Bessie Smith, 1923

1923

1920-1929

A portrait of Bessie Smith. Written on recto: Photo, 1923, by Edward Elcha, courtesy of Rudi Blesh. Bessie Smith in 1923, the year of her first record, which sold 780,000 copies in six months. It earned her only $125, but it established her as the leading blues singer. From BESSIE SMITH: EMPRESS OF THE BLUES (Schirmer Books/Frank Music, April 15).

African American women
Portraits and people
African American arts
Music--Performance
Singers

still image

image/jpeg

black-and-white photographs

Countee Cullen-Harold Jackman Memorial Collection

http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12322/fa:034

Atlanta University Center Robert W. Woodruff Library

http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12322/auc.034:0022

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