On this day, August 19, in 1929

Due to its huge success as a local radio series, the show "Amos n' Andy" debuted on the NBC Blue Network, and three months later expanded again in its coast-to-coast debut. The two white men who created Amos n' Andy voiced the shows black characters mocking black dialect and using minstrel-style stereotypes to produce one of the most popular situation comedies in the United States. Although a couple of activists and groups protested the Amos n' Andy show due to its racially offensive material, the show continued to be successful well into the 50's. By evaluating Amos n' Andy's connection to 19th Century minstrel shows and analyzing its unique place in American radio history, some interesting questions emerge about minstrelsy and blackface, particularly white men in blackface.