May 07, 2020 - Sale 2534

Sale 2534 - Lot 251

Price Realized: $ 2,750
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 3,000 - $ 4,000
(ENTERTAINMENT--THEATER.) Program for the Hyers Sisters Combination in Out of Bondage. Letterpress broadside, 10 3/4 x 4 1/4 inches; toning, minimal wear, dated in pencil. Peekskill, NY: Blade Steam Print, 10 January 1881
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Additional Details

The Hyers family were groundbreaking figures who brought African-American musical theater to the general public. Singing and acting sisters Anna Madah Hyers and Emma Louise Hyers were managed by their father Samuel B. Hyers. "Out of Bondage" was their best-known production, a story of slavery and emancipation with a black cast. The performance advertised here offers a long synopsis of the plot for Out of Bondage and a full cast list.
This playbill was printed by a newspaper in Peekskill, NY, presumably for a performance there. It is hand-dated 10 January 1881 in pencil. We know another performance was given the following evening in Port Jervis, NY, a day's journey from Peekskill.