Diamond and Juba

The Raucous World of 19th-Century Challenge Dancing

April Masten

$115

Hardback

Forthcoming
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English

University of Illinois Press
31 December 2025

Dance; Biography: general; Social & cultural history; Trade unions; Industrial arbitration & negotiation

Series: Working Class in American History

The remarkable story of a Black-Irish dance and its rival champions

During the tumultuous years before the Civil War, Irish American John Diamond and African American William Henry Lane, known as Juba, became internationally famous as competitors in the art and sport of challenge dancing. April F. Masten's dual biography reconstructs the lives and work of these extraordinary dancers, casting fresh light on their contributions to the history of American popular culture.

Challenge dancing was born from Black-Irish social interaction in the dockside markets, taverns, and theaters of antebellum New York. Promoted as a masculine art with close ties to boxing, it featured prolific gambling, hefty purses, and championship belts, yet also included women competitors, cross-dressing, and blackface. The astonishing jigs of its foremost practitioners attracted huge audiences across northeastern port cities, along Mississippi Valley circus routes, and into England's provincial music halls. Diamond and Juba's rivalry and parallel careers provide a rare glimpse into Black and immigrant strivings in an expanding nation keen for talent yet divided by prejudice.

A vivid portrait of a forgotten world, Diamond and Juba tells the intertwined stories of two legendary performers.

By: April Masten
Imprint: University of Illinois Press
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 235mm, Width: 156mm,
Weight: 454g
ISBN: 9780252046797
ISBN 10: 025204679X
Series: Working Class in American History
Pages: 360
Publication Date: 31 December 2025
Audience: College/higher education , Further / Higher Education
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

April F. Masten is a professor of American history at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. She is the author of Art Work: Women Artists and Democracy in Mid-Nineteenth Century New York.

Reviews for Diamond and Juba: The Raucous World of 19th-Century Challenge Dancing

""Diamond and Juba is much more than a book about the forgotten subject of challenge dancing. Through assiduous research and by sensitively interpreting her sources, April F. Masten has fashioned a new and revealing account of race and class in antebellum New York City. The book is a stunning achievement and a fascinating read. Highly recommended."" —Shane White, author of Prince of Darkness: The Untold Story of Jeremiah G. Hamilton, Wall Street's First Black Millionaire ""The world of nineteenth century dance and minstrelsy comes alive in April J. Masten's Diamond and Juba. In it, Masten uncovers the story of two of the nineteenth century's most-important popular dancers, John Diamond, a white, Irish American; and