Beyond Blackface

This collection of thirteen essays, edited by historian W. Fitzhugh Brundage, brings together original work from sixteen scholars in various disciplines, ranging from theater and literature to history and music, to address the complex roles of black performers, entrepreneurs, and consumers in American mass culture during the early twentieth century. Moving beyond the familiar territory of blackface and minstrelsy, these essays present a fresh look at the history of African Americans and mass culture. With subjects ranging from representations of race in sheet music illustrations to African American interest in Haitian culture, Beyond Blackface recovers the history of forgotten or obscure cultural figures and shows how these historical actors played a role in the creation of American mass culture. The essays explore the predicament that blacks faced at a time when white supremacy crested and innovations in consumption, technology, and leisure made mass culture possible. Underscoring the importance and complexity of race in the emergence of mass culture, Beyond Blackface depicts popular culture as a crucial arena in which African Americans struggled to secure a foothold as masters of their own representation and architects of the nation's emerging consumer society. The contributors are:Davarian L. Baldwin, Trinity CollegeW. Fitzhugh Brundage, University of North Carolina at Chapel HillClare Corbould, University of SydneySusan Curtis, Purdue UniversityStephanie Dunson, Williams CollegeLewis A. Erenberg, Loyola University ChicagoStephen Garton, University of SydneyJohn M. Giggie, University of AlabamaGrace Elizabeth Hale, University of VirginiaRobert Jackson, University of TulsaDavid Krasner, Emerson CollegeThomas Riis, University of Colorado at BoulderStephen Robertson, University of SydneyJohn Stauffer, Harvard UniversityGraham White, University of SydneyShane White, University of Sydney