{{Short description|Minstrel show operator}} {{Infobox person | name =Al G. Field | image =Al G Field a minstrel.jpg | caption =Hatfield in 1904 | birth_name =Alfred Griffin Hatfield | birth_date = {{Birth date|1848|11|7}} | birth_place =Leesburg, Virginia, US | death_date = {{Death date and age|1921|4|3|1848|11|7}} | death_place = Columbus, Ohio, US| other_names = | known_for = | burial_place=Green Lawn Cemetery | occupation = | spouse = | partner = | children = | parents = | relatives = }} '''Alfred Griffin (or Griffith) Hatfield''' (November 7, 1848 or 1850 &ndash; April 3, 1921) was a performer and minstrel show producer as '''Al G. Field''' and sometimes '''Al G. Fields'''.<ref name=bio>{{cite encyclopedia |author=Edward Le Roy Rice<!--http://viaf.org/viaf/7055547--> |encyclopedia=Monarchs of Minstrelsy |title=Al G. Field |year=1911 |page=214 |isbn=9785871153987 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rRc5AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA214 }}</ref>

==Biography== He was born in Leesburg, Virginia near Morgantown, West Virginia on November 7, 1848 or 1850, as Alfred Griffin Hatfield or Alfred Griffith Hatfield.<ref name=bio/><ref name=obit/> He had a brother Joseph E. Hatfield.<ref name=will>{{cite news |title=Al Field Bequeaths Show. Will Requests Brother and Relative to Continue Minstrel Troupe |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1921/04/09/archives/al-field-bequeaths-show-will-requests-brother-and-relative-to.html |newspaper=The New York Times |date=April 9, 1921 |access-date=2015-01-27 }}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia |author=William L. Slout |encyclopedia=Olympians of the Sawdust Circle |title=Al G. Field |url=http://www.circushistory.org/Olympians/OlympiansF.htm |access-date=2015-01-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140123205249/http://www.circushistory.org/Olympians/OlympiansF.htm |archive-date=2014-01-23 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

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Beginning in 1875 he performed with the Sells Brothers Circus that was based out of Columbus, Ohio.<ref name=week/> In 1884 he organized the Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus in Peru, Indiana. He managed them until September 9, 1886.<ref name=bio/> He launched his own namesake minstrel show the same year. His autobiography ''Watch Yourself Go By'' was published in 1912.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=r7W_k98zWPoC|title=WATCH YOURSELF GO BY|first=AL G.|last=FIELD|date=February 12, 1912|via=Google Books}}</ref> He changed his name and established his own company in 1886. He eventually retreated to a farm and bred animals.<ref name=week>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thisweeknews.com/article/20100303/news/303039512|title=Once-famous minstrel settled here|website=ThisWeek Community News}}</ref>

He died on April 3, 1921, in Columbus, Ohio from Bright's Disease.<ref name=obit>{{cite news |title=Al G. Field Dead. Pioneer Minstrel Dies at His Home in Columbus, Ohio, at 72 Years |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1921/04/04/archives/obituary-2-no-title.html |newspaper=The New York Times |date=April 4, 1921 |access-date=2015-01-27 }}</ref> He was buried in Green Lawn Cemetery in Columbus, Ohio. His last will and testament arranged for his minstrel show to be bequeathed to his brother, Joseph E. Hatfield, and to Edward Conard, a relative. His estate was valued at $150,000 ({{Inflation|US|150000|1921|fmt=eq}}) and he requested that the minstrel show continue to be operated.<ref name=will/>

==Performers== *Bert Swor (1871-1931) from 1911 to 1931.<ref name=swor>{{cite news |title=Bert Swor, 65, Dies. Old-Time Minstrel |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1943/12/01/archives/bert-swor-65-dies-oldtime-minstrel.html |newspaper=The New York Times |date=December 1, 1943 |access-date=2015-01-26 }}</ref> *Billy Church (?-1942).<ref>{{cite news |title=Billy Church; Member Al G. Fields's Minstrel Company Dies in Columbus |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1942/12/27/archives/billy-church-member-a-g-fieldss-minstrel-company-dies-in-columbus.html |newspaper=The New York Times |date=December 27, 1942 |access-date=2015-01-27 }}</ref> *Dan White (actor) (1922-1930) Tampa, Florida<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Times 22 Oct 1936, page Page 8 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/210199693/ |access-date=2023-04-17 |website=Newspapers.com |language=en}}</ref> *John Leipold, music director from circa 1922-1926<ref>{{Cite web |doi=10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.A2093361 |date=2011 |last1=Sherk |first1=Warren M. }}</ref>

==Shows== *Darkest America, first staged in 1896<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IJQyBe_wDj8C&dq=darker+americans+tutt&pg=PA97 | title=A Century of Musicals in Black and White: An Encyclopedia of Musical Stage Works by, About, or Involving African Americans: An Encyclopedia of Musical Stage Works by, About, or Involving African Americans | isbn=9780313064548 | author1=Bernard L Peterson JR | date=25 October 1993 | publisher=Abc-Clio }}</ref>

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== {{Wikisource|works=or}} {{Commons category-inline}} {{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Field, Al G.}} Category:19th-century births Category:1921 deaths Category:Deaths from kidney failure in Ohio Category:Blackface minstrel managers and producers Category:Burials at Green Lawn Cemetery (Columbus, Ohio) Category:People from Leesburg, Virginia