The Funniest Man: The Wit and Music of Bert Williams

FAIN: GN-50470-04

Society for American Music (Pittsburgh, PA 15260-0000)
Elizabeth Yates McNamee (Project Director: March 2004 to November 2005)

Consultation for a one-hour radio documentary about Bert Williams (1874-1922), an African American singer and comedian.

This request is for a consultation grant to explore production of a one-hour public radio documentary, a website and two features on African American comedian and musician Bert Williams (1874-1922). The story of Bert Williams will introduce radio audiences to the sounds of musical theater and comedy at the turn of the twentieth century. It will highlight an important cultural shift, the time when African American performers first began to appeal to urban northern white audiences -- before the advent of jazz, and during a time of ethnic conflict and social upheaval.