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Title: Dan Bryant
Description: Full-length portrait of the popular New York minstrel performer and manager in Blackface and costumed as a disheveled 18th-century gentleman. Bryant stands posed with his right hand on his hip and his left hand holding a sword to the ground while looking up to the left. Known for his versatility as a comedian, actor, dancer, and musician, Bryant was most famous for his rendition of the dance, "Essence of Old Virginny," and for popularizing the songs "Dixie," "Turkey in the Straw," and "Shoo Fly." He performed in Philadelphia in September 1856. "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.", Title from manuscript note on mount., Date based on presented age of the sitter., Description of Blackface minstrelsy from Dorothy Berry, Descriptive Equity and Clarity around Blackface Minstrelsy in H(arvard) T(heater) C(ollection) Collections, 2021., Originally part of a McAllister scrapbook of portraits. McAllister Collection, gift, 1886., RVCDC, Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Date: [ca. 1865]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department portrait cdvs - sitter - Bryant [(1)5750.F.60f]

Title: Mr. T.D. Rice As the original Jim Crow
Description: Full-length, caricatured portrait depicting T.D. Rice, known as the "father of American minstrelsy." Depicts Rice as his African American racist shyster character of "Jim Crow." He is portrayed with exaggerated features and mannerisms. He stands, attired in torn and worn clothing, in an exaggerated pose with his right hand on his hip as his left hand tips his hat. His attire includes a jacket, vest, collared shirt, pantaloons, stockings, and slip one shoes. He stands in a fenced in pasture with two cabins in the distant background. 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. Jim Crow (mid to late 19th century) was a Minstrel character representing enslaved/rural Black manhood as foolish, lazy, interested in shirking labor., Title from item., After the caricature illustration originally created around the 1820s, often reproduced on sheet music covers of the 19th century. See Hugh Honour's The Image of the Black in western art (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1989), part 2, vol. IV, p. 62-63., Description of Blackface minstrelsy and minstrel characters from Dorothy Berry, Descriptive Equity and Clarity around Blackface Minstrelsy in H(arvard) T(heater) C(ollection) Collections, 2021., Purchase 1992., RVCDC, Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Date: [ca. 1885]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department portrait prints - Rice [P.9369]

Title: [Group portrait of women minstrel performers in Blackface and costumes]
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., 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.
Date: [ca. 1910]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department *group portrait photographs - women - minstrel [P.2017.11]

Title: Harm oneons Carolina melodies arranged for the piano forte
Description: Sheet music cover showing the minstrel group, the Harmoneons, in Blackface as a musical group playing in a tropical setting. The four men and one man dressed as a woman are seated and play instruments, including a triangle, fiddle, banjo, tambourine, and clappers. The men are attired in button-down, yellow striped shirts and white pants, and the woman in a short-sleeved, red and white dress. Palm trees, a mountain side, and ocean are visible in the background. The entertainers' and their characters' names are printed below the image: Js. Power as Toney; M. S. Pike as Fanny; L. V. N. Crosby as Pomp; F. Lynch as Gumbo; and Jno. Power as Sambo. The Harmoneons, founded by Crosby and originally managed by J. Simmons Davis, were one of the earliest minstrel troupes in the United States and were active into the 1860s., 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., Title from item., Date from copyright statement: Entered according to act of Congress in the year 1845 by C. Bradlee & Co. in the clerk's office of the District Cou[rt]., Title list of scores printed on recto., Facsimile signature of minstrel L. V. N. Crosby printed on recto. LCP copy contains partial signature., Gift of Michael Zinman, 2009., Description of Blackface minstrelsy from Dorothy Berry, Descriptive Equity and Clarity around Blackface Minstrelsy in H(arvard) T(heater) C(ollection) Collections, 2021., Lower corners missing., RVCDC, Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of the Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Creator: Sharp, William, 1803-1875, artist
Date: 1845
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department GC - Entertainment - H [P.2009.25]

Title: Minstrel show. Wentworth Town Hall. March 26th - 8:15. Adults .25. Children .15. Orchestra - dancing
Description: Mixed media poster containing a clipped, bust-length, racist caricature depicting "N.D. Johnson" above manuscript text promoting a minstrel show, probably in Wentworth, N.H. Clipped image shows a man in black face, with an exaggerated broad smile, and looking to the left with his eyes. He wears a top hat, red bow, a white shirt with wide lapels and a "shiny" star-shaped pin at the chest, and a tuxedo jacket., 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., Title from item., Date inferred from content., Contains pasted, clipped photomechanical print captioned: N.D. Johnson., C. Belyea is possibly Charles Moses Belyea (1904-1980) of Grafton, New Hampshire., RVCDC, Description of Blackface minstrelsy from Dorothy Berry, Descriptive Equity and Clarity around Blackface Minstrelsy in H(arvard) T(heater) C(ollection) Collections, 2021.
Creator: Belyea, C.
Date: [ca. 1925]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department *GC - Advertisements - Minstrel [P.2022.57.2]

Title: Jim Crow, the American mountebank performing at the Grand Theatre
Description: Full-length, caricatured portrait depicting Thomas D. Rice, known as the "father of American minstrelsy." Depicts Rice in Blackface as his African American racist shyster character of "Jim Crow" during his first performance in London. He is portrayed with exaggerated features and mannerisms. He dances and sings a version of the minstrel standard, "Jim Crow," in front of an audience of white British men, including the King. The song, which pokes fun at Americans, refers to William Blackstone and William Pitt Chatham, two influential English jurists, who wrote about early American law and politics. 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. Jim Crow (mid to late 19th century) was a Minstrel character representing enslaved/rural Black manhood as foolish, lazy, interested in shirking labor., Title from item., Date inferred from content., Text printed on the recto: I come from America a long time ago, Since which I larn to wheel about & jump Jim Crow, Him used to study Blackstone ebry morn & arter noon, Me charm de House where Chatham died & dance inde saloon. Wheel about & turn about & do jis so. Ebry time I wheel about I jumpt Jim Crow., Description of Blackface minstrelsy and minstrel characters from Dorothy Berry, Descriptive Equity and Clarity around Blackface Minstrelsy in H(arvard) T(heater) C(ollection) Collections, 2021., Accessioned 1982., RVCDC, Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of the Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Date: [1836]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Political Cartoons - 1836 Jim [P.8738]

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