Fetaque Sanders

One performer spent twenty-five years touring the American South, bringing magic to people who had never seen it. Across those same twenty-five years, he struggled to find anywhere that would let him sleep.

Key achievements

1. Born on 12 May 1915 in Nashville, Tennessee.
2. Regarded as the most successful Black magician in America under Jim Crow.
3. Toured the American South for twenty-five years, reaching audiences who had never seen magic performed.
4. Toured with the USO during the Second World War, performing for African-American troops in the then-segregated armed forces.
5. On tour he often could not find a hotel that would take Black guests, and the strain of those years stayed with him.

From Nashville

He was born on 12 May 1915 in Nashville, Tennessee.

He is regarded as the most successful Black magician in America under Jim Crow.

Twenty-five years

Sanders toured the American South for twenty-five years.

It is worth sitting with that. Theatres open to Black audiences in the South were limited, and schools were segregated. The places he reached were, very often, places where nobody had had the chance to see magic performed.

Performing for people seeing magic for the first time is, in fact, extremely difficult work. The audience has no frame of reference — what is happening, what is impressive, how to respond, none of it is shared. The performer has to build all of it from nothing.

He did that for twenty-five years.

The USO tours

During the Second World War he toured with the USO.

He performed for African-American troops in the then-segregated United States armed forces — young men serving in the same military but placed in separate units.

Performing for people far from home, close to a war. Entertainment work carries a different weight under those conditions.

Nowhere to stay

And there is a fact that belongs in the record.

On tour, he often could not find a hotel that would take Black guests.

A performer applauded on stage, then spending the night looking for somewhere that would have him. That gap ran through all twenty-five years, and by his own account the strain of those years stayed with him for the rest of his life.

When we discuss a magician’s work we look almost entirely at the stage. But for a touring performer, travel and lodging are the work. For Sanders, that was the harshest part of it.

Why he is in this archive

His name has barely featured in the mainstream history of magic. Nor has Black Herman’s.

But without them there is no route by which magic reached Black communities in America at all. Somebody had to go to the people who were not admitted to the theatres. They went.

Sanders died in 1992. This archive states only what could be confirmed.

Notable works

• Twenty-five years of touring the American South
• His USO tours during the Second World War

Chronology

Only years that could be verified are listed.

1. 1915 Born on 12 May in Nashville, Tennessee
2. 1992 Dies