"I realized there was pretty much nobody who is a famous 19th-century minstrel performer who was not an Elk. It just became synonymous."
"In her new book, Darkology: Blackface and the American Way of Entertainment, she lays out the fruits of nearly two decades of scouring archives, eBay and estate sales."
"She chronicles minstrel performances at fund-raisers for politicians, police forces and medical charities, including one cowritten by Franklin Delano Roosevelt."
"Government-sponsored minstrel shows at World War II-era military bases, and even in Japan, are part of the long, lurid tradition she traces."
Rhae Lynn Barnes, a history graduate student, faced resistance while researching the Elks Club's history, particularly its ties to blackface minstrelsy. Denied access to the club's library, she utilized alternative methods to compile a list of 400 early members, revealing that many were prominent minstrel performers. Her book, Darkology: Blackface and the American Way of Entertainment, details nearly two decades of research into the pervasive tradition of amateur blackface performance across the United States, including its connections to political fundraisers and military shows during World War II.
Read at www.nytimes.com
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