THE PERFORMERS AND THEIR PATRONS COGS IN THE WHEEL OF RACE RELATIONS

Economic and Social Assets to the Race

By JAMES A. JACKSON

Staff Editor of THE BILLBOARD

  . . . Our interest naturally centres, more or less, upon the artists of our own race group. There may yet be those who question the good that may come from a profession that has been once proscribed by the religionists of a day that is gone. They have not always been esteemed as richly as they deserved; but they have given their mite to the general advance of their people nevertheless.

  To trace briefly from the past, it may be stated that Ira Aldridge, an actor, was largely responsible for the favorable reception that has been accorded American Negroes in England. He arrested attention and established a vogue from which many followers have benefited. The Bohee Brothers' acceptance by Royalty more firmly established us across the pond.

  We might recall to mind that a minstrel troupe recruited in Macon, Georgia, by Gus Frohman and his brothers toured the country before the Civil War and laid the foundation of the fortunes that made these theatrical magnates of consequence. More to the point with us is the fact that this same indentured troupe of humble, ignorant, but talented slaves contributed much toward crystallizing the anti-slavery sentiment that had been aroused by Harriet Beecher Stowe's "Uncle Tom's Cabin."

  And none will gainsay the valuable contribution toward the freedom of the Negro that the theatrical presentation of that classic itself accomplished. It was presented in every hamlet in the land. . . .