The famous Rabbit Foot Minstrels traveled through Mississippi performing in a large tent. Their marching band paraded through town at noon to attract attention, and their orchestra played inside the tent at night for the singers, dancers, comedians and variety artists. All the performers were black, and some appeared on stage in blackface, a relic of the days when minstrel shows were performed by whites. They performed for mixed audiences of whites and blacks who crowded into the tent.
Rabbit Foot began life in 1900 as a musical comedy troupe owned and operated by a black businessman from Florida named Pat Chappelle. They played theaters, opera houses and tents, traveling on their own railroad cars. When Chappelle died in 1911, a white carnival owner from Michigan named F.S. Walcott acquired the show, moving its headquarters to Port Gibson, Mississippi, in 1918.
This presentation examines how the change from a black owner to a white one affected the way the show was presented to the public, and raises questions about how that eventually affected other mass entertainment venues like radio and television.
Speakers Expertise:
A retired professor from Alcorn State, Dr. David Crosby has conducted many oral history interviews with people who were involved with the Rabbit Foot minstrels in Port Gibson or who witnessed the show in other parts of Mississippi. He has curated an exhibit that recreates the music, images and feel of the old African American traveling tent show.
