People, Locations, Episodes

Estelle Ricketts, Composer born

*This date in 1871 celebrates the birth of Estelle Ricketts, a Black composer who lived in Darby, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Philadelphia. She lived with her mother, her younger brother, and her father, who operated a boarding stable. She was the only one in her family who could read and write.           Career            Estelle Ricketts’s […]

The Fisk Jubilee Singers are Formed

*The founding of the Fisk Jubilee Singers in 1866 is occurred on this date. These singers were talented emancipated slaves who toured to raise money for Fisk University.

Isaac Hathaway, Sculptor, and Teacher born

*The birth of Isaac Hathaway in 1872 is marked on this date. He was an African- merican Sculptor, Ceramicist, Illustrator, and Teacher.

Ruth G. Sheldon, Playwright born

*Ruth Shelton was born on this date in 1872.  She was a Black writer and playwright.  Ruth Gaines-Shelton was from Glasgow, Missouri, the daughter of AME Church minister the Reverend George W. Gaines and his wife, Elizabeth Gaines. Her mother died when she was young, and she helped her father with church work at Old […]

Sherman Dudley, Stage Entrepreneur born

*The birth of Sherman Dudley is celebrated on this date, c1872.   He was a Black vaudeville performer and theatre entrepreneur.   Sherman Houston Dudley was born in Dallas, Texas, of humble parentage.  A jockey early in his youth, he turned to theater and gained a reputation by singing in a medicine show on a Dallas street corner.  By 1897, he had his […]

Dora Dean, Vaudeville Dancer born

*Dora Dean’s birth is celebrated on this date in 1872. She was a Black dancer and entertainer. She was born Dora Babbige in Cloverport, Kentucky. She worked as a nursemaid in Cincinnati, Ohio, before becoming an entertainer. Dean debuted as a dancer with a Creole traveling show. In vaudeville, she was “The Black Venus.” She was […]

John W. Cooper, Ventriloquist born

*John W. Cooper was born on this date in 1873.  He was a Black ventriloquist and singer.   From Brooklyn, New York, he lost both of his parents very young.  Cooper received his education at Professor Dorsey’s Institute in Brooklyn.  While at Dorsey, he developed into a promising entertainer and took a special interest in ventriloquism, […]

George Walker, Vaudevillian Actor born

*George Walker’s birth is celebrated on this date in 1873.   He was a Black vaudevillian, actor, and producer.    George W. Walker was born in Lawrence, Kansas, and was the son of a policeman and his wife.   He began his career as a child performer, touring in Black minstrel and medicine shows.  In 1893, in San Francisco, Walker, at age 20, met Bert Williams, who […]

William A. Harper, Artist born

William A. Harper was born on this date in 1873. He was an African American artist.

He was born in Canada, studied in Paris, and was considered one of the most gifted Black artists at the turn of the 20th century. At age 8, Harper and his family moved to Illinois and settled on a farm where he developed his love for nature and art. He attended a small college in Jacksonville, Illinois, and later went to Chicago and enrolled at the Chicago Institute School of the Art, where in 1900, he graduated with honors.

Ned Waybrun, Choreographer born

*Ned Wayburn was born on this date in 1874.  He was a Black choreographer. Edward Claudius Weyburn was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to Elbert Delos Weyburn and Harriet Landon Beach. Chauncey Weyburn was his paternal grandfather. Ned Wayburn spent much of his childhood in Chicago, where he was introduced to theater and studied classical piano. At […]

Belle Davis, Vaudeville Singer born

*Belle Davis was born on this date in 1874. She was a Black choreographer, dancer, and singer. Life: Davis was born in Chicago (although some say New Orleans). She was a mulatto and was encouraged to darken her skin to fit the stereotype of a black entertainer. In 1890, she joined the new burlesque “Creole Show” at […]

Anna Gardner Goodwin, Composer born

*The birth of Anna Gardner Goodwin is celebrated on this date in 1874.  She was a Black composer, mainly of religious music and marches. Anna Gardner was born in Augusta, Georgia, and is the daughter of Daniel and Anna Gardner. Dan Gardner was remembered as “the March King of Augusta,” a cornet player who led […]

Bert Williams, Actor, Comedian, and Composer born

This date remembers Bert Williams, born in 1876. Williams was an African American comedian who portrayed the slow-witted, shuffling black man that was then a standard role in vaudeville.

He was born in New Providence, Bahamas. Williams went to California with his family when he was a child. Later he worked in the mining and lumber camps of the West.

Maynard Dixon, Artist born

*Maynard Dixon, a white American artist whose work focused on the American West, was born on this date in 1875. He was born Lafayette Maynard Dixon in Fresno, California, after his maternal grandfather. His family of aristocratic Virginia Confederates had found a new home in California after the American Civil War. His mother, Constance Maynard, a […]

Black History in American Vaudeville, a story

*Black Vaudeville history is celebrated on this date in c 1875.  This was a Black performance community that came out of the movement and style of the American stage.   The vaudeville years began as the Reconstruction Era ended, from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. These Black acts were unique because the performers […]