Whitman Sisters

Mabel (May) (ca.1880-1942), Essie (1882-1963), Alberta "Bert" (ca. 1887-1963) and Alice (ca. 1900-1969) Whitman, known as the Whitman Sisters were African-American women stars of Black Vaudeville.^{[1][2][3][4][5][6]} Despite their forty years of popularity, from the late 1890s to the late 1930s, information about them all but disappeared.^[7] They left no film, nor sheet music, and close to no records. They were interviewed in the 1960s by Jean and Marshall Stearns, who included a chapter about the Whitmans in their work Jazz Dance.^[8] Their full role was uncovered by the efforts of African American Theater Studies scholar Nadine George-Graves, who analyzed a wealth of local and regional publications.^[9]

At one time their acted as the Danzette Sisters^[10] (or "Daznette Sisters" by other sources ^[3])

George-Graves writes The Whitman Sisters were the highest paid act in the Vaudeville circuit. They were a singing and dancing act. The sisters started performing for their church. Later, the two older sisters (Mabel and Essie) were invited to perform in New York by George Walker but their father and manager said no so they stayed to finish their education. The sisters continued performing in the south. While the sisters claimed to have performed in England for King George V, George-Graves was not able to find evidence to support this. The sisters started a company called The Whitman Sisters’ New Orleans Troubadours, initially as a trio (Alberta, Mabel and Essie; Alice joined them in 1909). They added other acts such as Bill “Bojangles” Robinson. Many other actors started or advanced their careers with Whitman Sisters' company. People of all races enjoyed their show. Even after Vaudeville was no longer in its prime, they continued to perform in theaters and churches around the nation and were admired by all types of audience members.^[11]

Other artists of the company

• Leonard Reed (1925)
• Willie Bryant (1926)
• Jeni LeGon (1931) ^[12]
• Bill “Bojangles” Robinson

References

1. Notable Black American Women, Book 2 ed. Jessie Carney Smith, 1996, ISBN 0810391775, pp.707-709
2. "Whitman Sisters (biography)", Library of Congress
3. Vaudeville old & new: an encyclopedia of variety performances in America, Volume 1, ISBN 0415938538, pp. 1199-1200
4. Bill Reed, Hot from Harlem: Twelve African American Entertainers, 1890-1960, McFarland, 2009, ISBN 0786457260, Section "The Queens of Toby Time: Whitman Sisters", pp. 29-41
5. " Alice Whitman and the Whitman Sisters’ Legacy", International Tap Dance Hall of Fame
6. "Whitman Sisters" at streetswing.com
7. "The Whitman Sisters", American Vaudeville Museum
8. Stearns, Marshall Winslow; Stearns, Jean (1968-01-01). Jazz dance; the story of American vernacular dance. New York: Macmillan.
9. "The Whitman Sisters: Why We May Never Silence Them"
11. George-Graves, Nadine. The Royalty of Negro Vaudeville: The Whitman Sisters and the Negotiation of Race, Gender and Class in African American Theatre, 1900-1940, New York: St. Martin's Press, 2000.
12. JENI LEGON