Research & Reference Tool: Minstrel Show: A popular stage entertainment featuring comic dialogue, song, and dance in highly conventionalized patterns, performed by a troupe of actors, traditionally comprising two end men and a chorus in blackface and an interlocutor: developed in the U.S. in the early and mid-19th century.

1. Annotated Bibliographic Pathfinder:
Minstrel Show
Submitted By
Crystal D. Guliford
LS 5263 Reference
Professor E. Curry
School of Library & Information Sciences
Texas Woman's University
December 13th
, 2006

2. Pathfinder – Minstrel Shows & Blackface 2
--Pathfinder--
Minstrel Show: A popular stage entertainment featuring comic dialogue, song, and dance
in highly conventionalized patterns, performed by a troupe of actors, traditionally
comprising two end men and a chorus in blackface and an interlocutor: developed in the
U.S. in the early and mid-19th century.
Background
Blackface minstrelsy was the first distinctly American theatrical form. The minstrel
show, or minstrelsy, was an American entertainment consisting of comic skits, variety acts,
dancing, and music, performed by white people in blackface or, especially after the American
Civil War, African Americans in blackface. In the 1830s and 1840s, it was at the core of the rise
of an American music industry, and for several decades it provided the lens through which white
America saw black America. Minstrel shows portrayed and lampooned blacks in stereotypical
and often disparaging ways: as ignorant, lazy, buffoonish, superstitious, joyous, and musical. The
minstrel show began with brief burlesques and comic entr'actes in the early 1830s and emerged
as a full-fledged form in the next decade. By the turn of the century, the minstrel show enjoyed
but a shadow of its former popularity, having been replaced for the most part by vaudeville. It
survived as professional entertainment until about 1910; amateur performances continued until
the 1950s in high schools, fraternities, and local theaters. As African Americans began to score
legal and social victories against racism and to successfully assert political power, minstrelsy lost
popularity. On the one hand, it had strong racist aspects; on the other, it resulted in the first broad
awareness by white Americans of aspects of black folk culture.

3. Pathfinder – Minstrel Shows & Blackface 3
The purpose of this pathfinder is to introduce some of the resources available
MINSTREL SHOWS. The various types of library materials useful in research are described
along with some examples of each type. This pathfinder is not a comprehensive listing of sources
but is intended to be a starting point from which students can begin their research according to
their specific needs. This pathfinder will provide assistance in locating primary materials on the
origins, history and controversy surrounding African American “Minstrel Shows”, “Black Face”
humor and pop culture connections. The scope of this tool spans the total history of Minstrel
Shows from the 1600’s up until the present controversy over how popular Hip-Hop & Rap music
is said to resemble the stereotypes perpetuated in Minstrel Shows.
Quick Reference/General Overview:
PN Lhamon, W. T. Raising Cain: blackface performance from Jim Crow to Hip Hop.
1969. M5 Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1998
L53 1998
ML Lott, Eric. Love and theft: blackface minstrelsy and the American working class.
1711. L67 New York: Oxford University Press, 1993
1993
Subject Headings:
Library of Congress Subject Headings for the topic include:
Minstrel shows Negro Minstrel Shows
Rap (Music)--History and criticism. Black Faced Minstrel Shows
Blackface Entertainers Minstrel Music
Black Entertainment Television History Minstrel shows United States History.
Call Numbers:
Subjects: LC Call #’s: Dewey Call #’s:
Minstrel Show PN3195 780/.92
Rap (Music)--History and
criticism.
ML3531
ML3556
782.421649 22

4. Pathfinder – Minstrel Shows & Blackface 4
Black Entertainment
Television History
PN1922
HE8700
384.55
Minstrel Music PN1969 791
Blackface entertainers PN2071 792/.028
Example:
Library of Congress classification for the topic would be ML1711 .T64 for Robert Toll’s
“Blacking up: the minstrel show in nineteenth century America”.
Bibliographies:
Ref Gray, John. Blacks in film and television: A Pan-African bibliography of films,
Z filmmakers, and performers. New York: Greenwood Press, 1990
5784
M9 G72 This work consists of over 6,000 bibliographic citations to books, dissertations,
unpublished papers, articles, films, videotapes, and audiotapes. General materials
are listed in chapter 1. Chapters 2-4 are arranged by place: blacks in film in
Africa; Europe, the Caribbean, and Latin America; and the U.S. Chapter 5 lists
materials on blacks in American TV and video. Chapter 6 treats individual
performers, arranged by name and preceded by a bibliography on the subject of
the black performer in general.
PN Hill. George. Black women in television: An illustrated history and
1992.8 bibliography. New York: Garland Pub., 1990
A34 H55
This is a bibliography of books, articles, and dissertations and theses. The sections
for books and articles are both subdivided by topic. Some of the topics in the
articles section are personalities (further subdivided into soap operas, comedy and
drama, etc.), news/sports, and off-camera personnel (producers, sales, community
affairs, etc.).
NX Smith, Jessie. Images of blacks in American culture: A reference guide to
652. information sources. New York: Greenwood Press, 1998
A37I43
The ten essays in this work explore both positive and negative "images of blacks
in historical and contemporary American culture. Chapters cover topics in art,
musical stage, instrumental music and song, literary criticism, children's books,

5. Pathfinder – Minstrel Shows & Blackface 5
and film and television. There are general chapters on images of the black female
and on male images in popular culture. Toys, games, and dolls as cultural
products are discussed.
Ref Work, Monroe. A bibliography of the Negro in Africa and America
Z Mansfield Center, CT: Martino Pub., 1928. (Reprinted in 1965)
5118.
N4 W6 Chapter 25 of Work’s bibliography highlights the “Negro” and the stage. The first
section deals with “Negro Minstrelsy” and representations of African Americans
by White persons. The second section, the “Negro on the Stage”, discusses the
African American stage performance, musical comedies and dramas having
African American characters or dealing with African American life.
Dictionaries:
Ref Adell, Sandra. African American culture. Detroit, MI: Gale Group, 1996.
E185
A2525 Signed biographical profiles of illustrious African Americans in the arts or whose
lives have had an impact on 20th century culture, ranging from Mumia Abu-Jamal
to Lester Young. Entries range from one paragraph to one page in length; longer
entries include select bibliographies for more information and, usually, a photo.
Ref Hitchcock, H. Wiley. Grove Dictionary of American Music. New York, N.Y.
ML Grove’s Dictionaries of Music, 1986.
101
U6 This dictionary of United States music covers art music, jazz, popular music,
N48 including musical theater and popular song, rock, camp-meeting and gospel
hymnody, country and dance music, the music of many of the religious
denominations active in the United States, and the music of American Indian
tribes. The term American Music in the title encompasses 'all the music made in
the United States by Americans.
Ref Kennedy, Michael. The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music.
ML. 4th ed. NY: Oxford University Press, 1996.
100

6. Pathfinder – Minstrel Shows & Blackface 6
.K35 There are some 10,000 entries in the new ODM. The book's easy-to-use
alphabetically arranged entries include all types of topics related to music:
composers, performing artists, orchestras, titles and descriptions of individual
works, musical forms and terms, institutions, and writers of music.
Ref The Harvard Biographical Dictionary of Music. Cambridge, MA: Belknap
ML Press of Harvard University, 1996.
105
H38 This biographical dictionary contains entries for about 5,500 people, primarily
from Western concert/art music. Each entry begins with the subject's date and
place of birth and death and a basic categorization. For example, Duke Ellington
is identified as a 'jazz bandleader, pianist and composer.' A paragraph or more
follows, with a sketch of education and accomplishments. The longer entries may
include a works list and/or bibliography.
Encyclopedias:
General Reference Encyclopedias
Ref Encyclopedia Britannica [print & electronic version]. Chicago: Encyclopedia
A Britannica, c2006
E5.
E363 An excerpt from the entry for “Minstrel Shows” states: “indigenous American
theatrical form comprising a group of black faced white minstrels whose material
caricatured the singing and dancing of Negro slaves. It was popular in England as
well as the United States, reaching its zenith between 1850 and 1870. Additional
information and related topics can be found through this source.
PN Preminger, Alex. The New Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics.
1021 Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1993
.N39
An excerpt from this source for the term “minstrel” states: As popular
entertainers, minstrels moved in a world of traveling musicians, actors, mimes,
acrobats, clowns, beggars, and others of more dubious character. Additional
information and related topics can be found through this source.

7. Pathfinder – Minstrel Shows & Blackface 7
Subject Encyclopedias:
DT Appiah, Kwame. Africana: the encyclopedia of the African
14 and African American experience. New York: Basic Civitas Books, c2005.
.A37
435 Substantially larger than the first edition (1999) and with expanded references and
indexing, this five-volume set covers a vast geographic area and encompasses the
complex histories of Africans in Africa and the Americas. (Booklist)
E Finkelman, Paul. Encyclopedia of African American history, 1619-1895: from the
185 colonial periods to the age of Frederick Douglass New York: Oxford University
.E545 Press, 2006.
The approximately 700 main and subentries in African American History include
biographies both of prominent African Americans and of other influential figures,
such as John Brown and Lydia Maria Child, along with discussions of wider
topics, such as "Stereotypes of African Americans."
PN Bogle, Donald. Blacks in American films and television: an encyclopedia.
1995. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1989, c1988
9.N4
B58 The encyclopedia is written from a very specific point of view. The author
refrains from condemning minstrel stars like Stepin Fetchit, but is highly critical
of “male interracial bonding” as seen in the movie The Defiant Ones. As a
reference book, it is useful as a traditional finding aid for names, credits, and plot
summaries.
Ref Southern, Eileen. African-American traditions in song, sermon, tale, and dance,
Z 1600s-1920: an annotated bibliography of literature, collections, and artworks.
5956 Greenwood encyclopedia of Black music. New York: Greenwood Press, 1990
.A47
S68 As any well-organized, carefully annotated bibliography does, this work by
Southern and Wright brings order out of chaos. The annotations not only describe
the item listed but provide a note to indicate whether it includes the text of a
particular song, sermon, or game. As a supplement to the enumeration of textual

8. Pathfinder – Minstrel Shows & Blackface 8
sources, the compilers have supplied an extensive and unique annotated listing of
iconographic materials--drawings, paintings, sketches, and photographs that
illustrate the various facets of black folk culture.
Indexes and Abstracts:
Print Indexes
Ref The Kaiser index to Black resources. Schomburg Center for
Z Research in Black Culture of the New York Public Library. Brooklyn, N.Y.
1361. Carlson Pub., 1992
N39
K34 Includes more than 170,000 citations drawn from significant and influential
journals, magazines, newspapers, newsletters, pamphlets and reports relevant to
the Black experience from 1948-1986.
Ref Benson, Sonia. African American reference library: cumulative index.
Z Detroit: U X L, c1997
1361
.N39 Includes indexes for: African American almanac, African American Biography,
A35 African American Breakthroughs: 500 Years of Black Firsts, African American
Chronology, African American Voices.
Ref Stevenson, Rosemary M. Index to Afro-American reference resources.
Z Greenwood Press. 1988
1361.
N39
S77 Subject index to black studies reference works--bibliographies, directories,
indexes, and catalogs. Non-reference works are included if they contain valuable
or elusive information. Emphasis is on the US, but a considerable portion of the
entries treat Canada, the Caribbean, and South America.
Ref Index to the Schomburg Clipping File. Schomburg Center for Research in Black
Z Culture. Cambridge, England; Alexandria, VA; Chadwick-Healey, c 1986
1361.
N39
S373 The Schomburg Clipping File is a massive collection of over 14,200 microfiche
from the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture at the New York

9. Pathfinder – Minstrel Shows & Blackface 9
Public Library. The Schomburg Center is a leading research institution for
African-American studies in the United States.
Ref Burkett, Randall. Black biography, 1790-1950: a cumulative index. Alexandria:
Z Chadwick-Healey, 1990
1361
.N39
B52
Print Abstracts
HT Sage race relations abstracts. London, Beverly Hills, Calif. Sage
1501 Publications.1975-
.S23
International in scope, each issue includes bibliographical essays on specialized
topics, and annotated abstracts for journal articles and books dealing with race
relations. Important coverage of African American journals and scholarly topics.
Broad subject index. From the Institute of Race Relations, London; Quarterly,
1975- . Online issues include vol. 24, no. 1, 1999 - present;
CD-ROM Indexes and Abstracts:
ML MUSE, Music Search [electronic resource]. Baltimore, Md., USA: National
113 Information Services Corp., c1989-
CD-ROM edition of RILM abstracts of music literature, issued by International
Repertory of Music Literature, with additional material from complementary
databases.
Ref Black studies on disc G.K. Hall & Co. and the Schomburg Center for Research in
Z Black Culture
1039
.B56 This networked CD-ROM provides bibliographic citations to articles, book
reviews, books, videos, and other materials pertaining to African American and
African Diaspora studies; other racial and ethnic minority groups are also
covered. Includes an electronic version of the Index to Black Periodicals, as well
as the library catalog from the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture.

10. Pathfinder – Minstrel Shows & Blackface 10
DT Appiah, Kwame. Microsoft Encarta Africana: comprehensive encyclopedia of
14 black history and culture. Redmond, Wash.: Microsoft Corporation, c1999
Encarta Africana is a comprehensive and authoritative multimedia encyclopedia
focusing on the history, geography, and culture of people of African descent
worldwide. Encarta, the world's #1 multimedia reference brand, and co-editors
from Harvard University's Afro-American Studies Department have joined
together to create a multimedia encyclopedia that provides the best user
experience through technology-driven innovation.
Online (Dialog) Databases:
A&I Kaiser Index to Black Resources/Black Studies Database. Schomburg Center for
research in Black Culture of the New York Public Library. Brooklyn, New York.
1948-1986.
The Kaiser Index to Black Resources is a bibliographic database created from the
handwritten notes of librarians and other staff of the Schomburg Center from
1948 until 1986. BSD includes more than 170,000 citations drawn from
significant and influential journals, magazines, newspapers, newsletters,
pamphlets and reports relevant to the Black experience from 1948-1986
Sample entries for “minstrel shows”:
Henry T. Sampson's Blacks in Blackface: A Source Book on Early Black Musical
Shows. Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press, 1980, 5622pp. illus
Black folk entertainment and the evolution of American minstrelsy. Negro
History Bulletin; September/October 1978; pp. 885-87
A&I In the first person: an index to letters, diaries, oral histories, and personal
narratives. Alexander Street Press.
Description: The In the first person web site describes itself as an in-depth index
of more than 3,350 collections of personal narratives in English from around the

11. Pathfinder – Minstrel Shows & Blackface 11
world. What makes this resource particularly useful is the depth of indexing,
allowing searches by personal characteristics, time frame, even witnesses to
particular events.
Sample entry for “minstrel shows”:
Document of Sheffe, Chris 18-Jul-1979 in Teaneck Oral Histories.[excerpt]
“They put on a minstrel show at a bazaar--every one in black face. Sam Cutler,
the druggist, was on the corner of West Englewood Ave. Joe Weiss had the taxi
service.”
A&I The Music index. Detroit, Information Coordinators [etc.] 1949-
Description: The editor-librarians at Harmonie Park Press have surveyed data
from more than 775 international music periodicals. Topics concerned with every
aspect of the classical and popular world of music are thoroughly categorized and
organized according to the framework of an internal Subject List which includes
both Subject and Geographic headings. Covering all styles and genres of music,
The Music Index duly cites book reviews, obituaries, new periodicals, and news
and articles about music, musicians, and the music industry.
Sample entry for “minstrel shows”:
Hurley-Glowa, S. The survival of blackface minstrel shows in the Adirondack
foothills. Voices Fall 2004.
A&I Library and Information Science and Technology Abstracts. (LISTA). Sage
Publications.
Description: Library, Information Science & Technology Abstract (LISTA)
indexes more than 600 periodicals, plus books, research reports and proceedings.
Subject coverage includes librarianship, classification, cataloging, bibliometrics,
online information retrieval, information management and more. Coverage in the
database extends back as far as the mid-1960. Surprisingly, a variety of

12. Pathfinder – Minstrel Shows & Blackface 12
information on the topic of minstrel shows and hip hop culture can be found
through this source.
Sample entry for “minstrel shows”:
Sloane, D. E. Minstrelsy and murder: the crisis of southern humor, 1835-1925.
Choice: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries; Jun2006, Vol. 43 Issue 9,
p1828-1828, 1/6p
Shaw, Arnold Black Popular Music in America. Library Journal, 03/15/86, Vol.
111 Issue 5, p70, 1/9p; (AN 7494207)
African American Biographical Database. Alexandria, Va.: Chadwick-Healey,
Inc., c1997.
Description: The African American Biographical Database (AABD) brings
together in one resource the biographies of thousands of African Americans,
many not to be found in any other reference source. These biographical sketches
have been carefully assembled from biographical dictionaries and other sources.
Sample entries for “blackface”:
Brawley, Benjamin. The Negro in Literature and Art in the United States, Revised
Edition. [Griffith] Duffield & Co., New York, 1921, revised edition
Cuney-Hare, Maud. Negro Musicians and Their Music. The Associated
Publishers, Inc., Washington, DC, 1936
Layne, Maude Wanzer. The "Negro's Contribution to Music
Mathews Printing & Lithographing Co., 1942
Ethnic and racial studies. London: Routledge. Vols. 1-27. London, 1978-2004.
Description: Ethnic and Racial Studies is the leading international journal for the
analysis of these issues throughout the world. The journal provides an
interdisciplinary academic forum for the presentation of research and theoretical
analysis, drawing on sociology, social policy, anthropology, political science,
economics, geography, international relations, history, social psychology and
cultural studies.
Sample entries for “minstrel show”:

13. Pathfinder – Minstrel Shows & Blackface 13
Black Comedians on Black Comedy: How African-Americans Taught Us To
Laugh, Library Journal Reviews, November 15, 2006, REVIEWS; Social
Sciences; Pg. 86, 230 words, Rosellen Brewer
With Amusement for All: A History of American Popular Culture Since 1830,
Library Journals Reviews, April 1, 2006, REVIEWS; Social Sciences; Pg.
112, 253 words, Carol J. Binkowski.
History Cooperative database. University of Illinois Press for the History
Cooperative. Chicago, Ill. 2005
The History Cooperative is a pioneering nonprofit humanities resource offering
top-level online history scholarship.
Sample entries for “minstrel show”:
Cook, James W. Dancing across the Color Line. Common-place. The interactive
Journal of Early American Life. vol. 4 no. 1 October 2003.
Toll, Robert C. Blacking Up: The Minstrel show in Nineteenth – Century
America. Reviewed by Bill C. Malone. The Journal of American History, 62:3.
Journals/Periodicals:
PN Black face: the quarterly journal of the Black Filmmaker Foundation. 1989-
.9.N4 New York, NY: The Foundation.
B46
Serves as an academic, professional and community resource dedicated to the
dissemination of information about African Americans in film and related
monographs.
ML Black Music Research Journal. Nashville, Tenn.: Institute for Research in Black
3556. American Music. Fisk University, c1981.
B58
Focuses on matters of philosophy, aesthetics and criticism in researching black
music from the 17th century to the present.
ML The Black Perspective in Music. Cambria Heights, N.Y., Foundation for
3556 Research in the Afro-American Creative Arts.
.B6
This scholarly journal focuses on the history of black music, current events,
bibliography and discography.
ML Early Music History. Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press, 1981

14. Pathfinder – Minstrel Shows & Blackface 14
169.8. Arts & Humanities Citation Index Coverage: Full (19??-19??); Current Contents:
E15 Arts & Humanities; America, History and Life (1985- ); RILM Abstracts of
Music Literature Coverage: Full
Sample entry:
Tuhkanen, Mikko. Of Blackface and Paranoid Knowledge: Richard Wright,
Jacques Lacan, and the Ambivalence of Black Minstrelsy. Diacritics. Vol. 31, No.
2 (summer, 2001), pp. 9-34
Mahar, William. Black English in Early Blackface Minstrelsy: A New
Interpretation of the Sources of Minstrel Show Dialect
J. American Quarterly. Vol. 37, No. 2 (summer, 1985), pp. 260-285
PN Black camera: the newsletter of the Black Film Center/Archives / Indiana
1995 University Department of Afro-America Studies. Bloomington, Ind.: The
.9. Archives, [1985-] (No holdings available)
N4 Serves as an academic, professional and community resource dedicated to the
B455 dissemination of information about African Americans in film and related
monographs
ML Early Music Performer: a quarterly newsletter dedicated to questions of early
5 music performance, then and now. National Early Music Association. Guildford:
.L35 National Early Music Association. Cambridge, England: NEMA, 1991
Biographical Sources:
PN Bogle, Donald. Bright boulevards, bold dreams: the story of Black Hollywood /.
1995.9 .N4 Toms, coons, mulattoes, mammies, and bucks: an interpretive history of Blacks in
B59 2005 American films. New York: One World Ballantine Books, 2005
PN Chude-Sokei, Louis. The Last "Darky”: Bert Williams, black-on-black minstrelsy,
2287. W46 and the African Diaspora. Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press, 2006
C55 2006
ML Cockrell, Dale. Demons of disorder: early blackface minstrels and their world.
1711. Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press, 1997.
C63 1997
NX Gubar, Susan. Race changes: white skin, black face in American culture. New
652.A37 York: Oxford University Press, 1997.
G83 1997
PS Lhamon, W.T. Jump Jim Crow: lost plays, lyrics, and street prose of the first
509 .N4 Atlantic popular culture. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2003

15. Pathfinder – Minstrel Shows & Blackface 15
J86 2003
PN Lhamon, W.T. Raising Cain: blackface performance from Jim Crow to Hip Hop.
1969.M5 Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1998
L53 1998
PN Reynolds, Harry. Minstrel memories: the story of burnt cork minstrelsy in Great
2582.N4 Britain from 1836 to 1927. London: A. Rivers, [1928]
R4 1928
ML Riis, Thomas. More than just minstrel shows: the rise of black musical theatre at
1711 the turn of the century. Brooklyn, N.Y. : Institute for Studies in American Music,
.R54 1992 Conservatory of Music, Brooklyn College of the City University of New York,
1992.
PN Stark, Seymour. Men in blackface: true stories of the minstrel show. Philadelphia,
3195 PA: Xlibris Corp., c2000.
S67 2000
Directories, Handbooks, Almanacs/Annuals
Directories:
REF Black Americans Information Directory.
E
185.5 Addresses for numerous organizations, institutes, and groups relevant to African
B513 American issues.
REF The Black Resource Guide
E
185.5
B565 Address directory for various agencies, organizations, and services relating to
African Americans, including businesses, the media, museums, church
denominations and organizations, and more.
PN Peterson, Bernard. The African American Theatre Directory: 1816-1960.
2270
A35
P48 A comprehensive directory of more than 600 entries, this detailed ready reference

16. Pathfinder – Minstrel Shows & Blackface 16
features professional, semi-professional, and academic stage organizations and
theatres that have been in the forefront in pioneering most of the advances that
African Americans have made in the theatre.
Handbooks:
Krummel, Donald William. Bibliographic Handbook of American Music. Urbana:
University of Illinois Press, 1987.
Jack, Haverly. Negro Minstrels; a complete guide. 1969? English. Book 129 p. 22 cm.
Upper Saddle River, N.J., Literature House;
Almanacs/Annuals:
E Ploski, Harry. The Negro almanac: a reference work on the Afro-American. New
185. York: Wiley, c1983.
N385 It is the intent of this source to provide a wide audience with an 'accurate,
comprehensive, and well-documented study of black culture in the United States
and around the world.' Using tables, graphs, and black-and-white illustrations,
nearly 500 years of history are treated, with an emphasis on the current situation
of blacks in American society.
Audiovisuals:
VC Riggs, Marlon. Ethnic notions. 1 videocassette of 1 (58 min.): sd., col. ; 3/4 in.
3244 viewing copy. San Francisco, CA: California Newsreel, c1986. (1 holding TWU)
Ethnic Notions is an Emmy-winning documentary that takes viewers on a
disturbing voyage through American history, tracing for the first time the deep-
rooted stereotypes which have fueled anti-black prejudice. Narration by Esther
Rolle and commentary by respected scholars shed light on the origins and
devastating consequences of this 150 yearlong parade of bigotry. Loyal Toms,
carefree Sambos, faithful Mammies, grinning Coons, savage Brutes, and wide-
eyed Pickaninnies roll across the screen in cartoons, feature films, popular songs,

17. Pathfinder – Minstrel Shows & Blackface 17
minstrel shows, advertisements, folklore, household artifacts, even children's
rhymes. These dehumanizing caricatures permeated popular culture from the
1820s to the Civil Rights period and implanted themselves deep in the American
psyche.
CGD Lee, Spike. Bamboozled. 16 film reels of 16 on 8 (ca. 12150) : sd., col. ; 3/4 in.
1017-1024 viewing print. United States: New Line Cinema, c2000.
Bamboozled is a satirical film written and directed by Spike Lee about a modern
televised minstrel show featuring black actors donning blackface makeup and the
violent fall-out from the show's success. The title means "purposefully confused,
tricked or led astray". Bamboozled mixes comedy with intrepid social
commentary about the way the media works.
Museum of Broadcast Communications [electronic/online]: The Black and White
Minstrel Show. http://www.museum.tv
One hundred years after the "Nigger Minstrel" entertainment tradition had begun
in London's music-halls, the convention was revived on television in the form of
The Black And White Minstrel Show. The Black And White Minstrel Show
therefore, is important in the context of British television because it outlines how
racist representations became part of public debate and how performance was
linked to social context. The program revealed a tension between the television
controllers, critics and audience. Many were angry at the fact that during this time
there were very few other representations of black people on British television.
This variety series was first screened on BBC Television on 14 June 1958 and it
was to stay on air for over the next two decades. The Black And White Minstrel
Show evolved from the "Swannee River" type minstrel radio shows.
Black music in theater and film. English Visual Material: Video recording: VHS
tape 1 videocassette (29 min.): sd., col. ; 1/2 in. Alexandria, Va.: 1980

18. Pathfinder – Minstrel Shows & Blackface 18
PBS Video explores the role of music in the presentation and perception of blacks
in theatre and film and identifies black Americans who have been active in the
growth of theatre and film music. Features L.O. Sloane's Three Black and Three
White Refined Jubilee Minstrels and Pearl Bailey.
References
Minstrel show. Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com Unabridged. Random House, Inc.
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/minstrel show (accessed: December 2, 2006).
Wikipedia contributors, "Minstrel show," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia,
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Minstrel_show&oldid=312161001 (accessed
December 2, 2006).