minstrel

This song, also known as “The Old Folks at Home,” became the most-performed song of 19th-century minstrel shows, and was adopted as the state song of Florida, through which the Suwannee River flows, in 1935.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 1, 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

It was there that he began to imbibe the crazy quilt music of the South, with blues and jazz filtered through snatches of country and the minstrel and medicine shows that traveled through town.

From New York Times ● May 29, 2022

But soon the minstrel plucked his note once more to please the Phaiakian lords, who loved the song; then in his cloak Odysseus wept again.

From "The Odyssey" by Homer

How did this music surpass its muses from the holds to the plantation to the medicine shows and minstrels and brothels and jukes, to the Grammys red carpet, lavish video shoots and MTV Cribs?

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 1, 2023

During the Middle Ages, minstrels were retained by royal courts to provide pleasant atmosphere.

From Washington Post ● Dec. 23, 2022

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

About half the book covers engravings on teeth; sailors illustrated creamy spikes with ships, flags, Polynesian dancers, Austro-Hungarian minstrels and dentists.

From New York Times ● Jan. 10, 2013

“If you merry minstrels want to knock off, you can,” says Mr. Van Deusen.

From "Shine!" by J.J. and Chris Grabenstein