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The World's Greatest Minstrel Show under the Stars: Blackface minstrels, community identity, and the Lowell Showboat, 1932-1977

The Lowell Showboat, named Robert E. Lee, entertained thousands each summer with well-known performers including Dinah Shore, Pearl Bailey, Milton Berle, and Louis Armstrong. Alongside these entertainers, minstrels in blackface humored audiences with racial stereotyping. This September 18, 2019 talk featured Drs. Matthew Daley and Scott Stabler, along with George Bayard, executive director of the Grand Rapids African American Museum and Archive, and was co-sponsored by the Lowell Area Historical Museum.