Click image to expandMay 21
On this date in 1862,
Edwin Christy, founder of Christy’s Minstrels (performances by white performers of “blackness” in exaggerated costumes and blackface make-up, supposedly for comedic effect, but relying on racist derision and stereotyping at its core, from the mid-19th century well into the 20th century), committed suicide by leaping to his death.
