Details
Title [Group portrait of women minstrel performers in Blackface and costumes] [graphic].
Publisher [United States]
Publisher PA. Philadelphia. 1910
Date [ca. 1910]
Physical Description 1 photograph: gelatin silver mounted on board; mount 12 x 36 cm (31 x 14 in.)
Description Group portrait of twenty-two women posed in three rows while wearing Blackface and comical costumes for the racist entertainmentof minstrelsy. The women in the front row are seated and the women in the back two rows stand. The female minstrel entertainers wear black curly haired wigs, black face paint, and different-styled hats, jackets, skirts, and/or dresses. Costumes include ruffled and wrinkled skirts, rumpled jackets, ties and bowties, bowler hats, top hats, and a large, wide-rimmed Edwardian picture hat. Several women hold stenciled or hand-written signs (with malapropisms) identifying their "character," often a government or civil employee. Signs, in various shapes and designs, read: "Sheriff"; "Ise De Librarian"; "Ise de [Post]master"; "Colletor [sic] Ob De Mon[ey]"; "Justice Ob De Peace"; "Street Commissioner and Alderman"; and "Ise De State Legislture." A backdrop is visible in the background and fabric runners are tied in a central bow above the women's heads. A piano is partially visible in the left of the image. Blackface minstrelsy is a popular entertainment form, originating in the United States in the mid-19th century and remaining in American life through the 20th century. The form is based around stereotypical and racist portrayals of African Americans, including mocking dialect, parodic lyrics, and the application of black face paint; all designed to portray African Americans as othered subjects of humor and disrespect. Blackface was a dominant form for theatrical and musical performances for decades, both on stage and in private homes. By the 1870s nearly a dozen all-female minstrel troupes had been organized. Many of the troupes eventually evolved into burlesque reviews.
Notes Title supplied by cataloger.
Description of Blackface minstrelsy from Dorothy Berry, Descriptive Equity and Clarity around Blackface Minstrelsy in H(arvard) T(heater) C(ollection) Collections, 2021.
RVCDC
Description revised 2022.
Access points revised 2022.
Subject African Americans -- Performances & portrayals.
Blackface entertainers -- United States.
Minstrel shows -- United States.
Racism in popular culture.
Signs (Notices) -- United States.
Women entertainers. -- United States.
Genre Gelatin silver prints -- 1900-1910.
Group portraits -- 1900-1910.
Portrait photographs -- 1900-1910.
Location Library Company of Philadelphia| Print Department| *group portrait photographs - women - minstrel [P.2017.11]
Accession number P.2017.11