The Portland daily press., 1900-10-04
EARLIEST MINSTREL SHOWS
Had Great Vogue in Their Day--Joe
Jefferson and Edwin Forrest Both
Acted as MinstreIs.

philadelphia Saturday Eve ming Post. J
About 80 or 40 years ago, when Edwin
Forrest was in the heyday of his popular
ity, he went into a western town, the
exact location of which do not recall,
and played to such large audiences dur.
ing his stay that on the morning he was
to leave he remarked to the manager of
he theater that he was surprised to find
such cultured town and that it could
furnish such large audiences for Shakes.
pearean plays.
'rhe minstrels are here,'' replied the
manager.
"What has that got to do with irY''
asked the tragedian.
Why, the minstreIs play in the after
noon and the people come into town to
see them; then, having nothing to do in
the evening, they come here.''
Perhaps that manager was attempting
to be funny and exaggerated matters
But there is foundation for the story,
as everyone whose memory goes back 80
or 40 years Will admit.
Negro minstrelsy today has settled into
a regular thing; people go to show, en-
joy it, memorize the "gags, work them
off with an unconscious and spontaneous
air on less fortunate friends, and then
wait for the return of the show to lay in
a new supply. But there was time
whe n minstrelsy had beginning, just
like the earth and Adam and Eve, and
it was beginning with a boom, and
everything else gave way before it.
There is some disagreement as to which
was the first minstrel organization, but
undoubtedly it was Christy's minstrels
that first spread the fame of the organ
lied troupe and made an impression on
the country. And as for it's impression
on the old world, where the band made
its home for several years, Thackeray
| himself stands Witnesss Christy became
synonymous with the word minstrel as
my Wn experience we'll attests
| A minstrel In this country has the sa t.
| isfaction of knowing that he is working
IN q kind of amusement that is the
genuine product OF America. suppose,
however, that Shakespeare put the first
negro on the stage Ga Moor to him was
a negro), but OthellO was not a minstrel
he played a heavier line Of business.
| From almost the beginning OF Ameri-
can stage history there were negroes of
| the minstrel variety lmpersOnated on the
stage though 1t was not until about
the '40's that they were organized into
bands. Some of the greatest actors of
later days had their experience as min
streIs, among them Joe Jefferson and
Edwin Forrest.
Forrest was given negro ''song and
| dance act'' to do when she was very
! young, and after he had studied it uD
ha aavad xvhora was the told y1ocrrO IodVs5
that was to act as his assistant in the
piece. The management tried several of
the women who were members of the
company, but none of them would con-
sent to blacken up, ana, in fact they
were very indignant over the proposition.
The actor, however, was not easily dis
cOuraged- and on the night of the first
performance he blackened up and went
around the corner to an old negro woman
who did his washing.
"HelIo, Dinah, he said on entering.
How you be er feelin' dis berry fine
ebening?''
Hello, yo'," replied the African lady,
6 Pears to me yo' an er berry fresh mig
GER
''I'se no nigger," answered Forrest,
and then, Ftime being rather short, he
| assumed his natural voice and told
Dinah, much to her surprise, that he was
| Forrest, the actor, and that he wanted
| her to go on the stage with him that
night and laugh loudly at FREQUENT in
tervaIs-which was all the female part
called for. The two made great hit,
and were kept on for some time, which
goes to show that Forrest might have
been a good minstrel had he, been Of an
ambitious nature.
The point is, that when the minstrel
bands were taking on character and
shaping themselves for the future the wo-
men refused to take part, which, with
/ t0r7% ho7r i h441tr
we'll.
The minstrel organization as 1t Is
known today was brought about by the
wonderful success that certain men made
as individuals. Most of these men are
| but dimly remem bered today. One of
them, curious to relate, was John B.
Cough. afterward famous as temper
ance orator. Another was the famous
Thomas ID. Rice, whose Jim Crow be-
longs to the history of nations. How
| Jim Crow found his wagon the stage is
an interesting part OF the story of min
| strelsy.
In 1929, while Rice was doing smaIl
negro act at the Louisville theater, he
happened to look out of the back win
dow, which faced q stable kept by an old
and broken down negro called Jim
| Crow. One of Crows shoulders was
much lower than the other, his left leg
was stiff and crooked at the knee, so that
when he walked he went up and down in
most ludicrous fashion.
This day he was standing in the yard
humming peculiar tune TO himself the
words of which We're his own When he
had finished a verse he would give
| jumping step, which has since become
famous as 'rockin' de heel'' The re-
frain of his song vast
Wheel about, turn about,
| DO jes SO,
An cherry time wheel ABOUT
1 jump Jim Grow.
Rice saw that here was something new
He studied the old man, made the tune
little bit more lively, wrote a number
OF new verses. and copying the original
very closely in makeup, appeared as Jim
Grow at the Louisville theater. He was