Edwin Pearce Christy
Edwin Pearce Christy | |
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Manhattan, New York City , US |
Edwin Pearce Christy (November 28, 1815 – May 21, 1862) was an American composer, singer, actor and stage producer. He is more commonly known as E. P. Christy, and was the founder of the blackface minstrel group Christy's Minstrels.[1] He toured England performing.[2]
Biography
He was born on November 28, 1815, in
Christy began his career as a
Christy retired as a performer in 1855.[3]
He operated a chain of theaters called Christy's Opera Houses in several cities. The name of the original group, Christy's Minstrels, was licensed for use by a new organization and became synonymous with the performance tradition of blackface minstrelsy.[3]
Fearful of financial reverses due to the upheaval of the
Legacy
Christy is played by Al Jolson in the Foster bio-pic Swanee River in 1939. He also wrote the lyrics to "The Yellow Rose of Texas".
Music publications
- Christy's Plantation Melodies
Songs
- "Lucy Long"
- "Yaller Gals"
- "Oh, Mr. Coon"
- "Licy Newl"
- "Snow Drop Ann"
- "The Negro Generals"
- "Farewell Ladies"[8]
- "Massa's in De Cold Ground"
References
- ^ "The Millionaire Negro-Singer" (PDF). The New York Times. February 9, 1857.
... having made a princely fortune out of burnt cork and Ethiopian melodies now lives the life of a wealthy and fashionable New-Yorker. ... His wealth is prodigious, and, as he has been economical and laborious while earning it, he feels authorized to spend it freely.
- ^ https://daily.jstor.org/christys-minstrels-go-to-great-britain/?utm_term=Christy2019s%20Minstrels%20Go%20to%20Great%20Britain&utm_campaign=jstordaily_03282024&utm_content=email&utm_source=Act-On+Software&utm_medium=email
- ^ a b c d e "Edwin Pearce Christy archive". University of Pennsylvania. Retrieved 2016-12-15.
- ^ Buffalo Courier July 8, 1894 p. 18; Buffalo Courier July 29, 1917
- ^ "The Death Of E. P. Christy". The New York Times. May 22, 1862.
- ^ "The E. P. Christy Will Case". The New York Times. October 28, 1862.
- ^ "Mrs. Christy's Estate. Litigation Over Property Left By A Noted Minstrel's Widow". The New York Times. December 11, 1881.
- ^ https://daily.jstor.org/christys-minstrels-go-to-great-britain/?utm_term=Christy2019s%20Minstrels%20Go%20to%20Great%20Britain&utm_campaign=jstordaily_03282024&utm_content=email&utm_source=Act-On+Software&utm_medium=email
Further reading
- Lott, Eric (1993). Love and Theft: Blackface Minstrelsy and the American Working Class. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-509641-X.. p. 171.
- Edwin Pearce Christy at the Internet Archive
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