Blackface/Yellowface
Location: University of Minnesota
Faculty PI: Josephine Lee, Professor of English
Libraries Team: Benjamin Wiggins, Yao Chen, Cecily Marcus, Marguerite Ragnow, Deborah Ultan
Sprint Activities and Accomplishments
Josephine utilized the sprint to embark on a research project about the historical relationship between yellowface and blackface. Beginning with a lengthy list of productions that feature both yellowface and blackface or African-American actors in yellowface, the team extensively searched primary sources for details of plays and roles at the intersection of blackface and yellowface. The team completed searches of all actors and productions on the list using multiple databases, particularly those that feature historical newspapers and archival sources. Josephine combed through our results in a staging folder and added relevant citations to a collaborative Zotero citation library.