May Irwin Mrs. Black is Back Postcard

Description
Creator
Carter and Out Publishers, Creator
Media Type
Image
Item Type
Postcards
Description
Portrait/Postcard of May Irwin and Company in a scene from Mrs.Black is Back
Notes
May Irwin was a Canadian singer, songwriter, and comic performer who enjoyed popularity and prestige on the American stage from the late 1890s until the end of the 1910s. Key to Irwin’s popularity was her role as a “coon-shouter” and a performer of “coon songs,” deeply racist forms that emerge from minstrel musical traditions and blackface performances. Irwin’s considerable success was achieved via her reproduction of hate speech—speech which contributed to the oppression and death of many black persons in North America. For more information on Irwin’s life and her hate speech, see the following link: https://www.archeion.ca/campbell-georgina-may-1862-1938

Archives at Whitby Public Library maintains a collection of Irwin’s sheet music and associated ephemera. The sheet music in this archive is hate speech. The sheet music represents some of the most popular music of Irwin’s time, and as such constitutes important evidence of the anti-black racist and white supremacist ideologies that impacted and continue to influence Canada and America today. These ideologies are not condoned by Archives at Whitby Public Library, but the Archives has preserved such records in the hopes that, by encountering them, people will begin to think critically about and challenge historical and current racism.
Inscriptions
Handwritten in ink along bottom: Lancaster St. Albany, New York From Eva

Hand Written on verso: Miss Clara Miller, Now Baltimore, Mich.
Publisher
Garter and Out, Publishers, N.Y.
Place of Publication
New York
Date of Original
1904
Dimensions
Width: 6 in
Height: 4 in
Subject(s)
Personal Name(s)
Irwin, May
Local identifier
WA2012-01-04-003
Collection
May Irwin Collection
Language of Item
English
Copyright Statement
This item is protected by the Canadian Copyright Act and is intended for one-time use only. Uses other than research or private study require the permission of the rightsholder(s). It is your responsibility for obtaining these permissions.
Reproduction Notes
Scanned from original postcard.
Contact
Whitby Public Library
Email:archives@whitbylibrary.ca
Website:
Agency street/mail address:

405 Dundas Street West, Whitby, Ontario L1N 6A1

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