The turn of the twentieth century witnessed a surge in African American popular art in the interwoven genres of ragtime and musical theater. With Scott Joplin's Maple Leaf Rag and Original Rags, both published in 1899, ragtime gained immense popularity. One year earlier, the syncopated technique of ragtime was incorporated in compositions for the historic theatrical productions: Will Marion Cook and Paul Laurence Dunbar's Clorindy, or the Origin of the Cakewalk and Bob Cole and Billy Johnson's A Trip to Coontown. Clorindy and A Trip to Coontown ushered in the first golden age of Black Broadway. A Trip to Coontown was the first all-black full length musical comedy—the first show to be written, organized, and produced by African Americans. Will Marion Cook would continue to make musical theater history, again partnering with Paul Laurence Dunbar for the hugely successful In Dahomey (1902). Bob Cole would partner with James Weldon Johnson and J. Rosamond Johnson to produce the important musicals The Shoo-Fly Regiment and The Red Moon in 1906 and 1908 respectively. Ragtime, one of the most important genres in American music history, would influence the development of the blues and jazz during the first half of the twentieth century. Moreover, two prolific ragtime composers—Eubie Blake and Noble Sissle—would be responsible for black Broadway's renaissance in 1921 with their landmark show Shuffle Along.

The sheet music in this section includes Scott Joplin's luminary Original Rags and Maple Leaf Rag, compositions from Clorindy, A Trip to Coontown, The Red Moon, The Belle of Bridgeport, and In Dahomey.