This historian dug up the hidden history of 'amateur' blackface in America

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https://www.npr.org/2026/03/09/nx-s1-5738478/darkology-blackface-rhae-lynn-barnes

This historian dug up the hidden history of 'amateur' blackface in America

MARCH 9, 202612:34 PM ET
HEARD ON FRESH AIR
Terry Gross

In 2013, historian Rhae Lynn Barnes was researching blackface in America when she encountered a stumbling block at the Library of Congress: Various primary sources on the subject were listed as "missing on shelf."

Barnes spoke to one of the librarians, and explained that she was writing a history of minstrel shows and white supremacy. Barnes says the librarian admitted that, in 1987, she had personally hidden some of these books because she feared the material would be used by the Ku Klux Klan.

…

On the slogan "Make America Great Again" originating from early 20th-century minstrel shows

"Make America Great Again" or "This Is Our Country" or "Take Back Our Country" are all slogans and songs that were very common in minstrel shows. And so a lot of minstrel shows reinterpreted slavery in a fantastical way,

… more… blackface makeup … Stephen Foster songs … WPA minstrel shows … much much more hidden history …

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1. Worth a read.

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2. Rec! Listening to the Fresh Aire episode now