2-944-965 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Swanee Minstrels, [193-]. 'Amesbury Post 187 A.L. Relief Fund...An All New Production of an Old Time Show!...Mirthful Musical Minstrel Melange - A Million Laughs! Swanee Minstrels - An Authentic Copy of America's Original Contribution to Theatre - 60 Black-Face Entertainers - Dixieland Band - Songs - Dances - Music - Comedy'. The Federal Theatre Project, created by the U.S. Works Progress Administration in 1935, was designed to conserve and develop the skills of theater workers, re-employ them on public relief, and to bring theater to thousands in the United States who had never before seen live theatrical performances. Some of the productions were minstrel shows, offensive musical plays featuring white performers wearing blackface and dressed in clownish outfits, denigrating African American people and perpetuating racist stereotypes.