This 1899 sheet music cover shows a photographic portrait of performer Josephine Gassman inside an oval frame, surrounded by palm leaves and decorative typography. The title My Filipino Baby appears above the portrait, with text crediting James G. Dewey for words and music.
The work was published in San Francisco in 1899, immediately after the Spanish-American War and at the start of American colonial rule in the Philippines. Its subtitle uses racist minstrel-era language, making the cover an important but problematic document of American popular culture. Rather than showing Filipino identity on its own terms, the piece reflects how the Philippines was absorbed into American entertainment, racial caricature, and imperial imagination at the turn of the century.
This piece is part of the Maynila Archive, a curated collection of Philippine historical visuals preserved and made accessible as fine art prints.
Available as a fine art print
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