Making Authenticity: Polk Miller and the Evolution Of American Popular Culture

This thesis examines the life and musical career of James Polk Miller of Richmond Virginia, a Confederate veteran, and successful pharmacist. Miller claimed to offer the only authentic version of antebellum slave music, and was renowned as a convincing negro delineator. In his focus on race, performance, and authenticity, Miller straddled a number of cultural currents linking him to his nineteenth century predecessors as well as the cultural milieu of the twentieth century. About the turn of the century, he added a black quartet to his act in order to more fully capture his conception of the authentic slave music of his youth, a decision that ultimately led to his failure as a stage performer. Audiences\u27 receptions of Miller\u27s quartet illuminate the dynamic way in which performance and race intersected in the early twentieth century