The Library of Congress > Linked Data Service > LC Subject Headings (LCSH)

Blackface entertainers


  • Here are entered works about members of primarily 19th and early 20th century entertainment groups in which comedians portrayed a caricature of Black people, generally by non-Black people, through the use of makeup, mannerisms, speech patterns, etc.
  • URI(s)

  • Variants

    • Black-face entertainers
    • Blackfaced entertainers
    • Entertainers, Blackface
    • Minstrels (Blackface entertainers)
  • Broader Terms

  • Related Terms

  • Closely Matching Concepts from Other Schemes

  • Narrower Concepts from Other Schemes

  • Sources

    • found: Work cat.: Leonard, W.T. Masquerade in black ... 1986.
    • found: Web. 3(makeup for Negro roles)
    • found: Bowman & Ball. Theater language(Black-face, blackface)
    • found: LC data base, 3/10/86.
    • found: PREMARC, 3/10/86.
    • found: Merriam Webster online, Aug. 19, 2019:minstrel (def. 3.a. a member of a type of performance troupe caricaturing black performers that originated in the U.S. in the early 19th century. Note: The acts of minstrels, who typically performed in blackface, featured exaggerated and inaccurate representations of black people in songs, dances, and comic dialogue. The popularity of minstrel shows in their heyday played a significant role in promoting negative racial stereotypes. Professional minstrel shows had fallen out of favor and effectively disappeared by the mid-20th century)
    • notfound: Britannica 14;Britannica Micro.;Britannica Macro.;Americana;Collier's;Ox. companion Am. theatre;Ox. companion theatre;Guinness book of theat. facts
  • LC Classification

    • PN2071.B58
  • General Notes

    • Here are entered works about members of primarily 19th and early 20th century entertainment groups in which comedians portrayed a caricature of Black people, generally by non-Black people, through the use of makeup, mannerisms, speech patterns, etc.
  • Example Notes

    • Note under [Minstrels.]
  • Instance Of

  • Scheme Membership(s)

  • Collection Membership(s)

  • Change Notes

    • 1986-04-28: new
    • 2023-07-27: revised
  • Alternate Formats