Currently on view at Poster House New York is Act Black: Posters From Black American Stage and Screen—a collection of promotions from performances featuring casts that were made up of actual Black performers, rather than white people in blackface, which sought to build stories around the perception of Black experiences. Es-pranza Humphrey, Assistant Curator of Collections, has assembled holdings from the Poster House archives and privately held materials that trace a visual timeline from minstrel shows with roots in slavery and plantation life to Western, crime and love stories peopled by Black actors and musicians.
For this conversation, Humphrey describes her research into the complex dynamics of skirting around Northern segregation and Southern Jim Crow prohibitions, leading to the precipice of a full-fledged presence and industry of Black-produced entertainment, from Hollywood to Harlem.
Act Black is on view until Sept. 6.
Act Black: Posters From Black American Stage and Screen is a startling exhibition and experience for what it says and what it implies. What was your inspiration and rationale for researching, writing and curating this show?
The focus of my research for about a decade is exploring the fashion of Black chorus girls during the interwar period and how they represented a version of the “New Negro Woman,” the companion of Alain Locke’s 1925 anthology, The New Negro: An Interpretation. When I started to search for posters related to Black theatrical productions (specifically those featuring Josephine Baker), I came across posters, window cards and ephemera for some of the most notable all-Black plays, revues and musicals. It didn’t take long for me to realize that many of the performers on stage later transferred their talent to the screen, and the people behind the camera used the pillars of all-Black theater to set up all-Black movies (known as “race films”). Early films often mimicked theater because the technology was still fairly novel.
Posters help tell this long history in a great way because a lot of the recorded media has been lost (or was never even recorded), so the poster serves as documentation that these popular productions existed in the first place!
The Original Georgia Minstrels — Poster House Permanent Collection, Image Courtesy of Poster House
I think some artifacts are from the Schomburg Center collection. What makes this exhibition different from other histories of the Black stage, film and media experience?
We don’t have anything in the exhibition from the Schomburg Center but I did go there to do research!
I think what makes this show unique is that posters are the dominant medium on display and it’s the graphic history of all-Black theater and film. I was also able to source some incredibly rare posters like Williams and Walker (1903) and The Original Georgia Minstrels (c. 1872) that help visualize the depth of blackface minstrelsy. It’s difficult to imagine a time where these would be public-facing as American entertainment fixtures, so by including them in the exhibition, I hope to expand viewers’ understanding of a dark-sided but important part of American history and poster history.
Act Black begins with Black entertainment after the Civil War. Can you explain the genre(s) and why it became popular for white audiences?
Well, white working-class audiences typically consumed this type of entertainment because it was inexpensive, catchy and reinforced a familiar racial hierarchy. Though Thomas “Daddy” Rice was not the first actor to perform in blackface, he was one of the most successful due to his character called Jim Crow that was an impersonation of an enslaved Black man. He toured all throughout the United States and the song “Jump Jim Crow” became a hit. I start the show by establishing that the image of Black Americans (especially those who were formerly enslaved) is co-opted and bastardized by these white performers in blackface, because the rest of the show stresses the importance of the “All-Colored Revue” and/or “All-Colored Cast.” I then decided to highlight Black vaudeville—performances that featured music, dancing and comedy—because this is where we see the creation of all-Black networks and circuits that protect the performers and the businesses of Black people. It’s also important to note that Black audiences watched these performances as well, but they would soon have the option to see all-Black actors on stage rather than just white people in blackface.
Was minstrelsy the earliest white co-opting of Black culture in the U.S.?
No, the ring shout, cakewalk, etc., were co-opted by white enslavers. Also, I wouldn’t consider minstrelsy “Black culture” at all. It was more of a white interpretation and mockery of Black (and enslaved) people’s speech, movements, expressions, etc.
I’ve read that white entrepreneurs were the driving forces behind “All Colored” stage and screen entertainment, as producers, theater owners, etc. Who were these people, and what were their motivations and goals? How were these works preserved (or not)? Did they have value after the ephemerality wore off?
That’s the challenging part of posters, especially those featured in this show. Some were preserved in a number of ways that varied from person to person, studio to studio, printer to printer, and some were not preserved. Through the work of individual collectors or institutions, they survive because these people or collections decided long ago that there was value to these all-Black productions and movies. The documentary In the Shadow of Hollywood: Race Movies & The Birth of Black Cinema explores the race film genre, and there is a moment where viewers learn how some of these films were accidentally uncovered. This speaks to a larger conversation about value, discovery and preservation.
The Bull-Dogger (3 sheet) — Poster House Permanent Collection, Image Courtesy of Poster House
Regarding the stage, you have an incredible poster of (the great) Bert Williams and George Walker titled Two Real Coons. They are dressed as dandies in blackface. Why did “colored” performers exaggerate their blackness—did it make them more “acceptable” to white audiences? Was it simply a theatrical trope?
Actually, only one of the men is dressed as a “dandy.” For the Williams and Walker poster, Williams wears blackface in the comic role of the Zip Coon while Walker is not in blackface and is dressed in more tailored attire in the role of the dandy straight man. They do this knowing that they are a talented pair and they want to distinguish themselves from white performers in blackface. Minstrelsy was a popular form of entertainment and it evolved over time. Williams and Walker became popular vaudeville performers (along with Aida Overton Walker), so they were meeting the moment but doing it their way and retaining ownership of their diverse talent.
We have a different way of understanding this type of performance and these blackface archetypes today. But I think it’s important to consider these posters in the time that they were on view, as that allows us to understand Williams and Walkers influence in Black vaudeville and the legacy of Black theater.
You show posters for the stage version of Uncle Tom’s Cabin. This book/play, while sympathetic, also became a racist trope. What was its importance in late 19th-century American culture?
Uncle Tom’s Cabin was originally an abolitionist text and was the bestselling novel of the 19th century. It was adapted into a number of plays and traveling shows because it was so familiar and there were no strict copyright laws that barred its many reinterpretations. The character “Topsy” was sometimes featured on posters as the draw to the show, something that is quite troubling considering that the character is a child dealing with the harsh condition of enslavement. She’s reworked in these shows as comedic relief, an obvious and harmful reduction of the character and the reality that was enslavement.
Harlem After Midnight — The Black Canon Collection, Image Courtesy of Poster House
Let’s talk films. The majority of posters are promoting “All Colored Casts” feature movies. Where did these posters appear? Were they big-city attractions or everywhere around the country?
The film posters that promote “All Colored Casts” were featured in a number of locations. They were in the lightboxes of Black-owned theaters to specifically promote all-Black talent to all-Black audiences. They were also in the lightboxes of white/segregated theaters, where they would sometimes screen race films on specific days of the week or during their late-night hours (known as “midnight rambles”). But the films were also shown in schools, universities, churches, communal spaces, etc., and small flyers or window cards would promote these local events. This shows the importance of community, and if there were no Black-owned theaters in the area, they would find a way to screen these films for the intended audience.
Some of the stars of these pictures were known to white audiences, if only as incidental characters. Did they have greater popularity in their own communities?
Yes, there were familiar names and talent that transitioned from stage to screen. Josephine Baker and Paul Robeson are just two of many Black performers that were celebrities to all audiences. This is also depicted on the posters where actors and actresses receive top billing. Richard Norman and Oscar Micheaux were filmmakers who were quite thoughtful in how they advertised all-Black casts, and both men gave the talent a level of star power through eye-catching language on posters.
Baker was iconic. How did her success influence her American counterparts? And how was it revealed through the graphics?
Josephine Baker was quite the international star, and this is well-depicted in posters where she receives top billing. Her likeness is powerful, and in one section of the exhibition, she is depicted in more than four different ways. This is incredible considering the time period and points to the fact that she was recognized and afforded a level of celebrity that elevated her as aspirational, talented and beautiful. Perhaps her most notable image is the one crafted by Paul Colin, who gave us some of the most well-known stylized images.
You’ve written fascinating and detailed narratives for Act Black that go deeply into the cultural and production histories of (and, by extension, the racial tensions underscoring) these artifacts. What do you hope the viewer will take away from this exhibition?
Viewers should see Act Black: Posters From Black American Stage & Screen as a celebration of theater and film! The posters are a glimpse into major historical events like the Civil War and historical figures like Bessie Coleman. While researching for this show, I screened a number of films and listened to music from the early and mid-20th century. Although it’s emotional and maybe even upsetting to hear antiquated language and watch offensive blackface performances, we should appreciate that some of this media survived because they are time capsules of a period when Black people could see themselves as dynamic and nuanced on the stage and on the screen.
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