{"history":[],"article":{"id":"7a49cb8c-71ad-4e7a-91ba-94857b9e48bd","title":"Tutt Brothers","slug":"tutt-brothers","content":":::summary\n:::\n\n# \n****Salem Tutt** Whitney** ( **Salem Tutt**; 15 November 1875 – 12 February 1934) and **J. Homer Tutt** ( **Jacob Homer Tutt**; 31 January 1882 – 10 February 1951), known collectively as the **Tutt Brothers**, were American [vaudeville](https://bliptext.com/articles/vaudeville) producers, writers, and performers of the late 19th and early 20th century.\nThey were also known as **Whitney & Tutt**, **Tutt & Whitney** and the **Whitney Brothers**.\nThey were prominent in black vaudeville and created over forty [revues](https://bliptext.com/articles/revues) for black audiences.\n# [From an advertisement in a 1922 newspaper | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4b/Tutt///Brothers///-///13///Jan///1922///Argus.jpg]\n\n# Biography\nSalem Tutt Whitney was born in [Logansport, Indiana](https://bliptext.com/articles/logansport-indiana) (birth-year varies: 1869, 1875, 1876, or 1878), as was his brother J. Homer Tutt.\nThey referred to themselves as brothers, and may have been half-brothers.\nWhitney originally intended to become a minister but later decided to become a performer, and left college.\nHe attended the [National School of Journalism](https://bliptext.com/articles/national-school-of-journalism) and gained amateur experience in acting, comedy and writing.\nFrom 1888 through 1905, the brothers performed in their traveling [tent show](https://bliptext.com/articles/tent-show) called [Silas Green from New Orleans](https://bliptext.com/articles/silas-green-from-new-orleans).\nThe show, which ran until the 1940s, was bought by circus owner [Ephraim \"Eph\" Williams](https://bliptext.com/articles/ephraim-williams-circus-owner) although the brothers never received payment.\nThey formed the [Smart Set Company](https://bliptext.com/articles/smart-set-company) in the 1910s, possibly taken over from [Sherman H. Dudley](https://bliptext.com/articles/sherman-h-dudley).\nFrom 1910 to 1925 Whitney and Tutt produced more than 40 [revues](https://bliptext.com/articles/revue) for black performers and audiences, writing and performing in the shows themselves.\nSome of their performers found fame in their own right, including blues singer [Mamie Smith](https://bliptext.com/articles/mamie-smith), who danced in the brothers' Smart Set as a teenager.\nOne of the Brothers' main productions was a musical farce called [George Washington Bullion](https://bliptext.com/articles/george-washington-bullion).\nStarring Whitney as a tobacco plantation owner, it was popular with audiences and ran for two decades.\nTheir musical Oh Joy! played on [Broadway](https://bliptext.com/articles/broadway-theatre) for four weeks.\nIt had originally starred [Ethel Waters](https://bliptext.com/articles/ethel-waters) when performed in Boston.\nBut when the only theatre space the Brothers could find in New York City was on a tennis court under a tent, Waters pulled out and was replaced by [Ethel Williams](https://bliptext.com/articles/ethel-williams-dancer).\nBoth of the brothers performed in [Marc Connelly](https://bliptext.com/articles/marc-connelly)'s play [The Green Pastures](https://bliptext.com/articles/the-green-pastures) (1930).\nThey also acted in films, spanning both silent films and talkies, including [Birthright](https://bliptext.com/articles/birthright-1924-film) (1924), directed by [Oscar Micheaux](https://bliptext.com/articles/oscar-micheaux) and adapted from a novel of the same name by [T. S. Stribling](https://bliptext.com/articles/t-s-stribling); [Marcus Garland](https://bliptext.com/articles/marcus-garland) (1925), [The Broken Violin](https://bliptext.com/articles/the-broken-violin-1928-film) (1927), and [A Daughter of the Congo](https://bliptext.com/articles/a-daughter-of-the-congo) (1930).\nSalem Tutt Whitney died in Chicago, February 12, 1934, and J. Homer Tutt died in Los Angeles, February 10, 1951.\n# [Salem Tutt Whitney | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3b/Tutt///Brothers///-///6///Jan///1922///Argus.jpg]\n\n# Works\n

\"Love Me Anywhere\"

\"Manyanna\" (\"Land of To-morrow\")

\"Old Kentucky Blues\"

\"Dear Old Southern Moon\"

\n\n\n# Family\nSalem Tutt Whitney was married three times, his first to Emma A. Baynard (1872–1908) (her second marriage).\nThey married May 6, 1903, in [Philadelphia](https://bliptext.com/articles/philadelphia) at Crucifixion Episcopal Church – Rev. Henry Laird Phillips (1848–1947), officiating.\nRev. Phillips, in 1877, became the first African-American rector of the Crucifixion Church in 1877.\nBaynard was a sister of William Andrew Baynard, a pianist, who, with Salem and Emma, had, in 1900, performed with the Oriental Troubadours.\nEmma was a soporano and [prima donna](https://bliptext.com/articles/prima-donna) with the Troubadours.\nShe previously, on March 17, 1897, in [Williamstown, Pennsylvania](https://bliptext.com/articles/williamstown-pennsylvania), married Lewis E. Puggsley (1858–1935), an operatic tenor soloist, with whom she had a son, Baynard Lewis Puggsley (1898–1956).\nLewis Puggsley was a brother of Charles Henry Puggsley (1868–1932), who, in 1900, was second tenor and soloist with the Oriental Troubadours.\n\n# Copyrights\n\n## Copyrights\n

\n\n––––––––––––––––––––\n\n## Annotations","current_revision":null,"created_by":"kACnuQmH5k9Nr5VNVEpVeg7XpvUmMctD","created_at":"2025-01-26T12:35:14.683Z","updated_at":"2025-01-26T12:35:14.683Z","search_vector":"'brother':2 'tutt':1","search_content":" \n \n\n# \n****Salem Tutt** Whitney** ( **Salem Tutt**; 15 November 1875 – 12 February 1934) and **J. Homer Tutt** ( **Jacob Homer Tutt**; 31 January 1882 – 10 February 1951), known collectively as the **Tutt Brothers**, were American [vaudeville](https://bliptext.com/articles/vaudeville) producers, writers, and performers of the late 19th and early 20th century.\nThey were also known as **Whitney & Tutt**, **Tutt & Whitney** and the **Whitney Brothers**.\nThey were prominent in black vaudeville and created over forty [revues](https://bliptext.com/articles/revues) for black audiences.\n# [From an advertisement in a 1922 newspaper | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4b/Tutt///Brothers///-///13///Jan///1922///Argus.jpg]\n\n# Biography\nSalem Tutt Whitney was born in [Logansport, Indiana](https://bliptext.com/articles/logansport-indiana) (birth-year varies: 1869, 1875, 1876, or 1878), as was his brother J. Homer Tutt.\nThey referred to themselves as brothers, and may have been half-brothers.\nWhitney originally intended to become a minister but later decided to become a performer, and left college.\nHe attended the [National School of Journalism](https://bliptext.com/articles/national-school-of-journalism) and gained amateur experience in acting, comedy and writing.\nFrom 1888 through 1905, the brothers performed in their traveling [tent show](https://bliptext.com/articles/tent-show) called [Silas Green from New Orleans](https://bliptext.com/articles/silas-green-from-new-orleans).\nThe show, which ran until the 1940s, was bought by circus owner [Ephraim \"Eph\" Williams](https://bliptext.com/articles/ephraim-williams-circus-owner) although the brothers never received payment.\nThey formed the [Smart Set Company](https://bliptext.com/articles/smart-set-company) in the 1910s, possibly taken over from [Sherman H. Dudley](https://bliptext.com/articles/sherman-h-dudley).\nFrom 1910 to 1925 Whitney and Tutt produced more than 40 [revues](https://bliptext.com/articles/revue) for black performers and audiences, writing and performing in the shows themselves.\nSome of their performers found fame in their own right, including blues singer [Mamie Smith](https://bliptext.com/articles/mamie-smith), who danced in the brothers' Smart Set as a teenager.\nOne of the Brothers' main productions was a musical farce called [George Washington Bullion](https://bliptext.com/articles/george-washington-bullion).\nStarring Whitney as a tobacco plantation owner, it was popular with audiences and ran for two decades.\nTheir musical Oh Joy! played on [Broadway](https://bliptext.com/articles/broadway-theatre) for four weeks.\nIt had originally starred [Ethel Waters](https://bliptext.com/articles/ethel-waters) when performed in Boston.\nBut when the only theatre space the Brothers could find in New York City was on a tennis court under a tent, Waters pulled out and was replaced by [Ethel Williams](https://bliptext.com/articles/ethel-williams-dancer).\nBoth of the brothers performed in [Marc Connelly](https://bliptext.com/articles/marc-connelly)'s play [The Green Pastures](https://bliptext.com/articles/the-green-pastures) (1930).\nThey also acted in films, spanning both silent films and talkies, including [Birthright](https://bliptext.com/articles/birthright-1924-film) (1924), directed by [Oscar Micheaux](https://bliptext.com/articles/oscar-micheaux) and adapted from a novel of the same name by [T. S. Stribling](https://bliptext.com/articles/t-s-stribling); [Marcus Garland](https://bliptext.com/articles/marcus-garland) (1925), [The Broken Violin](https://bliptext.com/articles/the-broken-violin-1928-film) (1927), and [A Daughter of the Congo](https://bliptext.com/articles/a-daughter-of-the-congo) (1930).\nSalem Tutt Whitney died in Chicago, February 12, 1934, and J. Homer Tutt died in Los Angeles, February 10, 1951.\n# [Salem Tutt Whitney | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3b/Tutt///Brothers///-///6///Jan///1922///Argus.jpg]\n\n# Works\n \"Love Me Anywhere\" \n \"Manyanna\" (\"Land of To-morrow\") \n \"Old Kentucky Blues\" \n \"Dear Old Southern Moon\" \n \n\n# Family\nSalem Tutt Whitney was married three times, his first to Emma A. Baynard (1872–1908) (her second marriage).\nThey married May 6, 1903, in [Philadelphia](https://bliptext.com/articles/philadelphia) at Crucifixion Episcopal Church – Rev. Henry Laird Phillips (1848–1947), officiating.\nRev. Phillips, in 1877, became the first African-American rector of the Crucifixion Church in 1877.\nBaynard was a sister of William Andrew Baynard, a pianist, who, with Salem and Emma, had, in 1900, performed with the Oriental Troubadours.\nEmma was a soporano and [prima donna](https://bliptext.com/articles/prima-donna) with the Troubadours.\nShe previously, on March 17, 1897, in [Williamstown, Pennsylvania](https://bliptext.com/articles/williamstown-pennsylvania), married Lewis E. Puggsley (1858–1935), an operatic tenor soloist, with whom she had a son, Baynard Lewis Puggsley (1898–1956).\nLewis Puggsley was a brother of Charles Henry Puggsley (1868–1932), who, in 1900, was second tenor and soloist with the Oriental Troubadours.\n\n# Copyrights\n\n## Copyrights\n \n \n \n \n \n––––––––––––––––––––\n\n## Annotations","revisionCount":0},"hasMore":false,"nextCursor":null}

History