Ernest Hogan (born Ernest Reuben Crowdus; 1865 – May 20, 1909) was the first

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ensl ...

entertainer to produce and star in a Broadway show (''The Oyster Man'' in 1907) and helped to popularize the musical genre of

ragtime Ragtime, also spelled rag-time or rag time, is a musical style that flourished from the 1890s to 1910s. Its cardinal trait is its syncopated or "ragged" rhythm. Ragtime was popularized during the early 20th century by composers such as Scott J ...

. A native of Bowling Green, Kentucky, as a teenager Hogan worked in traveling

minstrel show The minstrel show, also called minstrelsy, was an American form of racist theatrical entertainment developed in the early 19th century. Each show consisted of comic skits, variety acts, dancing, and music performances that depicted people spec ...

s as a dancer, musician, and comedian. In 1895 Hogan composed several popular songs, including " La Pas Ma La" and "All Coons Look Alike to Me". The success of the latter song created many derogatory imitations, known as "

coon song Coon songs were a genre of music that presented a stereotype of black people. They were popular in the United States and Australia from around 1880 to 1920, though the earliest such songs date from minstrel shows as far back as 1848, when they we ...

s" because of their use of

racist Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism ...

and

stereotypical In social psychology, a stereotype is a generalized belief about a particular category of people. It is an expectation that people might have about every person of a particular group. The type of expectation can vary; it can be, for example ...

images of black people. Hogan was considered one of the most talented performers and comedians of his day.''Tap Roots: The Early History of Tap Dancing'' by Mark Knowles, McFarland & Company, 2002, , pages 119-20. His contribution to the racist "coon song" craze haunted him—before his death he stated that he regretted using the racial slur in his song.

Early years

He was born Ernest Reuben Crowders in the Shake Rag District of Bowling Green, Kentucky, in 1865. Little to nothing is known about his childhood, but as a teenager, he traveled with a minstrel troupe called the Georgia Graduate, performing as a dancer, musician, and comedian. During this time he changed his name to Hogan because "Irish performers were in vogue." He would also claim that he took the name to honor a Judge Hogan of Bowling Green, for whom his mother had worked as a cook. A few years after changing his name to Hogan, Ernest started finding success in solo acts in New York City. Hogan likely performed in

blackface Blackface is a form of theatrical makeup used predominantly by non-Black people to portray a caricature of a Black person. In the United States, the practice became common during the 19th century and contributed to the spread of racial stereo ...

during this time, as he sometimes did later in his career.

Family life

Ernest Hogan was believed to have been married twice. He was first wed to a youthful singer named Mattie Wilkes. She was a popular soprano who had been performing in vaudeville shows with him; they married around 1901 or 1902. Hogan was later reportedly married to a woman named Louise, who helped him organize concerts in the early 1900s. The specific dates of these marriages are not known; Hogan did not have children with either of his wives.

His earliest ragtime composition

It was also during this time that Hogan created a comedy dance called the "La Pas Ma La" , which consisted of a walk forward with three steps back. In 1895, he wrote and composed a song based on this dance called "pasmala" . The song's chorus was: :Hand upon yo' head, let your mind roll back, :Back, back back and look at the stars :Stand up rightly, dance it brightly :That's the Pas Ma La. Hogan followed this song with the hit "All Coons Look Alike to Me". Hogan was evidently not the originator of the song's lyrics, having appropriated them after hearing a pianist in a Chicago salon playing a song titled "All Pimps Look Alike to Me".''Ragging It: Getting Ragtime into History (and Some History into Ragtime)'' by Loring White, iUniverse, 2005. xiv, 419 pp. , pages 99-100 Hogan merely changed the words slightly, substituting the word "coon" for "pimp"''Ragtime: A Musical and Cultural History'' by Edward A. Berlin, 2002, , page 35. and added a

cakewalk The cakewalk was a dance developed from the "prize walks" (dance contests with a cake awarded as the prize) held in the mid-19th century, generally at get-togethers on Black slave plantations before and after emancipation in the Southern Uni ...

syncopation to the music, which he had heard being played in back rooms and cafes.''Dvorak to Duke Ellington: A Conductor Explores America's Music and Its African American Roots'' by

Maurice Peress Maurice Peress (March 18, 1930 – December 31, 2017) was an American orchestra conductor, educator and author. After serving as assistant conductor of the New York Philharmonic under Leonard Bernstein beginning in 1961, Peress went on to stand ...

, Oxford University Press, 2003, page 39. The song eventually sold over a million copies.(23 July 1896)
From Thursday's Daily
''The Telegraph Courier'' ( Kenosha, Wisconsin), p. 2, col. 2 (reporting on appearance of Georgia University Minstrels on July 22, 1896 at Rhode Opera House in Kenosha: "The best song of the evening was 'All Coons Look Alike to Me,' composed by him a few days ago. The song was swing and go to it and ought to make considerable money for the author.") Hogan's use of the racial slur "coon" in the song infuriated many African Americans. Some black performers made a point of substituting the word "boys" for "coons" whenever they sang it. In addition, the success of this song created many imitations, which became known as "

s" because of their use of extremely racist and

images of blacks. In Hogan's later years he evidently felt shame and a sense of "race betrayal" for the song. Ironically, the word "coon" was more socially acceptable than "pimp" among white audiences of the time. The controversy over the song has, to some degree, caused Hogan to be overlooked as one of the originators of

, which has been called the first truly American

musical genre A music genre is a conventional category that identifies some pieces of music as belonging to a shared tradition or set of conventions. It is to be distinguished from '' musical form'' and musical style, although in practice these terms are som ...

. Hogan's songs were among the first published ragtime songs and the first to use the term "rag" in their sheet music copy. While Hogan made no claims to having exclusively created ragtime, fellow black musician Tom Fletcher said Hogan was the "first to put on paper the kind of rhythm that was being played by non-reading musicians." When the ragtime championship was held as part of the 1900 World Competition in New York, semifinalists played Hogan's "All Coons Look Alike to Me" to prove their skill.''The Music of Black Americans: A History'' by Eileen Southern, W W Norton & Co Inc, 1983, page 317. As Hogan said shortly before he died,

Death

In January 1908, Hogan collapsed onstage in New York and again in Boston while performing in "The Oyster Man." Forced to leave the show, Hogan spent the remainder of his life trying but failing to recuperate. He died from

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, ...

in Lakewood, New Jersey, on May 20, 1909.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hogan, Ernest 1865 births Hogan Ernest 19th-century African-American male singers African-American cultural history American entertainers Male actors from Kentucky Musicians from Bowling Green, Kentucky Ragtime composers Singers from Kentucky Songwriters from Kentucky Vaudeville performers African-American singer-songwriters 20th-century African-American male singers

Early years

Family life

His earliest ragtime composition

Death

See also

References