In the tumultuous social mix of late-19th century New York City, there were precious few ways that outsiders or newcomers could stake a claim to their piece of America's promise. And though the competition was fierce, some African Americans and Irish immigrants found their road to success led through the stage door.

Cultural historians Lenwood O. Sloan and Mick Moloney explore the vaudeville-era exchanges and rivalries between African Americans and Irish immigrants through the song, dance, and comedy of the popular performances of the time. Whether from Harlem or Hell's Kitchen, audiences first began to see their vernacular, their lives, and their identities reflected (and often caricatured) on vaudeville stages. That experience offered a new and wider visibility to these communities, provided new messages and means of assimilation, and turned performers and creators like Bert Williams and the team of Harrigan and Hart into influential stars.

In a lively program that follows entertainers from the periods of the cakewalk and ragtime to the beginnings of Tin Pan Alley and beyond, Sloan and Moloney reveal how show business created some unlikely but surprisingly potent connections between two very different groups striving to define their place on America's national stage.

Lenwood Sloan served as Pennsylvania's film commissioner and as director of the state's Cultural and Heritage Tourism program. Mick Moloney is a global distinguished professor of music and Irish studies at New York University.

Tickets are $20 for Smithsonian Associates Members and $25 for the general public. For more info, click here.    

Stitching Performed at the George Washington University