Portland Observer Section II February 28.1881 Page IB
sopranos o f that time: M alibran, Sontag, Grisi, Parodi
and Jenny L in d - The Swedish N ig h tin g a le . Her
tremendous range o f 3'/ j octaves surpassed Lindis.
Before embarking for Europe in 1853, the artist gave
a farew ell concert before 4000 enthusiastic listeners.
W hile in Europe, she sang under the patronage o f the
English n o b ility and perform ed at the Command Per
formance before Queen Victoria in Buckingham Palace
on May 10, 1854.
Upon her return to the States in the summer o f 1854,
she opened a voice studio in Philadelphia, where she oc
casionally performed in concert until her death in 1876.
TH O M A S BOWERS (c. 1836 - 85) was the second
son o f free parents who were natives o f Philadelphia.
His father was warden o f St. Thomas’ A .M .E . Church
and had his eldest son John tutored at the organ and
piano. John then taught Thomas. At the age o f 18 he
succeeded his elder brother as St. Thomas’ organist.
A lthough sought after by Frank Johnson to jo in his
band, his prom ise to his parents to play o r sing o n ly
classical or religious music prevented him from accep
ting Johnson’ s offer.
He made his debut as a tenor and went on tour. Upon
his re tu rn , he was accepted as a p u p il by the B lack
Swan, and occasionally toured w ith her.
Bower’ s magnificent artistic a bility accorded him the
title o f The A m e rica n M a rio a fte r C onte de C andia
M a rio , the most fam ous Ita lia n tenor o f that period.
His repertoire consisted o f standard arias, oratorios and
ballads.
Browers strongly resented the caricature o f the Black
race that white m inistréis presented, and he w rote to a
frie n d , “ W hat induced me more than anything else to
appear in p u b lic was to give the lie to ‘ N egro
Seranaders’ and to show the world that colored men and
women could sing classical music as well as the members
o f the other race by whom they have been so te rrib ly
vilifie d .”
He refused to p e rfo rm at a co n ce rt in H a m ilto n ,
C anada unless the m anagement seated a g ro u p o f
Blacks in the first class seats who had been refused ad
m ission to th a t section. T h e ir yie ld to his dem and
probably marked the first time that one o f his race used
his artistic appeal to protest discrim ination.
B ow er’ s re jection o f w hite m in istre lsy, in fa ct, all
minstrelsy, was shared by many Blacks. These shows.as
alluded to earlier, were in itia lly composed o f a group o f
whites who performed in Black-face.
It wasn’ t until the early 1860s that a Black group. Lew
Johnson’ s P lantation M inistreal Company came in to
being. They, too, blackened their faces and exaggerated
th e ir m ouths w ith m akeup. The greatest d iffe re n c e ,
however, is that the whites im itated the Blacks. Since
the "genuine article” could not be tru ly duplicated, the
whites specialized in slapstick hum or and b u ffo n e ry .
Langston Hughes wrote that Blacks, the "g e nuine a r
ticle” in their inim itable a bility to use syncopated time
and beat, introduced new dances, songs and routines
that “ ...the whites had not appropriated. The stop-time
taps, the ‘ sand’ and the ‘ V irg in ia essence’ (soft-shoe)
were introduced. Some early stars were Wallace King, a
falsetto specialist who was b ille d " T h e Man w ith the
C h ild V o ice ” the Bohee B rothers who accom panied
th e ir soft-shoe dance w ith th e ir banjos, and Charles
Cruse, a “ stand-up” comedian.
The Georgia M in istré is , a com pany o f talented in
strum entalists, singers and dancers was organized by
Charles Hicks in 1865. A t that time, most theaters into
which this type o f show was booked, were owned by
whites. D iffic u lty , therefore, was experienced by Hicks
when he tried to secure bookings fo r his (roup, so he
sold it to a w hite man named George C ollendar, and
success was then guaranteed. The name was changed to
C a le n d a r's O rig in a l G e orgia M in is tré is ; then to
H a v e rly ’ s In te rn a tio n a l M in is tré is ; and u ltim a te ly
C a le n d a r’ s Spectacular Colored M inistréis. It toured
Europe as well as the States w ith considerable success.
The two m ajor stars were B illy Kersands, who could put
a cup and saucer in his mouth, and Sam Lucas.
SAM LUCAS (1840 - 1916) was born o f free parents
in Ohio. O ften, then as now, musical careers were sub
sidized by p a yin g o ccu p a tio n s , and Lucas was no
stranger to this duality. Barber by trade, he fought on
the side o f the U nion during the C iv il W ar. A fte r the
war, he played w ith several minstrel troupes u n til m in
strelsy gave way to vaudeville and musical comedy. He
composed various tunes; G ra n d fa th e r C lock, T u rn ip
Greens and Carve D a l Possum were the most famous.
ETHIOPIAN DALLAD
|ohn Coltrane
1926-1967
Ac i lai med tom pnw t and performer
acknowledged leader of the avant garde in ia<<
Stewart's Cleaners
2701 NE 7th - 281-4372
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Title page of Richard M ilburn * "Listen to the
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Schomberg Collection)
Lucas looked and acted the part o f a big star. Alw ays
well dressed, he constantly wore a large diam ond ring
that had been presented to him by Queen V icto ria , and
c a rrie d a g old-headed cane th a t he received fro m a
member o f the English n o b ility . In addition, he wore a
large gold watch on a gold fob. These articles were often
pawned by the soft-hearted Lucas to rescue a stranded
troupe.
W ILLIAM HENERY LANE (c. 1825-53) was known
professionally as Master Juba. One o f the few Blacks to
appear with white minstrel troupes, he was known as the
greatest o f all dancers. Juba was im m ortalized by the
English author, Charles Dickens, who saw him perform
at a place in New Y o rk c a lle d A lm a c k 's w hich was
owned by a Black named Pete W illia m s . D u rin g his
visit, Juba performed the single shuffle, double shuffle,
cut and cross cut while accompanied by a tam bourinist.
His dance was reminiscent o f the steps done at Congo-
Square and the music perform ed at this tavern was the
harbinger o f jazz and ragtime.
Most o f the performers in this brief history have been
skilled as instrumentalists or vocalists.
R IC H A R D M IL B U R N was a w h is tle r. B arber by
trade in the city o f Philadelphia, his knowledge o f music
was limited to accompanying himself on the guitar with
ru d im e n try ch o rd in g as he w histled. His s k ill in this
medium o f music pro je ctio n was so p ro ficie n t that he
was often asked to perform at the (Negro) Philadelphia
L ib ra ry C om m ittee to enliven their meetings. Leisure
time spent in listening to and im itating the songs o f b ir
ds led him to composing, “ by ear” a tune called Listen
to the M ockingbird.
A white com poser/publisher, Septimus W inner, who
w ro te p o p u la r tunes under the pseudonym A lic e
Hawthorne, was asked to attend a meeting o f the Com
mittee to hear this exceptional fo lk artist. He did so, and
transcribed the song fo r the first time.
The first edition o f the music was published in I855
w ith the credits: music by Richard M ilb u rn , words by
A lic e H a w thorne. The sheet music q u ic k ly became a
best seller, and subsequent p rin tin g s have o m itte d
M ilb u r n ’ s name w ith fu ll credit assumed by W in n e r/
Hawthorne.
-P O S T B E L L U M -
The end o f slavery brought immediate ju b ila tio n that
q u ic k ly settled in to b e w ild e rm e n t and fe a r, fo r
thousands upon thousands were refugees as have been
the m any witnesses to any great war. The im m ediate
issue was resettlement: to develop roots, security and a
p o sitive self-im age. The federal governm ent set the
Freedmen's Bureau, and various church and religious
groups were instrum ental in forging bases fo r the hap
less ex-slaves. Several academic and manual institutions
were fo rm e d : A tla n ta U n iv e rs ity , F is k , H a m p to n ,
H o w a rd , Johnson C. Sm ith (kn o w n then as B iddle),
and St. Augustine.
Countee Cullen
1903-1946
O n e ot America v most Milted poets
Phil Reynolds
Medical Clinic
15 N. Morris 287-4523
THE REVEREND
J. GORDON
ington and California)
Political activist and humanitarian
Foundsr and Editor of tan periodicals in
tha West
is featured in a limited edition monograph
of 30 copies
M cPherson in the W est:
A Selected Bibliography
compiled and copyrighted © 1981
by J. M. Gates
with authentic photographs