Bert Williams, the Bahamian-Born, Black American, British-Subject, Blackface Entertainer

Bert Williams was one of the most famous men in the world when he died. Many had heard his famous songs like “I’m a Jonah Man.” Some had seen his face on posters. A few had even got to see him perform live. He was born Egbert Austin Williams in Nassau, Bahamas in 1874 as a British subject. When he died in 1922, he was Bert Williams, the most famous Black American entertainer in the world. Bert Williams rose to fame by playing a Black American character in a way that would be most recognizable to Americans of all races – with burnt coal make-up and a Southern drawl. Williams always maintained a distance between himself, a prim and proper West Indian actor, and his character, the affable, blackened up American Negro, who he had affectionately named “Jonah Man.” Williams had seen the plight of Black Americans in the Jonah Man and he attempted to help others, primarily White people, see it as well. What he did not see in the Jonah Man was himself – not ethnically or nationally. While Williams did become a U.S. citizen in 1918, he maintained his pride in his British identity and believed himself to be West Indian, not American Negro. He never joined any civil rights organizations. In fact, performing for the King of Great Britain was one of his proudest moments. Many of his plays focused on pan-African issues that affected people of African descent across the diaspora, including the ways in which Black Americans had helped in imperial projects through their missionary work. This article examines the curious career of Bert Williams, and how he went from Bahamian-born British subject to beloved and then forgotten Black American star.