Monarchs of Minstrelsy, from "Daddy" Rice to Date

A primary source in American entertainment history, this 1911 volume documents the performers who shaped minstrelsy from its antebellum origins through the early twentieth century. Rice, himself a performer and historian, traces the lineage from Thomas "Daddy" Rice, the white actor whose 1828 blackface performance of Jim Crow allegedly launched the genre, through the great touring companies and solo artists who defined the form at its peak. The book interweaves biographical sketches, performance anecdotes, and critical assessments of individual "monarchs" of the genre, preserving names, dates, and career details that would otherwise be lost. Written during a period when minstrelsy was undergoing significant transformation amid shifting social attitudes, the work functions both as celebration and elegy, mourning performers recently deceased while chronicling the younger generation attempting to carry the tradition forward. As a historical document, it offers valuable insight into a form of entertainment that, however deeply racist in its conventions, occupied a central place in American popular culture for over a century.