Jim Crow a Go Go

Because Dr. Hopkins was in steady financial difficulty, the once elegant estate had somewhat fallen asunder since the keys were handed to him by Cora Williams all those many years prior. A fact that Tofland noted, and the residents and visitors long after him noticed as well.  Others would visit the grounds and buildings and some of their impressions of the estate hearkened to the decay and rot consuming the architectural splendor of the ante bellum south and were quite remarkable.  Although it may be safe to assume that often the interiors of such mansions fallen from greatness would express more than a tinge of melancholy.  Such are the remains of some historical days.  The physical location, however, did much to help fuel the imaginations of the Mime Troupe members who were scripting the early ensemble works, most particularly The Minstrel Show.

(letter from George Starr, Professor of English, U.C. Berkeley, July 26, 2011:   "All in all the impression created by the Hopkins household in these years was a rather melancholy one, a sense of shabby-genteel decline and helplessness that would have seemed natural in a film or novel about the Deep South but rather out of place in bustling, thriving Berkeley.")