Frankie Manning’s Centennial only comes once and we’re starting a campaign to have Frankie’s birthday and World Lindy Hop Day recognized in the form of a Google Doodle.

The attempt was made once before but we believe that the celebration of 100 is now the right time to really make this happen!

What is a Google Doodle?

“Doodles are the fun, surprising, and sometimes spontaneous changes that are made to the Google logo to celebrate holidays, anniversaries, and the lives of famous artists, pioneers, and scientists.” Read more about Doodles here.

THE PLAN

May 26th, 2014 marks Frankie Manning’s 100th birthday. In celebration and remembrance of the the great Frankie Manning, Ambassador of Swing, his birthday of May 26th, 2014 is being inaugurated as World Lindy Hop Day and a campaign to mark the occasion with a special Google Doodle!

We are rallying swing dancers from around the world to send emails to Google to request that they create a doodle for Frankie Manning and the WLHD to be displayed on May 26th, 2014.

Lindyhoppers all over the world! We need your support! Please help to:

Send a personalized email to Google. Spread this initiative on every social network and by voice, email, forums, etc. Help translate this event in your language.

You may petition any way that way you like but here is an example that you can copy, or personalize before sending.

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SAMPLE LETTER

To: proposals@google.com Subject: Frankie Manning Doodle

Dear Google staff,

May 26th, 2014 marks Frankie Manning’s 100th birthday. We, the thousands of swing dancers from around the world, would like Google to help to inaugurate World Lindy Hop Day in celebration and remembrance of the the great Frankie Manning, Ambassador of Swing, on his hundredth birthday with a special Google Doodle!

On that day thousands of dancers young and old from all around the world will be remembering and honoring Frankie Manning and the truly amazing dance called Lindy Hop. Frankie Manning was one of the most famous and important swing dancers and choreographers in the 1930s and 1940s, so we honor him as a true American hero legend. Among other work and choreography, he was the individual who created the first acrobatic step which has become a symbol of swing dancing everywhere. He choreographed and danced for Hollywood films and toured the world and performed on the most famous stages of the swing era.

But more than that, in the 1980s, when the dance called Lindy Hop had been all-but-dead for 40 years, Frankie came out of retirement and started teaching around the world. He helped create an international revival of swing dancing and culture, and now there are tens of thousands of swing dancers all around the globe. It’s a joyous, exciting dance, a celebration of jazz and life, and Frankie was the most beloved member of our international family. He was an inspiring, kind, generous and joyful man. He was our teacher, our friend and our idol. He was still dancing and teaching all the way up to the age of 94.

He touched so many people, all around the world. We called him the Ambassador of Lindy Hop, and there is a book about him by that title (http://amzn.com/1592135641). There is also an active nonprofit charitable organization in his name, The Frankie Manning Foundation: (http://www.frankiemanningfoundation.org). (The Frankie Manning Foundation is recognized as tax-exempt by the IRS in accordance with Internal Revenue Code Section 501(c)(3)).

Please consider honoring him and the Lindy Hop with a Google doodle on May 26th, it would mean a lot to a lot to thousands of people the world over!

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To get involved in the Google Doodle, please contact us at doodle@frankie100.com.