The Blackface Tradition in Western Wisconsin : Documenting Minstrelsy Performance & Reception History in Eau Claire

Abstract

Our goal with this project was to determine what documentary record of minstrel productions exists of performances that passed through Eau Claire during the receding years of the tradition, 1920-1925. For comparison, we also included the years 1930 and 1935 to see if the Great Depression had any impact upon the frequency or popularity of minstrelsy in Western Wisconsin. We concluded that minstrel productions were a very regular affair in Eau Claire through the 1920s and 1930s.