At the turn of the 20th century, African American artists faced a fundamental question: how could they prove their citizenship and claim their place in American culture? Historian and musician David Gilbert traces how the first generation of African American performers to crack Broadway effected this transformation.

Ernest Hogan named himself “the unbleached American.” Bert Williams and George Walker, marketed themselves as "the two real coons." Bob Cole and the Johnson Brothers transcended the coon genre entirely by writing sophisticated pop songs for white Broadway stars and crafting songs about Black romance that weren't sung for laughs.

Yet Gilbert confronts an uncomfortable truth: this topic is embarrassing, and most Americans would prefer to forget this era entirely. These artists walked an impossible line, and understanding their journey means confronting not just the ugliness of Jim Crow America but the echoes that still reverberate today.

Music

“Darktown is Out Tonight” - Will Marrion Cook
“Overture to ‘In Dahomey’” - Will Marrion Cook
“Under the Bamboo Tree” - Robert Cole and J. Rosamund Johnson
“You've Been A Good Old Wagon” - Ben Harney, Len Spencer
“You’ve Been A Good Old Wagon” - Ben Harney, Bessie Smith

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