minstrel

These would influence the American musical, but also shaping the genre were homegrown entertainments—the minstrel show, the revues of Florenz Ziegfeld, vaudeville and burlesque.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 30, 2026

His father, who died when Marshall was 10, occasionally sang in a minstrel act and Marshall’s sister, actor Joanne Dru, worked as a showgirl at the Copa Club.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 15, 2024

However, the banjo's creation eventually became a blending between West African and European traditions mostly due to minstrel shows in the 1800s.

From Salon ● Feb. 15, 2024

“He wears the cloak and scepter of the American minstrel; he’s that guy,” said Bob Weir, a founding member of the Grateful Dead and Elliott’s longtime friend.

From New York Times ● Sep. 28, 2022

“And she appreciated your playing. Have you ever thought of trying out as a minstrel? They say Imre’s a good place for it.”

From "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss

My vision of Queens, when it’s perfect, is: There’s a hill with the sun behind it, and this crippled army of minstrels comes over the horizon.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 10, 2025

The composer and songwriter Stephen Foster, a white Pittsburgher, wrote the 1853 melody, which blackface minstrels made into a hit.

From Salon ● May 5, 2022

Meanwhile, abolitionist Frederick Douglass made it a point to become the era’s most-photographed man, in direct opposition to a culture drenched in racist images of minstrels and contented slaves.

From Washington Post ● Jul. 2, 2020

Not to mention “My Bathroom Is a Private Kind of Place” by the American Standards, minstrels of the American Standard Company, maker of toilets.

From New York Times ● Jul. 4, 2013

Even the minstrels who came in the back yards and sang were sad, too.

From "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" by Betty Smith