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Black History Month: 1900s

A guide celebrating African American [Black] History Month!

Scott Joplin
c.1868-1917

"The King of Ragtime." Writing more than 100 songs in the upbeat, dizzying ragtime style, plus ballet and two operas, and taking ragtime from a corner of Missouri to the rest of the world, Joplin’s music was so popular that ragtime itself declined after his early death. Joplin’s work brought African-American music major attention for the first time, bringing it into mainstream American culture, and helped pave the way for the coming of jazz and blues (Berlin).

Theodore Drury
(1867-1943)

Born in Kentucky, Drury was a singer and music promoter. A teacher of voice and piano, elocution, and French conversation, he co-produced with the African American company, Bizet's Most Famous Grand Opera, Carmen, in 1900. He was a singer in and the director of the Theodore Drury Opera Company, which performed regularly from 1900-1910 for Black and White audiences (Turner). The company was formed in New York in 1889. Drury also organized an all African American orchestra.