Editing Vaudeville (section)

==Black vaudeville==
{{Main article|Black Vaudeville}}
[[File:The Andersons (49997689688).jpg|thumb| Albert and Mamie Anderson performed as a comedy duo with [[Sam T. Jack|Sam T. Jack's]] Creole Show and ran their own touring company, Lady Africa, in the early 1900s.]]

Black performers and patrons participated in a racially segregated Vaudeville circuit. Though many popular acts like Lewis and Walker, [[Ernest Hogan]], [[Irving Jones]], and the [[Hyers Sisters]] played to both white and black audiences, early Vaudeville performances for white audiences were limited to one Black act per show, and performers faced discrimination in restaurants and lodging. Entertainers and entrepreneurs like [[Whitman Sisters|The Whitman Sisters]], [[Pat Chappelle|Pat Chapelle]] and [[John William Isham|John Isham]] created and managed their own touring companies; others took on theater ownership and management and created Black Vaudeville circuits, as was the case for [[Sherman H. Dudley]] and the [[Griffin Sisters]]<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Scott |first1=Michelle R. |title=These Ladies Do Business with a Capital B: The Griffin Sisters As Black Businesswomen in Early Vaudeville |journal=The Journal of African American History |date=2016 |volume=101 |issue=4 |pages=469–503 |doi=10.5323/jafriamerhist.101.4.0469 |jstor=10.5323/jafriamerhist.101.4.0469 |s2cid=151662539 |issn=1548-1867}}</ref> Later, in the 1920s, many bookings were managed by the [[Theatre Owners Booking Association]].<ref name="Kearns">{{cite web |last1=Kearns |first1=Amber |title=African-American Vaudeville: Separate and Unequal |url=https://vaudeville.sites.arizona.edu/2023/03/28/african-american-vaudeville-separate-and-unequal-by-amber-kearns/ |website=American Vaudeville |publisher=University of Arizona |access-date=29 January 2024}}</ref>

African-Americans challenged the prevailing [[Blackface]] stereotypes played by white performers by bringing their own authenticity and style to the stage, composing music, comedy and dance routines and laying the groundwork for distinctly American cultural phenomena like [[blues]], [[jazz]], [[ragtime]] and [[tap dance]]. Notable Black entertainers in Vaudeville included comedians [[Bert Williams]], and [[George Walker (vaudeville)|George Walker]], dancer/choreographer [[Aida Overton Walker|Ada Overton Walker]], and many others.<ref name="Kearns" /> Black songwriters and composers like [[Bob Cole (composer)|Bob Cole]], [[Ernest Hogan]], [[Irving Jones]], [[J. Rosamond Johnson|Rosamond Johnson]], [[George W. Johnson (singer)|George Johnson]], [[Tom Lemonier]], [[Gussie Davis|Gussie L. Davis]], and [[Chris Smith (composer)|Chris Smith]], wrote many of the songs that were popularized onstage by white singers, and paved the way for [[African-American musical theater]].<ref name="LOC">{{cite web |title=African-American Performers on Early. Sound Recordings |url=https://www.loc.gov/item/ihas.200038862/ |publisher=Library of Congress |access-date=30 January 2024}}</ref>