The blackface minstrel act was a very popular form of entertainment in 19th-century America.
The following year, there was talk of another minstrel show, but nothing happened.
His face blacked out with burnt cork, Rice perfected the act and sparked the tradition of the minstrel act.
So why are so many black artists so infatuated with the minstrel legacy?
Although there is no history of minstrel shows in Germany, Mr Schendel says "blackface is part of a theatre tradition" in Germany.
BBC: Germany's Schlosspark Theatre defends 'blackface' actor
In his minstrel-show costume, he could be as reckless as he wanted.
Artist Mark Steven Greenfield is one of several African-American artists who's using the iconic images of the blackface minstrel in his paintings and sculptures.
And in some ways, he says, the crude and outlandish images and behavior that typified the minstrel show are still evident in hip-hop and black comedy.
The most surprising musical movement that Hines foreshadowed, remarkably, was rap: In 1929, Hines himself performed a monologue in minstrel-show ebonics that could easily be done by Mos Def today.
WSJ: Fatha Played Well With Others | Earl Hines | By Will Friedwald
Even within the confines of musically narrow genres, Cooder allows himself room to stretch, manipulating the song structures of 1930s American music: minstrel folk, country ballads, blues and even the lounge jazz of Chet Baker.
Whatever its reputation, burlesque was no more than the latest version of a popular entertainment that had its origin in the 19th century in touring minstrel shows and which had expanded into permanent variety theatres to cater for the massive growth in America's population.
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