White Bostonian Joseph Bradford (1843–1886) was an American playwright who most famously helped write a landmark production, ''Out of Bondage'', the first

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

musical comedy Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movemen ...

, with

Pauline Hopkins Pauline Elizabeth Hopkins (1859 – August 13, 1930) was an American novelist, journalist, playwright, historian, and editor. She is considered a pioneer in her use of the romantic novel to explore social and racial themes, as demonstrated ...

and the

Hyers Sisters The Hyers Sisters, Anna Madah (ca. 1855 – 1929) and Emma Louise (ca. 1857 – 1901), were singers and pioneers of black musical theater. With Joseph Bradford and Pauline Hopkins, the Hyers Sisters produced the "first full-fledged musical plays ...

, debuting in 1876. The production featured Sam Lucas, a famous minstrel performer of the era. Bradford was also an actor, poet and journalist. He wrote for the

Boston Courier The ''Boston Courier'' was an American newspaper based in Boston, Massachusetts. It was founded on March 2, 1824, by Joseph T. Buckingham as a daily newspaper which supported protectionism. Buckingham served as editor until he sold out completely ...

as "Jay Bee".

Works

*''New German'' (1872) *''Law in New York'' (1873) *''

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea ''Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas'' (french: Vingt mille lieues sous les mers) is a classic science fiction adventure novel by French writer Jules Verne. The novel was originally serialized from March 1869 through June 1870 in Pierre-J ...

'' (1874) Libretto *''The Conditional Pardon'' (1875) *''Fritz's Brother'' (1875) *''Out of Bondage'' (1876) *''In and Out of Bondage'' (1877) *''Our Bachelors'' (1877)Augustus Thomas
''The Print of My Remembrance – Page 115''
(2004) *''A.A. 1900'' (1879) *''John Mishler'' (1882) *''One of the Finest'' (1883) *''A Wonderful Woman'' (1883) *''Cherubs'' (1885) *''Rose and Coe'' (1886)

References

Citations

Sources

* Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography – Volume 1 – Page 348 * * 1843 births 1886 deaths 19th-century American dramatists and playwrights {{US-playwright-stub