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Thomas Dilward

Thomas Dilward, also known by the stage name Japanese Tommy, was an African American dwarf who performed in the blackface minstrel show.

Dilward is one of only two known African Americans to have performed with white minstrel companies before the Civil War (the other being William Henry Lane). Dilward's size, between 23 and 36 inches in height, made him a "curious attraction"^[1] and allowed him to take to the stage with whites at a time when almost no black men did; in addition, his stage name may have been intended to hide the fact that he was an African American. He was also famous for his skills at singing, dancing, and playing the violin.

Dilward first performed with George Christy in 1853, possibly as a response to General Tom Thumb, a dwarf appearing in productions staged by P. T. Barnum. Into the late 1860s, he performed with Dan Bryant's Minstrels, Wood's Minstrels, the Morris Brothers' Minstrels, and Kelly and Leon's Minstrels. Beginning in the 1860s, he also appeared with a number of black minstrel troupes.

Modern writers, such as Mel Watkins, cite Dilward as possibly being one of the first black entertainers to present some element of authentic African American dance on the white American stage. He would also have had opportunity to present some degree of black comedy and song, but he probably did not stray far from the traditional, white-defined material.^[2]

1. ^ Toll 198.
2. ^ Watkins 109.

• Toll, Robert C. (1974). Blacking Up: The Minstrel Show in Nineteenth-century America. New York: Oxford University Press.
• Watkins, Mel (1994). On the Real Side: Laughing, Lying, and Signifying—The Underground Tradition of African-American Humor that Transformed American Culture, from Slavery to Richard Pryor. New York: Simon & Schuster.