Sherman H. Dudley

Biography

Sherman Houston Dudley (1872 – March 1, 1940) was an African-American vaudeville performer and theatre entrepreneur. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth century he was a performer, composer of ragtime songs, and member and later owner of various minstrel shows including the Smart Set Company. Dudley was one of the first African Americans to combine business with theater, by starting a black theater circuit, in which theaters were owned or operated by African Americans and provided entertainment by and for African Americans.

Explore Wikipedia contributors ↗