How Pearl Hobson became the most popular African-American dancer and singer in Imperial Russia in the 1900s

Posted in Articles, Arts, Biography, Europe, Media Archive on 2022-01-20 02:25Z by Steven

How Pearl Hobson became the most popular African-American dancer and singer in Imperial Russia in the 1900s

Face2Face Africa
2021-07-15

Mildred Europa Taylor, Head of Content


Pearl Hobson poster, 1909. Public domain image

Pearl Hobson was among a number of African-American performers who left the United States in the 1900s to somewhat escape racism. At the time, groups like the Fisk Jubilee Singers were making waves abroad due to the popularity of African-American culture through performance art. Hobson also wanted to profit from the situation. And so she did as she became the most popular African-American dancer and singer in Imperial Russia.

The “Mulatto Sharpshooter,” as she was known, wowed elite audiences from St. Petersburg to Moscow by 1909 while living much of this period in Odessa, Ukraine in Southern Russia, as stated by one account. Not much is known about Hobson’s background. Born on July 7, 1879 in Lisbon, Bedford County, Virginia — even though some say she was born in Roanoke, Virginia — she worked as a maid before becoming a member of the Fencing Musketeers (also known as the Fencing Octoroons and Les Mousquetaires Noirs) which consisted of 11 Black women…

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