White People Do Not Know How to Behave at Entertainments Designed for Ladies and Gentlemen of Colour

In August 1821, William Brown, a free man of color and a retired ship''s steward, opened a pleasure garden on Manhattan''s West Side. It catered to black New Yorkers, who were barred admittance to whites-only venues offering drama, music, and refreshment. Over the following two years, Brown expanded his enterprises, founding a series of theaters that featured African Americans playing a range of r...