A Gold Rush, Steamships, and Blackface: The New York Serenaders in San Francisco and India, early-1850s

The population of San Francisco increased dramatically within a few months of the discovery of gold in California in 1848. By 1849, improved transportation networks moved people, cargo, and news between the city and international destinations with ever-increasing efficiency and frequency, including to countries in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. The New York Serenaders, a six-person American blackface minstrel troupe, initially led by Bill White on violin, were part of the flood of entertainers that travelled to San Francisco in 1849.¹ Shortly after their arrival, they took advantage of the large number of ships departing the city to Pacific ports,