Birth of a Notion; Or, The Half Ain't Never Been Told: A Narrative Account with Entertaining Passages of the State of Minstrelsy & of America & the True Relation Thereof

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Birth Notion General Editors Michael Delp, Interlochen Center for the Arts M. L. Liebler, Wayne State University Advisory Editors Melba Joyce Boyd Wayne State University Stuart Dybek Western Michigan University Kathleen Glynn Jerry Herron Wayne State University Laura Kasischke University of Michigan Frank Rashid Marygrove College Doug Stanton Author of In Harm’s Way A complete listing of the books in this series can be found online at wsupress.wayne.edu Made in Michigan Writers Series Birth Notion; OR, The Half Ain’t Never BeenTold A Narrative Account with Entertaining Passages of the State of Minstrelsy & of America & the True Relation Thereof (from the Ha Ha Dark Side) as Written by Bill Harris Wayne State University Press Detroit © 2010 by Wayne State University Press, Detroit, Michigan 48201. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced without formal permission. Manufactured in the United States of America. 14 13 12 11 10 6 5 4 3 2 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Harris, Bill, 1941– Birth of a notion, or, the half ain’t never been told : a narrative account with entertaining passages of the state of Minstrelsy & of America & the true relation thereof (from the ha ha dark side) / as written by Bill Harris. p. cm. — (Made in Michigan writers series) ISBN 978-0-8143-3408-9 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. United States—Race relations—History—Poetry. 2. African Americans—Poetry. 3. Minstrel music. I. Title. II. Title: Birth of a notion. III. Title: Half ain’t never been told. PS3558.A6415B57 2010 811’.54—dc22 2009033732 Designed and typeset by s2dio, llc, Elizabeth Youngblood Composed in Cochin and Mesquite Std History, real solemn history, I cannot be interested in. . . . I read it a little as a duty; but it tells me nothing that does not either vex or weary me. The quarrels of popes and kings, with wars and pestilences in every page; the men all so good for nothing, and hardly any women at all. Jane Austen, Northanger Abbey This page intentionally left blank ...