Joseph Bradford (1843–1886) was an American playwright who most famously helped write a landmark production, Out of Bondage, the first African American musical comedy.Composers and Music, California Sheet Music The show's cast included Pauline Hopkins and the Hyers Sisters, debuting in 1876. The production featured Sam Lucas, a famous minstrel performer of the era.Hill, pg. 71
A White Bostonian, Bradford was also an actor, poet and journalist. He wrote for the Boston Courier as "Jay Bee".
Works New German (1872) Law in New York (1873) 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1874) Libretto The Conditional Pardon (1875) Fritz's Brother (1875) Out of Bondage (1876) In and Out of Bondage (1877) Our Bachelors (1877)Augustus Thomas The Print of My Remembrance – Page 115 (2004) A.A. 1900 (1879) John Mishler (1882) One of the Finest (1883) A Wonderful Woman (1883) Cherubs (1885) Rose and Coe (1886)
References Citations
Sources Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography – Volume 1 – Page 348