Vaudeville and minstrelsy were their
first commercial products. Ironically, the first professional
entertainers to perform in minstrel shows were whites who were
imitating plantation slave productions. In the beginning, whites
performed in blackface, and, only later, did Negroes themselves
perform commercially. The spirituals were a religious
manifestation of the Afro-American heritage. They appear to have
been on the verge of disappearing when the "Fisk University
Singers", late in the nineteenth century, took steps to preserve
them. A choral group from Fisk was touring the country in order
to raise money for the school. They received only polite
appreciation. When, on one occasion, they decided to offer one
of their spirituals as an encore, the audience was enthusiastic.
Since then, spirituals have become a standard part of American
religious and concert music.
In short, even before the Negro Renaissance of the 1920s the
Afro-American community had made a basic contribution to American
culture, providing America with a peasant folk tradition of the
greatest importance.
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