Richard Potter: America’s First Black Celebrity

Apart from a handful of exotic — and almost completely unreliable — tales surrounding his life, Richard Potter is almost unknown today.

Two hundred years ago, however, he was the most popular entertainer in America — the first showman, in fact, to win truly nationwide fame. Working as a magician and ventriloquist, he personified for an entire generation what a popular performer was and made an invaluable contribution to establishing popular entertainment as a major part of American life. His story is all the more remarkable in that Richard Potter was also a black man, born to a slave. Hear the remarkable, compelling — and ultimately heartbreaking — story of Potter’s life, a tale of professional success and celebrity counterbalanced by racial vulnerability in an increasingly hostile world.

A book signing follows the event.