Description
“John Blake Rice’s Second Chicago Theater and the Rise of Celebrity in the United States” is the third chapter of the Loyola University Chicago dissertation, “Factories of Fame: Production of American Popular Culture in Nineteenth-Century Chicago Theaters.” This chapter charts the life of John Blake Rice’s Chicago Theater, the city’s first permanent commercial theater, from 1851 to 1857. Analysis of Rice’s handwritten “Weekly Account Book for Rice's Theater” illustrates the theater’s place in an emerging national star system made possible by the infrastructural components of industrial capitalism–namely, transportation and information technologies. An examination of Rice’s accounting of payments to actors shows the value of fame in antebellum America. At his theater, Rice transformed the fame of actor-celebrities into capital and ultimately, membership in the city’s class of industrialists. He then used his access to win the mayoral election during the Civil War. This examination of Rice’s career illustrates the function of celebrity in nineteenth-century political economy and the early stages of American consumerism.
About the Speaker
Anthony Stamilio is a PhD candidate in Loyola University Chicago’s dual degree program in United States History and Public History with a focus on urban and cultural history in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. His dissertation “Factories of Fame: Production of American Popular Culture in Nineteenth-Century Chicago Theaters” charts the role of celebrity in American culture and commerce by examining Chicago’s nineteenth-century theaters. As a public historian, he has worked on interpretation and public programing at the National Hellenic Museum, the Winnetka Historical Society, and the Women and Leadership Archives. He recently worked on the Newberry Library’s McNickle Center for Indigenous Studies’ “Indigenous Chicago Project.” He is especially interested in public memory in tourism in American cities.
Respondent
Lauren Sklaroff, University of South Carolina
About the History of Capitalism Seminar Series
The History of Capitalism Seminar provides a works-in-progress forum for work from scholars at all levels. Proposals may consider a variety of subjects, including the history of race and racism, gender and feminist studies, intellectual history, political history, legal history, business history, the history of finance, labor history, cultural history, urban history, and agricultural history. Elizabeth Tandy Shermer (Loyola University Chicago) and Andrew Hartman (Illinois State University) are the co-coordinators of the seminar.
Register
This event is free, but all participants must register in advance. Space is limited, so please do not request a paper unless you plan to attend.
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