The Dark Stage: New York and the Business of Blackface
Women's History Salon
- Tuesday, October 6, 6 – 7 pm
- $20 ($12 for members; $10 for Women’s History Council Members)
Event Details:
Join The New York Historical for an exclusive evening with Dr. Rhae Lynn Barnes, author of Darkology: Blackface and the American Way of Entertainment in conversation with Dr. Keren Ben-Horin, Associate Curator of Public History, for a searing look into the hidden history of American entertainment.
Dr. Barnes’ new national bestseller examines New York City’s critical, often-overlooked, role as the global epicenter of blackface minstrelsy. Unknown to many, Thomas D. Rice, the "father of American minstrelsy" premiered his "Jim Crow" character in Manhattan, on the Bowery Stage located in the Lower East Side. The city’s vibrant streets and businesses mass-produced and exported a cultural phenomenon that would go on to shape the entertainment industry and the nation. From the working-class concert saloons of the Five Points and the sheet music empires of Tin Pan Alley, to its institutionalization within powerful national fraternal organizations like the Elks Club, this conversation will unmask how the Empire City profited from this disturbing enterprise, and how grassroots organizations led by Black mothers fought to dismantle it
Signed books will be available for purchase before and following the program in the Skylight Gallery.
Location:
Skylight Gallery at The New York Historical at The New York Historical, 170 Central Park West, New York, NY 10024
Ticket Instructions:
Online: Click the button above.
By phone: Contact our call center at (212) 485-9268 from 9 am – 5 pm daily.
Chair's Council: Chair's Council members may request complimentary tickets. To learn more, email chairscouncil@nyhistory.org.
