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Creator:

George, J. Edward (manager)  Search this

Up To Date Georgia Minstrels (performers)  Search this

San Diego Historical Society  Search this

Hart, G. E. (manager)  Search this

Names:

Cissel and Mines, entertainers  Search this

Oliver and Gilliam (entertainers)  Search this

Cissel, Clarence (entertainer)  Search this

Gillam, Harry (entertainer)  Search this

Gilliam, Bessie (entertainer)  Search this

Mines, Augusta (entertainer)  Search this

Oliver, Jack (entertainer)  Search this

Williams, Billy (entertainer)  Search this

Extent:

0.1 Cubic feet (1 box, 1-map folder)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Scrapbooks

Advertisements

Date:

circa 1876-1901

Summary:

Scrapbook contains articles and ephemera relating to an African American troupe of thirty five minstrels who performed in the Pacific Northwestern United States.

Scope and Contents:

The scrapbook offers documentation of the troupe's activities dating from 1876-1909 in the Pacific Northwestern United States. It contains articles, ticket stubs, newspaper and magazine clippings, and programs. Also included are brief biographical sketches of Billy Williams, the contortionist, and Harry Gillam, the "Hebrew acrobat," and an article about the managers of the Up To Date minstrels, J. Edward George and G. E. Hart. In addition, there are business cards from other minstrel performing groups including, Cissel and Mines and Oliver and Gilliam, with accompanying pictures. There are loose materials which were probably once part of the scrapbook, including programs and letterhead stationery. There are also photographs of the troupe taken in Missouri in 1900 standing outside a train car as they travelled from one location to another. The materials are arranged first by type and then in chronological order.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged in one series.

Biographical / Historical:

George and Hart's Up To Date Georgia Minstrels were an African American troupe of thirty-five entertainers about whom this scrapbook was created. In 1901, these minstrels were described as "the only colored show running for thirty years." The troupe, which began circa 1866, was billed as "the most popular" troupe of performers from California to Montana to Washington to New Mexico to Colorado to Minnesota. They performed standard minstrel acts and included a contortionist, an acrobatic act, and a male impersonator. This form of theater entertainment was used by African American dramatic performers for consistent employment with reasonable wages. The Up To Date Georgia Minstrels were said to have been the "highest paid" performers in the area, making five to fifteen dollars a week. The troupe was managed by George Hart.

Related Materials:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

Warshaw Collection of Business Americana, Subject Categories: Theater, NMAH.AC0060

John B. Rogers Producing Company Collection, NMAH.AC0245

Hazen Collection of Band Photographs and Ephemera, NMAH.AC0253

Sam DeVincent Collection of Illustrated American Sheet Music, Series 3: African-American Music, NMAH.AC0300

Sam DeVincent Collection of Illustrated American Sheet Music, Series 11: Entertainment, NMAH.AC0300

Sam DeVincent Collection of Illustrated American Sheet Music, Series 4: Songwriters, NMAH.AC0300

Ernie Smith Jazz Film Collection, NMAH.AC0491

Donald J. Stubblebine Collection of Musical Theater and Motion Picture Music and Ephemera, NMAH.AC1211

Peter Marks Minstrelsy Collection, NMAH.AC1328

Hooker-Howe Company Papers, NMAH.AC1475

Henry "Buddy" Graf and George Cahill Vaudeville and Burlesque Collections, NMAH.AC1484

B. Thomas Smith Minstrel Show Posters, NMAH.AC1490

Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections, Smithsonian Institution



Ralph Rinzler Papers and Audio Recordings, CFCH.RINZ

Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: 2002 Smithsonian Folklife Festival, CFCH.SFF.2002

Monitor Records Business Records, CFCH.MONI

Moses and Frances Asch Collection, CFCH.ASCH

Provenance:

The material was donated to the Archives Center, National Museum of American History by the San Diego Historical Society on March 11, 1997. The Society has no further information about the scrapbook which was outside the scope of its collecting policy.

Restrictions:

Collection is open for research.

Rights:

Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.

Topic:

Minstrels -- 1900-1910  Search this

Revues -- 1900-1910  Search this

Contortionists -- 1900-1910  Search this

Minstrel shows -- 1900-1910  Search this

Troubadours -- 1900-1910 -- United States  Search this

African American entertainers -- 20th century  Search this

Acrobats -- 1900-1910  Search this

Genre/Form:

Scrapbooks -- 1880-1910

Advertisements -- 1900-1910

Citation:

George and Hart's Georgia Up To Date Minstrels Scrapbook, circa 1876-1901, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.

Identifier:

NMAH.AC.0576

See more items in:

George and Hart's Georgia Up To Date Minstrels Scrapbook

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

GUID:

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep8e3c7f73b-221e-42f9-af0a-93eeccc9e0b0

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-0576