Joseph Bradford (playwright)

White Bostonian Joseph Bradford (1843–1886) was an American playwright who most famously helped write a landmark production, Out of Bondage, the first African American musical comedy, with Pauline Hopkins and the Hyers Sisters, debuting in 1876. The production featured Sam Lucas, a famous minstrel performer of the era.

Bradford was also an actor, poet and journalist. He wrote for the Boston Courier as "Jay Bee".

Works

 * New German (1872)
 * Law in New York (1873)
 * 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1874) Libretto
 * The Conditional Pardon (1875)
 * Fritz's Brother (1875)
 * Out of Bondage (1876)
 * In and Out of Bondage (1877)
 * Our Bachelors (1877)
 * A.A. 1900 (1879)
 * John Mishler (1882)
 * One of the Finest (1883)
 * A Wonderful Woman (1883)
 * Cherubs (1885)
 * Rose and Coe (1886)