"It sounds second class, but the music was first class entertainment:" Mapping the Chitlin Circuit.

Summary

Experiencing its heyday between the 1920s - 1960s, the Chitlin Circuit was the route between concert venues for black musicians and entertainers in eastern, southern, and mid-western America. Often located in African-American rural communities and segregated urban neighborhoods performers including Jimi Hendrix, Etta James, Gladys Knight, and Little Richard played on the circuit as they began their musical careers. The venues along the route frequently included other elements ranging from gambling halls and baseball fields to barbeque stands that were part and parcel of the circuit's character. With many of the sites and landscapes no longer extant, it becomes difficult to evaluate the significance of these places when encountered through archaeological and archictural survey. The inititive to map the circuit will be explored, along with the ways that archaology can play a role towards revelaing this lost musical landscape.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2018   •
• "You Can Feel It All Over" - Places of Popular Music Performance in Historical and Contemporary Archaeology

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 1072