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contemporary tribute poster
Life, Magic, Fables
Listen to the story
Narrated by Dominic
This one looks backward in style while looking directly at a performer too often left out of the standard history.
01
This is a contemporary tribute rather than a surviving period advertisement. Its narrow format and hand-drawn lettering echo early twentieth-century theatrical lithographs, but its visual identity belongs specifically to Hiawatha. The patterns, warm earth colors, profile figures, and ornamental forms draw upon his African heritage and the Afrocentric character of his work.
The central portrait is thoughtful rather than commanding. Around it, the design turns biography, ancestry, storytelling, and stage magic into a single emblem. It does not pretend to document one engagement. It commemorates a life and the cultural point of view Hiawatha brought to his performances.
This is a modern commemorative print, not an original-period advertising poster.
02
Hiawatha Johnson Jr. was an African American magician, storyteller, collector, and mentor whose work connected performance, folklore, and Black magical history. He was also a close friend and generous supporter of Poe’s Magic Theatre, and an enthusiastic admirer of Baltimore City.
He performed his Afrocentric show, Life, Magic, Fables, at Poe’s Magic Theatre until his death in 2025. For this venue, the poster is not simply a tribute to an important performer. It remembers someone who stood on this stage, supported the theatre, and made his own history here in Baltimore.
“Life, Magic, Fables”
Welcome to the Magic Poster Tour at Poe’s Magic Theatre, inside the historic Lord Baltimore Hotel.
This stop features Hiawatha, a contemporary tribute poster piece billed as “Life, Magic, Fables.”
This is a contemporary tribute rather than a surviving period advertisement. Its narrow format and hand-drawn lettering echo early twentieth-century theatrical lithographs, but its visual identity belongs specifically to Hiawatha. The patterns, warm earth colors, profile figures, and ornamental forms draw upon his African heritage and the Afrocentric character of his work.
The central portrait is thoughtful rather than commanding. Around it, the design turns biography, ancestry, storytelling, and stage magic into a single emblem. It does not pretend to document one engagement. It commemorates a life and the cultural point of view Hiawatha brought to his performances.
This is a modern commemorative print, not an original-period advertising poster.
Hiawatha Johnson Jr. was an African American magician, storyteller, collector, and mentor whose work connected performance, folklore, and Black magical history. He was also a close friend and generous supporter of Poe’s Magic Theatre, and an enthusiastic admirer of Baltimore City.
He performed his Afrocentric show, Life, Magic, Fables, at Poe’s Magic Theatre until his death in 2025. For this venue, the poster is not simply a tribute to an important performer. It remembers someone who stood on this stage, supported the theatre, and made his own history here in Baltimore.