was to advocate for the civil and economic rig ...

, aged 22 at that time, was one of the celebrities at the march and on the journey home to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

he read about the conviction of Zantzinger and decided to write a

protest song A protest song is a song that is associated with a movement for social change and hence part of the broader category of ''topical'' songs (or songs connected to current events). It may be folk, classical, or commercial in genre. Among social mov ...

about the case. According to a 1991 ''Washington Post'' report, Dylan wrote the song in Manhattan, sitting in an all-night cafe. A recent radio documentary on the song said rather that he wrote it both in New York and at the home of his then-lover,

Joan Baez Joan Chandos Baez (; born January 9, 1941) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and activist. Her contemporary folk music often includes songs of protest and social justice. Baez has performed publicly for over 60 years, releasing more ...

, in Carmel. According to Nancy Carlin, a friend of Baez who visited: "He would stand in this cubbyhole, beautiful view across the hills, and peck type on an old typewriter... there was an old piano up at Joan's... and peck piano playing... up until noon he would drink black coffee then switch over to red wine, quit about five or six." He recorded it on October 23, 1963, when the trial was still relatively fresh news, and incorporated it into his live repertoire immediately, before releasing the studio version on January 13, 1964. The song juxtaposes Zantzinger's wealth and connections with the brevity of that sentence. Track 5. Despite the song's topical nature, Dylan has continued to perform it in concert as of May 2009. His live-audience renditions of it appear on the albums '' The Bootleg Series Vol. 5: Bob Dylan Live 1975, The Rolling Thunder Revue'' (2002; recorded November 21, 1975), '' The Bootleg Series Vol. 6: Bob Dylan Live 1964, Concert at Philharmonic Hall'' (2004; recorded October 31, 1964), and ''Live 1962-1966: Rare Performances From The Copyright Collections'' (2018; recorded October 26, 1963). In 2019, five live performances of the song from the 1975

Rolling Thunder Revue The Rolling Thunder Revue was a 1975–1976 concert tour by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan with numerous musicians and collaborators. The purpose of the tour was to allow Dylan, who had now become a major recording artist and concert perfor ...

tour were released on the box set '' The Rolling Thunder Revue: The 1975 Live Recordings''. In '' Chronicles: Volume One'', Dylan includes "The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll" in a list of his early songs which he feels were influenced by his introduction to the work of

Bertolt Brecht Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known professionally as Bertolt Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a p ...

and

Kurt Weill Kurt Julian Weill (March 2, 1900April 3, 1950) was a German-born American composer active from the 1920s in his native country, and in his later years in the United States. He was a leading composer for the stage who was best known for his fru ...

. He describes writing out the words of "

Pirate Jenny "Pirate Jenny" (German: "") is a well-known song from ''The Threepenny Opera'' by Kurt Weill, with lyrics by Bertolt Brecht. The English lyrics are by Marc Blitzstein. It is probably the second most famous song in the opera, after "Mack the Knife". ...

" (or "The Black Freighter") in order to understand how the Brecht–Weill song achieved its effect. Dylan writes: " Woody had never written a song like that. It wasn't a protest or a topical song and there was no love for people in it. I took the song apart and unzipped it—it was the

free verse Free verse is an open form of poetry, which in its modern form arose through the French '' vers libre'' form. It does not use consistent meter patterns, rhyme, or any musical pattern. It thus tends to follow the rhythm of natural speech. Defi ...

association, the structure and disregard for the known certainty of melodic pattern to make it seriously matter, give it its cutting edge. It also had the ideal chorus for the lyrics." Literary critic

Christopher Ricks Sir Christopher Bruce Ricks (born 18 September 1933) is a British literary critic and scholar. He is the William M. and Sara B. Warren Professor of the Humanities at Boston University (US), co-director of the Editorial Institute at Boston Uni ...

considers the song to be "one of Dylan's greatest" and the recording on '' The Times They Are A-Changin''' to be "perfect". He devotes an entire chapter to it, analyzing both the meaning as well as the prosody in his book on Dylan's songs as poetry. "But here is a song that could not be written better." Dylan's song ("The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll") contains at least two inaccuracies. Zantzinger was not booked for first degree murder, but for second degree murder. Dylan also misspells and mispronounces Zantzinger's surname as "Zanzinger".

Impact on Zantzinger

After serving his sentence for manslaughter, Zantzinger returned to running the farm in Charles County and began selling real estate. He moved to more urban

Waldorf, Maryland Waldorf is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Charles County, Maryland, United States. Located south-southeast of Washington, D.C., Waldorf is part of the Southern Maryland region. It is an urban area, with a popul ...

, still within Charles County. Eventually he moved to a home in

Port Tobacco Port Tobacco, officially Port Tobacco Village, is a town in Charles County, in southern Maryland, United States. The population was 13 at the 2010 census, making Port Tobacco the smallest incorporated town in Maryland. Overview This was historical ...

, where he lived throughout the 1990s until moving to a new home in St. Mary's County around 2001 in

Chaptico, Maryland Chaptico is an unincorporated community in St. Mary's County, Maryland, United States. It lies on Chaptico Run, which forms a bay as it enters the Wicomico River. History ''Chaptico'' may be Algonquian for "big-broad-river-it-is" and related t ...

, called Bachelor's Hope. In addition to federal tax delinquencies, Zantzinger fell more than $18,000 behind on county taxes on properties he owned in two Charles County communities called Patuxent Woods and Indian Head, shanties he leased to poor blacks."'Landlord' Indicted in Rent Theft", ''Washington Post,'' September 7, 1991. In 1986, the same year the IRS ruled against him, Charles County confiscated those properties. Nonetheless, Zantzinger continued to collect rents, raise rents, and even successfully prosecute his putative tenants for back rent. In June 1991, Zantzinger was initially charged with a single count of "deceptive trade practices." After some delay, Zantzinger pleaded guilty to 50 misdemeanor counts of unfair and deceptive trade practices. He was sentenced to 19 months in prison and a $50,000 fine."Landlord Sentenced", ''Washington Post,'' January 4, 1992. Some of his prison sentence was served in a

work release In prison systems, work release programs allow a prisoner who is sufficiently trusted or can be sufficiently monitored to go outside the prison and work at a place of employment, returning to prison when their shift is complete. Some work release ...

program. In 2001, Zantzinger discussed the song with Howard Sounes for ''Down the Highway, the Life of Bob Dylan''. He dismissed the song as a "total lie" and claimed "It's actually had no effect upon my life", but expressed scorn for Dylan, saying, "He's a no-account son of a bitch; he's just like a scum of a scum bag of the earth. I should have sued him and put him in jail." William "Billy" Zantzinger died in

Charlotte Hall, Maryland Charlotte Hall is a census-designated place (CDP) in Charles and St. Mary's counties, Maryland, United States. The population was 1,420 at the 2010 census. The Maryland Veterans Home for disabled veterans, including a U.S. Veterans Affairs clinic ...

, on January 3, 2009, at the age of 69.

References

Sources

* Frazier, Ian, "Legacy of a Lonely Death". '' Mother Jones'', November/December 2004, 42–47
partial version on line
Reprinted by ''The Guardian'' February 25, 2005, as

(full version with the full song lyrics). * "Farmer Convicted in Barmaid's Death", ''New York Times'' June 28, 1963. p. 11 * "Farmer Sentenced in Barmaid's Death", ''New York Times'' August 29, 1963. p. 15 *

External links

Maryland Court Records"Legacy of a Lonesome Death"
''Mother Jones'' (November/December 2004)
"Bob Dylan – The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll"
SongMeanings.net; accessed August 24, 2015.

web.cecs.pdx.edu (1964 critique by

Phil Ochs Philip David Ochs (; December 19, 1940 – April 9, 1976) was an American songwriter and protest singer (or, as he preferred, a topical singer). Ochs was known for his sharp wit, sardonic humor, political activism, often alliterative lyrics, and ...

in ''

Broadside Magazine ''Broadside'' magazine was a small mimeographed publication founded in 1962 by Agnes "Sis" Cunningham and her husband, Gordon Friesen. Hugely influential in the folk-revival, it was often controversial. Issues of what is folk music, what is folk ...