James A. Bland

James A. Bland (1854-1911), American entertainer and composer, born in Flushing, New York. Bland was one of the best-known black composers for the theatrical entertainment called the minstrel show. He was educated in Washington, D. C., where he graduated from Howard University in 1873. He went on to become a performer in minstrel shows, achieving his greatest success in Britain between 1882 and 1901. He wrote more than 700 songs, mostly for minstrel shows, among them “Carry Me Back to Old Virginny,” “In the Evening by the Moonlight,” and “Oh, Dem Golden Slippers.” Bland spent the latter years of his life in poverty and obscurity, and he died in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.