Project Profile:

The Juba Project: Early Blackface Minstrelsy in Britain, 1842-1852

Archived Project

Website: https://library2.utm.utoronto.ca/otra/minstrels/

Description: The Juba Project, named after early minstrelsy’s most famous and most unusual early practitioner, explores this phenomenon both from a historical and a dramaturgical perspective. Links on this page will take you to the different parts of the project, including a database that will allow you to trace the movements of performers around Britain from 1842-1852 (Search the Database), a closer examination of some of the documents and one group of performers (Featured Performers & Documents — a good place to start), a performance-practice site that will explore the responses of contemporary artists to the documents and traditions of minstrelsy (Artists Respond), and information about a book of original essays on minstrelsy’s traditions and legacy, edited by Juba Project Director Stephen Johnson (Burnt Cork).

Contributors:

  • Stephen Johnson, Professor Emeritus, Department of English and Drama, University of Toronto Mississauga
  • Beth Marquis, Professor, Director of the Arts and Science Program, McMaster University.
  • Alexis Butler

Funders: SSHRC; Office of the Associate Dean, University of Toronto Mississauga; Office of the Dean, School of Graduate Studies, University of Toronto; Office of the Vice-President and Provost, University of Toronto; The Jackman Humanities Institute; The Connaught Foundation

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