Some context: Jose Julio Sarria also known as The Grand Mere, Absolute Empress I de San Francisco, and the Widow Norton (December 13, 1922 - August 19, 2013) was an American political activist from San Francisco, California, who in 1961 became the first openly gay candidate for public office in the United States. He is also remembered for performing as a drag queen at the Black Cat Bar and as the founder of the Imperial Court System. Jose Sarria was born to Julio Sarria and Maria Dolores Maldonado.
Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, Sarria became determined to join the military, despite being, at just under five feet tall, too short to meet the Army's height requirement. He seduced a major who was attached to the San Francisco recruiting station on the condition that the major approve Sarria's enlistment. Jose Sarria was approved and entered the Army Reserve, continuing his studies as he waited to be called up to active duty. Shortly before he was scheduled for induction in the regular Army, his beloved second father, Charles Millen, died of a heart attack. Sarria's induction was delayed a month, then he was sworn in and ordered to Sacramento, California, for basic training with the Signal Corps.  Because of his fluency in several languages, Sarria was assigned to Intelligence School. However, following a routine background check for security clearance, he was advised that he would no longer be in the program. Sarria assumed that it was because investigators discovered his homosexuality. "I mean I had no lisp, but I wasn't the most masculine guy in town ... So I think that they figured that I was a little bit gay." Sarria officially remained attached to the Signal Corps but was ordered to Cooks and Bakers School and trained as a cook. After graduating from cooking school, he was assigned to train as a scout, but deliberately failed the training because of the dangerous nature of the assignment. He was then assigned to the motor pool.  Through his work at the motor pool, Sarria met a young officer named Major Mataxis. He became the major's orderly, eventually running an officers' mess in occupied Germany where he cooked for Mataxis and about ten other officers. He was discharged from the Army in 1947, at the rank of Staff Sergeant.  Upon Sarria's return from overseas, Kolish began to worry about their future. The United States had no legal recognition for same-sex relationships and Kolish looked for a way to provide for Sarria after Kolish's death. He proposed marriage to Sarria's mother Maria. Maria was willing, but Jose refused to allow it. Given no other choice, Kolish contacted his only remaining adult relative, a brother who lived in Hollywood, and left instructions for the care of Sarria and his family.  On Christmas Day 1947, Kolish and his son were struck by a drunk driver while driving to spend the holiday with Sarria and his family. Both were killed. The coroner determined that Jonathan died first, meaning that Paul's brother inherited everything. The brother ignored Paul's wishes regarding Sarria. "I would have gotten one of the houses", Sarria claimed, "but he only gave me a little money and one ring. He claimed that was all Paul wanted me to have. He was so evil. He said afterwards, 'If you expect anything else, you're not going to get it.' "
did this affect him in any way?
A: He proposed marriage to Sarria's mother Maria. Maria was willing, but Jose refused to allow it.

Some context: According to author Edward A. Berlin, "One tenacious myth tells us that Joplin was born in Texarkana, Texas, on November 24, 1868. The location is easily dispensed with: Texarkana was not established until 1873." But, based on a letter discovered by musicologist John Tennison in 2015 in the December 19, 1856 edition of the Times-Picayune, it is clear that Texarkana was established as a place-name at least as early as 1856. Consequently, it appears possible that Joplin, born 12 years later, could have been born in Texarkana.
The combination of classical music, the musical atmosphere present around Texarkana (including work songs, gospel hymns, spirituals and dance music) and Joplin's natural ability have been cited as contributing significantly to the invention of a new style that blended African-American musical styles with European forms and melodies, and first became celebrated in the 1890s: ragtime.  When Joplin was learning the piano, serious musical circles condemned ragtime because of its association with the vulgar and inane songs "...cranked out by the tune-smiths of Tin Pan Alley." As a composer Joplin refined ragtime, elevating it above the low and unrefined form played by the "...wandering honky-tonk pianists... playing mere dance music" of popular imagination. This new art form, the classic rag, combined Afro-American folk music's syncopation and 19th-century European romanticism, with its harmonic schemes and its march-like tempos. In the words of one critic, "Ragtime was basically... an Afro-American version of the polka, or its analog, the Sousa-style march." With this as a foundation, Joplin intended his compositions to be played exactly as he wrote them - without improvisation. Joplin wrote his rags as "classical" music in miniature form in order to raise ragtime above its "cheap bordello" origins and produced work that opera historian Elise Kirk described as, "... more tuneful, contrapuntal, infectious, and harmonically colorful than any others of his era."  Some speculate that Joplin's achievements were influenced by his classically trained German music teacher Julius Weiss, who may have brought a polka rhythmic sensibility from the old country to the 11-year old Joplin. As Curtis put it, "The educated German could open up the door to a world of learning and music of which young Joplin was largely unaware."  Joplin's first and most significant hit, the "Maple Leaf Rag", was described as the archetype of the classic rag, and influenced subsequent rag composers for at least 12 years after its initial publication thanks to its rhythmic patterns, melody lines, and harmony, though with the exception of Joseph Lamb, they generally failed to enlarge upon it.
What music did Joplin rejuvenate?
A:
invention of a new style that blended African-American musical styles with European forms and melodies, and first became celebrated in the 1890s: ragtime.