Portland Obaerver Section II February 21. 1•1 Page 21
Y.ithdrew from Howard , and joined Ha erl '
ol red
Mini trel after a ucce ful audition in Baltimore.
H e, like ot her Black min trel , adopted the broad
humor common 10 those how . Hi s cork - blackened
face, Jame talked in diale c t and wore the sta ndard
dre ; high hat and wallow-tail coat.
The fir t ummer wa pent in the ew ork area,
then the how went on cro -country tour to alif rnia .
In I 81, the troupe went to England with Jame Ker-
and a the tar .
Bland wa well received in Great Britain, and hi
mu ic enjoyed wide currency in all of the British music
hall s.
H e retired from minstrelsy when the troup returned to
the tate , and became a solo performer earning a
much a $1000 a month . The Pr ince of Wale , later
cro wned Kin g dward, acknowledged Bland a s hi
fa ori te e ntertainer . Ger man critic declared that he,
Siephen Fo ter a nd John Ph ill ip ousa were the three
America n who had done much fo r Ame rica's foreign
relations.
Thi extraordinary performer was the inventor f the
Bland banjo; he added a rifth tring to give the. banjo
more versatility .
It i iro ni I hat the on of a Patent Officer xaminer
neglected to publi sh under hi name all but about forty
pieces of the hundreds he composed . H owever. a wa
c mn10n the da before copyrights, co m po er often
sold their ongs for whatever the going rate wa , or
balladeers or other com poser appropriated the mu ic a
was the case of Milburn . nother example may be
found in a song tha t Pi cay une Butler crea ted . H e wrote
a tune he named Old Zip Coon . Acco rd ing to Lang ton
Hughes. a you ng whit e performer. eorge Nichol . who
wa '-"ilh Purd y Br own's ircu , introduced the ame
tune a Turkey In Th e Stra w with the re!>ult that the
ng had been ascribed to white uthor hip .
Of the f rt y tune that are regi stered or publi hed in
Bland' name, arr. M Ba k .. . b ame Vir inia' tate
ng in I 40, and Oh, Dem Golden l,ppers wa the
marching ong for the annual Mummer'
ew Year'
Da Parade in Philadelphia f r ver lift ear . In The
Evening By The Moonlight nd In The Morntng By The
Bright Light are I o other Y.ell-known ong b Bland .
In addition. M, sour, H ound Dog ha become a cam-
paign ng .
hen the type of mu ic that he pla ed and ang
became pa se. Bland returned pennile to Philadelphia
where he died .
After adopting hi ong, the tate of irginia wi hed
to honor the compo er . It wa not until 1946 that they
were able to lo ate hi grave; the Lion'
lub of irginia
had a headsto ne erected, the governor ceremoniou ly
placed a wreath upon hi grave, and perpetual care wa
undertaken by th e grateful tate.
A t ated earlier, ahh ugh Black enjo ed and em -
ployed the wide pe trum of mu ic in po 1-bellum times,
cla i al artists were not immume to being all but
ignored a so loi ts and were, in but a few cases, required
10 combine their talent s with others in order 10 perform
widely.
SISSIERETTA JONES (18 6- 19 3) wa ne of the
few
I
ocali s t~ after the war . he wa s b o rn i n
Virginia, rabed in Rhode!> Island, and com ~t ed studie
at the ew ng land on ervator . Touring for everal
year , it was not until ,he appeared at the Jubilee held at
the Madi ·on quare arden in ew Yori.. in I 9 that
the critics acknowledged here istence with an real en-
thu s ia s m . Dubbed "Black Patti," after an It lian
operatic diva delina Patti, he wa!> approat:hed by the
manager of the M etropolit n
the part of the frican in erdi'
1da, and feyerbeer'
L 'Africa111e. Ho e er, a Blat:I.. wa, no1 to appear with
the Met until Marian nder,on did \O in 19 .
Sissieretta Jones . the " Black Patti."
We Salute Portland's
First Black Police Officer
pQL\CE OFF/c~/i
By the late 19th Century, the
New Port Republican Club had
enough clou t to secure the
placement of a Bla ck man, George
Hardin , on the Portland Police
Bureau .
$1,420.00 starting per month
$2,022.76 after five years service
The Portland Police Bureau 's M inority Recruiting Unit is seeking qualified
minorities and women for the position .
If you are interested in a career in law enforcement and are 21 years or older,
have a high.school diploma or G.E.D, are a U.S. citizen and have no felony
convictions , the Bureau is interested in you .
Applications are now being accepted at Portland Civil Service 510 SW Mont-
gomery, Portland , Oregon between the hours of 8:00 and 5:00. Registration
must be done in person . Applicants will be notified by mail as to test date .
For further information contact:
Officer Dwight Ford, Officer Jeannie Bradley or Officer Beth Knudsen 248-5653, Personnel Division,
222 S.W. Pine Street, Portland , Oregon 97204.
Officer George Hardin
1894
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