2024-01 Raynors Americana Auction
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 1/20/2024
Broadside, 6" x 10", titled HEDGEHOG'S GRAND COMBINATION OF THE POWERS OF DARKNESS, WILL EXHIBIT AT JAKE KEY'S ROOST", May 5, 1870. A scarce and decidedly racist broadside advertising a faux rally to oppose African- American suffrage achieved through the Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which had been adopted earlier in 1870. The Fifteenth Amendment barred states and the federal government from denying the right of suffrage by reason of race, color, or previous condition of servitude. The songs include "Nigs, I want to be Sheriff," "The Evil Spirit is in me," "Hens and Chickens gone to roost," "XVth Amendment Exemplified," and "Benefits of Civil Rights Bill." The "performance" is scheduled to end with Professor Hedgehog's "celebrated feat of swallowing A LIVE NEGRO!" Another especially egregious assertion of the text reads, "During the performance of this celebrated troop, the Roost will be hermetically sealed so as to retain the delightful odor of the negroes." The admission notice at bottom claims that the "Front seats reserved for the Colored Ladies. No white folks admitted without special permission of Professor Hedgehog."
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