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some white boys struck one of the horses in the show causing it to bled and fall. A four-year-old child performer was also attacked. The majority white audience also refused to pay for their tickets and the dressing room of the female performers in the company had to be guarded to keep out white men.
197:, and magician under his stage name of Professor Eph. He invested in his first circus in Appleton, Wisconsin, the Ferguson and Williams Monster Show in 1885. While stranded in Iowa, he partnered with Frank Skerbeck and his family, German
147:, he was the first Black circus owner in the United States in the 1880s, and he was likely the only Black circus owner in the country until his death. He owned several circuses including the
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newspaper reported that he was "the only Negro circus owner in
America" and owned 200 Arabian horses and employed 75 men. In 1901, he moved to Milwaukee where he opened
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described her as "one of the ablest business women of her race". One of their daughters, Josephine, billed as "Little Baby
Josephine", was also a child performer.
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189:. In Wisconsin Williams worked at the Briggs Hotel and the "saloon business" and took up "horse training as a hobby." Williams became an accomplished
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Based in
Wisconsin, this show was made up of fifteen railroad cars, fifty horses, and 150 people, and would tour every season until 1893.
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267:. Under Williams' ownership it became the longest-running Black-owned show, until it passed into white ownership after Williams died.
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He had an absence from touring until 1896 when he returned to
Medford to run the bar at the Hotel Winchester. In 1897, the
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In 1892 he married Rhoda Amelia Black (c.1862 - 1918), they had four children. She would often travel with the shows; the
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387:"Reconstruction, Railroads, and Race: The American Circus in the Gilded Age and the Progressive Era"
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Ragged but right : black traveling shows, "coon songs," and the dark pathway to blues and jazz
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By the summer of 1908, while in
Phoebus, Virginia, he partnered with William Baynard on
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450:. Internet Archive. Jackson : University Press of Mississippi. p. 98.
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Profiles of
African American stage performers and theatre people, 1816-1960
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Out of sight : the rise of
African American popular music, 1889-1895
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newspaper described him as "the only Negro circus owner in
America."
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Professor
Williams' Consolidated American and German Railroad Shows.
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Professor
Williams' Consolidated American and German Railroad Shows
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reported the violence faced by Black performers in the USA. In
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Blacks in Blackface: A Sourcebook on Early Black Musical Shows
472:"Ephraim Williams: Appleton's Entertainer Extraordinaire"
139:(July 19, 1860 – December 13, 1921) was an American
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393:. Cambridge University Press. pp. 44–45.
225:Baynard's and Eph Williams' Famous Troubadours
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584:20th-century African-American businesspeople
579:19th-century African-American businesspeople
389:. In Arrighi, Gilliam; Davis, Jim (eds.).
161:, which became one of the longest-running
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354:Loohauis-Bennett, Jackie (July 7, 2009).
165:in history. He called himself "The Black
356:"Troupe tells story of black performers"
185:, Williams spent his formative years in
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124: 1892; died 1918)
90:Circus proprietor; equestrian performer
81:Riverside Cemetery (Oshkosh, Wisconsin)
414:Sampson, Henry T. (October 30, 2013).
391:The Cambridge Companion to the Circus
257:" in bad weather, he invested in the
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521:. Greenwood Press. pp. 310–311.
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205:to tour small towns under the name
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16:American circus owner and performer
340:. University Press of Mississippi.
227:and he "started a tour across the
149:Ferguson and Williams Monster Show
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237:Eph Williams' Famous Troubadours
231:for the first time in my life."
312:. December 16, 1921. p. 4.
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539:American vaudeville performers
218:William's Great Northern Shows
1:
517:Peterson, Bernard L (2001).
476:Wisconsin Historical Society
260:Silas Green from New Orleans
158:Silas Green from New Orleans
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554:American circus performers
385:Hughes, Sakina M. (2021).
361:Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
559:American male equestrians
235:he was the sole owner of
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308:"Pioneer Showman Dies".
564:Black circus performers
549:American circus owners
498:"Along The Color Line"
263:, originally owned by
247:Cleveland, Mississippi
506:: 170. February 1913.
444:Abbott, Lynn (2002).
336:Abbott, Lynn (2007).
71:Jacksonville, Florida
544:Vaudeville producers
310:Oshkosh Northwestern
229:Mason and Dixie Line
183:Nashville, Tennessee
55:Nashville, Tennessee
478:. February 12, 2021
420:. Scarecrow Press.
255:dog-and-pony circus
265:Salem Tutt Whitney
253:After losing his "
187:Medford, Wisconsin
145:Prof. Eph Williams
111:Rhoda Amelia Black
457:978-1-57806-499-1
427:978-0-8108-8351-2
400:978-1-108-48516-6
169:". In 1897, the
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95:Years active
68:(aged 60–61)
23:Prof Eph Williams
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271:Personal life
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52:July 19, 1860
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480:. Retrieved
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289:Pablo Fanque
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141:circus owner
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77:Burial place
66:(1921-12-13)
574:1921 deaths
569:1860 births
167:P.T. Barnum
533:Categories
503:The Crisis
295:References
242:The Crisis
239:. In 1913
163:tent shows
48:1860-07-19
482:March 19,
367:March 19,
177:Biography
98:1885−1921
283:See also
181:Born in
277:Freeman
233:By 1909
214:Freeman
171:Freeman
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103:Spouse
120:(
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484:2024
452:ISBN
422:ISBN
395:ISBN
369:2024
201:and
61:Died
38:Born
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122:m.
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
