A brief mention in the Elizabethville Echo of December 11, 1930, that the Cotton Blossom Minstrel show by the Gratz High School was so successful that it had an encore performance:
The Cotton Blossom Minstrels presented by the Gratz High School on Friday and Saturday evenings, was well attended. It was repeated on Monday evening for those who were unable to attend the two previous evenings,
Pre-1965 Minstrel shows performed in all-white areas almost always included black-face routines, so it goes without saying that this show also included black-face. And, the title of the show referred to a crop that was not grown anywhere near Gratz, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania.
White men and women, who blackened their faces, and performed emphasizing negative stereotypical behavior that they attributed to African Americans, for the purpose of getting laughs were often the most prominent people in the community. In the case of this show, the sponsor was the high school, so school authorities had to approve.
This post is part of a series in which news articles, photographs and other “memorabilia” are presented to show how “black-face” was infused into the culture of the Lykens Valley area. Readers are invited to submit photos and recollections on how long this offensive “entertainment” lasted and what locals thought of it as part of the culture of the area.
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News articles from Newspapers.com.
Corrections and additional information should be added as comments to this post.
[African American]