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"I learned early in life not to judge others. We outcasts are very happy and content to leave that job to our social superiors." - Ethel Waters
Born in Philadelphia in 1896, Ethel Waters was discovered at age fourteen by two vaudeville booking agents while she was singing in a small Philadelphia bar. She was eventually referred to as “Sweet Mama Stringbean.” She then joined the Nugent vaudeville troupe, which performed around Baltimore. Her career skyrocketed after being the first woman to sing the “St. Louis Blues.” She would go on to become the first AA to star in her own television show and be nominated for a primetime Emmy. She was also a devoted advocate for actors rights and served on the executive council of Actors Equity and Negros Actors Guild of America. All in all, she was an incredibly impressive woman. She died in 1977 at age eighty from uterine cancer and kidney failure.
In her autobiography His Eye Is on The Sparrow (1951), she details the challenges she faced while navigating the predominantly white world of vaudeville. She recounts details of being denied opportunities or being limited in roles on the basis of her race. She goes on to describe unequal pay, facing public scrutiny, poor working conditions (especially in comparison to her white counterparts), difficulty finding accommodations/restaurants while on tour, and the constant pressure to prove herself and her talent.
The significance of vaudeville and the way it both contributed to negative racial stereotypes as well as provided marginalized people a place to perform and express themselves that they hadn’t had before is intriguing. To focus on the experiences of one black woman, in particular, will give us more insight into this. Vaudeville was a reflection of cultural and social norms, which was based on a system that placed white, male, heterosexual, able-bodied, and middle-class individuals at the top of the social order (Springhill, 2008). Those outside of these groups were portrayed as being inferior and treated as forms of entertainment rather than people. Vaudeville shows us the consequences of these constructed differences by revealing the ways in which some groups were denied equal access and opportunities to participate in society.
Vaudeville began in the 19th century and popularized offensive caricatures (“black face minstrelsy.”) This was easy to do given racist stereotypes were extremely prevalent at that time. Exaggerated features, dialects, and behaviors that were depicted in these performances reinforced beliefs that black people were in some way inferior. These beliefs are rooted in white supremacy. There is a level of dehumanization with blackface performances as it often reduces black people to objects. Objects to be ridiculed and mocked for the sake of amusement. Merely seen as a source of entertainment for a white audience. In having white people portray these black characters, blackface minstrelsy allowed for white people to maintain their dominant position. They had control over how black people are portrayed. White people had the authority to define the narrative of black people and their experiences. Given that white supremacy stems from power, we can clearly see the ways in which blackface minstrelsy only continued to perpetuate these racist narratives and stereotypes.
Despite the presence of racial stereotypes within vaudeville, it also provided one of the only spaces for AA performers and allowed a lot of them to foster successful careers (with Ethel Waters being a great example) That doesn’t diminish the challenges AA faced due to racism or segregation but rather acknowledges the way in which marginalized individuals were able to break down barriers and pave the way for those who came after them.
Since black face is such a prominent and remembered aspect of vaudeville, it’s relevant to dive a bit into how the history of minstrel shows began. The first minstrel show was performed in New York in the 1830’s by white performers who blackened their face (mostly using burnt cork or shoe polish). Alongside this, they often wore tattered and dirty clothing to mock enslaved African people. Specifically, a man named Thomas Darmouth Rice is regarded as the “Father of Minstresly” due to him developing the first well known blackface character “Jim Crow” in 1830. By 1845, minstrel had spread so much that it created a sub-industry of songs, makeup, and costumes (Blackface: The Birth Of An American Stereotype).
It was especially popular between the end of the civil war and the turn of century in Northern and Midwestern cities. These shows depicted black people as hypersexual, lazy, ignorant, and prone to thievery. If you look at our culture today, these are stereotypes and ideas about black people that continue to exist. There are political figures who run on these ideas to feed those with racist ideologies. There are laws, policies, and practices that further marginalize black people Not to say that these ideas began in vaudeville or ministry, but they continued to spread and perpetuate them.
These racist ideals continue to shape attitudes and perceptions for our society as a whole. In the instance of the cultural appropriation aspect of minstrel shows (taking aspects of black culture/people and exploiting it), we see very similar things today with cherry picking parts of black culture to exploit for personal gain. This is often seen through our media, and the addition of social media has even further highlighted the ways in which cultural appropriation still permeates through our culture.
While the popularity of vaudeville was declining by 1930, Ethel Waters career followed right along with it and she was no longer getting the money nor the attention she once had. Despite this, her career seemed to have a resurgence in the 1940’s when she appeared in some popular films at the time (“Cabin in the Sky,” “Pinky”). She also returned to Broadway where she received positive reviews for her performances.
She had complex romantic relationships and was married on three occasions with the first being at age thirteen. She died unmarried, and without children. She also suffered from substance abuse disorder and faced serious financial difficulties at different stages in her life.
In her later years, it seems like she really poured all of her focus back into her music. She performed in nightclubs and different venues, in addition to releasing several albums. One of these albums, Ethel Waters Sings Stormy Weather (1957) was critically acclaimed.
In the early 1970’s she began to face some health issues including uterine cancer for which she had to undergo surgery. She died in 1977 as a result of this cancer and other health issues at age eighty.
Despite the challenges Ethel Waters faced both personally and professionally, her legacy remains strong. She leaves behind a legacy of a pioneer in African American entertainment especially for black women. Beyond that, she was a fierce advocate for actors rights, especially the rights of black people wanting to work in the industry. During a time of racial segregation, she acted as a trailblazer in being one of the first African American woman to see success as an actress and singer in the early 20th century. By becoming a headlining vaudeville act, she broke down barriers that paved the way for other African American women and people. Because of this, she become an icon of the Harlem Renaissance which is a movement that celebrates African American art and literature. She became a role model for many aspiring African American and showcased that artistry and true talent knows no bounds.
REFERENCES
“Blackface: The Birth of an American Stereotype.” National Museum of African American History and Culture, 22 Nov. 2017,
Cofresi, Diana. “Vaudeville ~ about Vaudeville.” PBS, Public Broadcasting Service, 9 Feb. 2022
“Ethel Waters.” National Museum of African American History and Culture, 1 July 2021, nmaahc.si.edu/ethel-waters.
Humanities, National Endowment for the. “Chronicling America: Library of Congress.” News about Chronicling America RSS, chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/search/pages/results/?state=&date1=1770&date2=1963&proxtext= %22Ethel%2BWaters%22&x=0&y=0&dateFilterType=yearRange&rows=20&searchType=bas ic. Accessed 12 Nov. 2023.
Ipl.org. “How Did the Vaudeville Show an Important Form of Entertainment.” Essays, Research Papers, Term Papers, 5 May 2023.
Springhall, J. (2008). Vaudeville I: Rise and Decline of an Emergent Mass Culture. In: The Genesis of Mass Culture. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230612129_7
Waters, Ethel, et al. His Eye Is on The Sparrow: An Autobiography. Da Capo Press, 1992.
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