“Sometimes you play for the chitlins, that’s what you would get,” said Bobby Rush, a blues musician and self-proclaimed “King of the Chitlin Circuit,” in a 2021 interview for the Nashville Tennessean. “We played so well in Argo, Illinois, not Chicago, a suburb of Chicago, the guy [gave] us two plates of chitlins and four hamburgers.”
Rush was describing his experience on the informal network of Black-centered entertainment venues brilliantly nicknamed “The Chitlin Circuit.” Chitlins, short for “chitterlings,” are fried or stewed animal intestines, usually from hogs. An iconic dish in African American food traditions, they have a working-class vibe, even though the dish has shown up at high-class affairs. It’s a fantastic and meaty metaphor for the ad-hoc collection of churches, jook joints, nightclubs, restaurants, and theaters that inspired dreams of fame and fortune for many noteworthy Black entertainers such as Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, Jimi Hendrix, and Tina Turner. It’s hard to name a Black entertainer in the 20th century who didn’t perform on the circuit, which inspired many myths and misconceptions. To this day, the Chitlin Circuit remains a potent symbol of resilience in African American creative culture.
The Chitlin Circuit’s enduring mystique owes much to the fact that its early history is relatively undocumented. The circuit’s early roots can be traced to vaudeville, the nickname for a type of popular entertainment that emerged in the 1800s, as well as the venues where such performances took place. The term originated in France but migrated to the United States. Run by whites, vaudeville’s comedies, dance routines, minstrel shows, musical acts, and staged plays were more about pleasing the masses rather than high art. In the late 1800s, B.F. Keith and E.F. Albee are generally recognized as the first people to organize a standardized system of venues in the United States where talent was booked for specific engagements at vaudeville venues.
Unsurprisingly, African American performers languished in an industry controlled by white booking agents. They had little leverage—Jim Crow segregation limited where they could perform and safely travel. In 1911, an African American man named Sherman Dudley created his own theatrical touring company, purchased numerous entertainment venues, and unionized African American artists. Dudley’s circuit thrived for several years until the white-owned-and-operated Theater Owners’ Booking Association (TOBA) was formed in 1921. TOBA dominated the southern states market and squeezed out competition from Dudley. Seeing the writing on the wall, Dudley merged his circuit into TOBA and eventually managed the company’s Washington, D.C. office. TOBA dissolved in the 1930s, primarily because of the Great Depression and alleged mismanagement by the main principals.