Little Known Black History Facts

Who was the first magician to tour in the United States?

In 1783 in Hopkinton, Massachusetts Richard Potter was born. He was to become the first American-born magician to tour the United States, and yes, he was black. He was also the first American-born ventriloquist.

Okay, stop laughing; yes, there really are black ventriloquists! The most well-known of recent times  has been Willie Tyler and Lester. Willie Tyler was born in 1940, and got his first big break on the show Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In.

Broadbill for Mr. Potter

As good as Willie Tyler and Lester are though, in my opinion they don't hold a candle to Mr. Richard Potter. This is a playbill (also called a "broadbill") for one of Potter's performances. Notice the phrase “to give an Evening’s Brush to Sweep away care.” ( Now that sounds like a date!!! ) Besides ventriloquism, Richard Potter performed many different tricks; as this playbill describes it "100 curious but mysterious experiments with cards, eggs, money, etc." The book "Conjure Times: The History of Black Magicians in America" written by James Haskins and Kathleen Benson in 2001 details some of the tricks performed by Richard Potter:

"Mr. Potter will perform the part of the anti-combustible Man Salamander [a mythical combination of human and reptile] and will pass a red hot bar of iron over his tongue, draw it through his hands repeatedly, and afterwards bend it into various shapes with his naked feet, as a smith would on an anvil. He will also immerse his hands and feet in molten lead, and pass his naked feet and arms over a large body of fire. He will also perform a variety of pleasing magical deceptions; which, to give a minute detail of, would fill a volume. The performer, not being willing to anticipate the pleasure the audience may receive from his performance, flatters himself that he is so well known in different parts of this country, as not to require the aid of a pompous advertisement. In addition to his magical and ventriloquist talents, he will introduce a number of songs and recitations."

Also from the book: 

"Other examples of Potter’s tricks, included: frying eggs in a beaver hat; thrusting a sword down his throat and drawing out yards of multicolored ribbons, then spitting out sparks and flames; appearing to swallow molten lead, using a special mixture of lead, bismuth, and block tin.”

To me he sounds more like David Copperfield than Willie Tyler!! He was a great magician for the times though, and a great ventriloquist. 

Richard Potter died at age 52 on Sept. 20, 1835.

For more information:

From The Root: 100 Amazing Facts About the Negro

Written By: Henry Louis Gates Jr.

Posted: March 24 2014 2:00 AM

                                      

Today In Black History

If you were to ask the average Joe walking down the street who the first black woman to win an Academy Award was, a lot of them could tell you; it was in 1939, and the actress was Hattie McDaniels who played in Gone With the Wind as the O'Hara's cook/nanny. She won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress.

Now, who was the first black woman to win an Academy Award for Best Actress? That's just a little tougher, isn't it? Today in Black History in 2001, the movie was Monster's Ball, and the winner was (drum-roll please) Halle Berry for Best Actress! Yes, in 2001 Halle Berry won the Oscar for playing  the role of Leticia Musgrove.

There was also another first that year for blacks in the Academy Awards. 2001 would be the first time that two black performers had won not just nominations, but Oscars for their leading rolls in their movies. Halle Berry won for Monster's Ball, and Denzel Washington won for Training Day!

There have been many triumphs over the years when it came to the Academy Awards, but in my opinion not nearly enough. Between 1958 and 2012 there were 4 black men who won an Oscar for Best Actor; Sidney Poitier - Lilies of the Field, Denzel Washington - Training Day, Jamie Foxx - Ray, and Forest Whitaker - Last King of Scotland. In the same period, 1958 - 2012, only one black woman won an Academy Award for Best Actress, and that was Halle Berry in Monster's Ball.

There have been 4 black producers whose films were nominated for Best Picture. They were Quincy Jones for the Color Purple, Lee Daniels - Precious, Broderick Johnson - The Blind Side, and Reginald Hudlin - Django Unchained. None of the films won.

And to add a little known black history fact:

In 1967, there were two black actresses nominated for Best Supporting Actress; one was for Guess Who's Coming to Dinner? and the actress was Beah Richards. The other was for the film Thoroughly Modern Millie, and the actress was Carol Channing! (For more information, visit this Wikipedia page.)

List of African American Academy Awards Winners and Nominees

Little Known Black History Fact Of the Day

This is one that I know a LOT of people never knew, including myself! 

If asked what the first black newspaper was in America, what would you answer? It might be any one of several well-known papers; the Los Angeles Sentinel (1935-2005), the Philadelphia Tribune (1912-2001), the Baltimore AfroAmerican (1893-1988), the Chicago Defender (1910-1975),  or the Pittsburgh Courier (1911-2002). All of these newspapers hold various claims to fame, but the first black newspaper published in America was (drum roll please!) The Freedom Journal.

The Freedom Journal was the first black owned and operated newspaper in the United States. Its first edition came out on March 16th, 1827 in New York City, and was issued weekly until its demise in 1829. Samuel Cornish and John B. Russwurm were the co-editors until September 14th, 1827 when Cornish resigned. From 1829-1830 Cornish published The Rights of All.

Freedom's Journal provided international, national, and regional information on current events and contained editorials declaiming slavery, lynching, and other injustices. The Journal also published biographies of prominent African-Americans and listings of births, deaths, and marriages in the African-American New York community. Freedom's Journal circulated in 11 states, the District of Columbia, Haiti, Europe, and Canada.

For more information on Freedom's Journal, and other black owned and operated newspapers:

ProQuest Historical Newspapers
Freedom's Journal, the first African American newspaper

A Little Known Black History Fact

On this day in black history in 1959, the first play written by a woman of color premiered on Broadway. A Raisin in the Sun was the story of a black family living in a time of racial segregation in a large American city, in this case Chicago.  Lorraine Hansberry, the author, knew what it was like to grow up in an atmosphere of racism and segregation, as her family, in an attempt to move into a ‘better’ neighborhood, came up against a ‘racially restrictive covenant’ which stated that  people of color could not purchase or lease land in that community. The Hansberrys had challenged the restrictive covenant which led to the Supreme Court case of Hansberry v Lee. 

The name of the play came from a poem by author Langston Hughes in which he wrote: "What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?" (Wikipedia)

On March 11, 1959, A Raisin in the Sun opened on Broadway.

 

Wikipedia. (n.d.). Lorraine Hansberry. Retrieved March 11, 2014, from Wikipedia The Free Encyclopedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lorraine_Hansberry