Bobby Short Papers
name: label: Creator
content: Short, Bobby
label: Names
content: Carlyle Hotel New York, New York
label: Photographer
content: Bull, Clarence Sinclair, 1896-1979
label: Names
content: Hildegarde, 1906-2005
label: Names
content: Mercer, Mabel, 1900-1984
label: Names
content: Minnelli, Liza
label: Names
content: Putney, Charles
place: label: Place
content: New York (N.Y.) -- 20th century
topic: label: Topic
content: Entertainment
label: Topic
content: Works of art
label: Topic
content: African American entertainers -- 20th century
label: Topic
content: Vaudeville
label: Topic
content: Pianists
label: Topic
content: Nightclubs
label: Topic
content: Popular music -- 20th century -- United States
label: Topic
content: Musicians -- 20th century
label: Topic
content: Music -- 20th century -- United States
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: Bequeathed to the Smithsonian Institution by Bobby Short.
creator: label: Creator
content: Short, Bobby
setName: label: See more items in
content: Bobby Short Papers
abstract: label: Summary
content: Bobby Short was a singer and pianist whose career spanned seven decades. An interpreter of American popular music, he became a performer in childhood and remained active until his death. He is best known for his more than 35 years as performer-in-residence at the Hotel Carlyle's Café Carlyle in New York City. This collection contains personal papers and photographs as well as business papers, musical materials and photographs relating to Mr. Short's career as a performing artist.
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Bobby Short (Robert Waltrip Short) was born to Rodman and Myrtle Short on September 15, 1924, in Danville, Illinois. He was one of six surviving children. As part of the town's relatively small African American community, the Short family maintained a middle-class standard of living, even during the Great Depression. Rodman Short pursued several occupations but spent most of his life as a coal miner in West Virginia and was seldom at home. Myrtle Short, a domestic worker, was a fastidious housekeeper who expected a high standard of  deportment in her children. In Bobby Short's first memoir, Black and White Baby, he wrote: "Except for our color, we conformed in almost every degree to the image of the white Anglo-Saxon Protestant-in our manners, our mores, and our way of life." Music was an important part of that life; many members of the extended family played instruments or sang, some professionally. Short first played a song by ear at the family upright piano when he was four years old and began his life-long love affair with words and music. Church, school, vaudeville, and minstrel shows provided his earliest musical influences and repertoire; his innate musicality and enthusiasm enabled him to become a skilled performer at an early age. By the time he was ten years old, he was playing and singing in local night spots and as far away as Indianapolis. At twelve, he was playing in vaudeville, at times billed as "the Miniature King of Swing." At thirteen, he returned to Danville, attended high school, and after graduating in 1942, left his home town to begin his professional life in earnest.

Short spent the 1940s and early 1950s as an increasingly successful entertainer in sophisticated night clubs and jazz venues in Chicago and other Midwestern cities, California, and New York, as well as Paris and London. While his early repertoire featured novelty songs and boogie-woogie, as he matured he embraced the standards of Cole Porter, George Gershwin, Irving Berlin, and other notable composers and song writers. He enthusiastically promoted the work of  African American composers such as Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway, Fats Waller and Andy Razaf. His encyclopedic knowledge of popular songs, both the well-known and the obscure, gave his performances a freshness that delighted his audiences. 

In 1956, Short moved to New York City, taking up residence in a Carnegie Hall studio apartment. His career as a "saloon singer" (his words) continued in New York and in frequent visits to the Midwest and California. He appeared in theatrical roles and began recording for Atlantic Records. In 1968 his concert at Carnegie Hall with Mabel Mercer led to his engagement at the intimate Café Carlyle at the Hotel Carlyle. He remained there, playing for six months of the year, for the rest of his life. His performances at the Carlyle made him a darling of society and an icon of sophisticated New York style. In the early 1970s his album "Bobby Short Loves Cole Porter" introduced him to a larger audience; he published his first memoir, Black and White Baby, in 1971.

Short recorded numerous albums, earning several Grammy nominations. He appeared on radio and television, occasionally acted on stage and was seen in small roles in several films. He produced "Black Broadway," a theatrical review featuring many veteran performers he had long revered; he was instrumental in the revival of  Alberta Hunter's career. Four Presidents--Nixon, Carter, Clinton and Reagan--invited him to perform at the White House. When he was not at the Café Carlyle, he traveled extensively in the United States and abroad, appearing in both night clubs and symphony halls. Success enabled him to purchase a villa in the south of France. His second memoir, Bobby Short, the Life and Times of a Saloon Singer, was published in 1995. Short earned many awards and honors during his lengthy career and was named a Living Legend by the Library of Congress in 1999. He died in New York on March 21, 2005.

Sources: Short, Bobby. Black and White Baby, New York: Dodd, Mead & Company,1971.
Short, Bobby (with Robert Mackintosh). Bobby Short, the Life and Times of a Saloon Singer, New York: Clarkson N. Potter, 1995.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 13.6 Cubic feet (35 boxes)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1908-2006
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives Center, National Museum of American History
identifier: label: Identifier
content: NMAH.AC.0946
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Correspondence
label: Type
content: Clippings
label: Type
content: Business records
label: Type
content: Music
label: Type
content: Contracts
label: Type
content: Photographs
label: Type
content: Passports
label: Type
content: Posters
label: Type
content: Scrapbooks
label: Type
content: Concert programs
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: The papers are arranged in nine series

Series 1, Personal Materials, circa 1908-2005

Subseries 1, Early Life in Danville, Illinois, 1924-1942

Subseries 2, Awards, Honors and Milestones, 1964-2005

Subseries 3, Personal Ephemera and Miscellaneous Publications, 1937-2002

Subseries 4, Original Artworks Owned by Bobby Short, 1841-1990s

Series 2, Correspondence, circa 1938-2005	

Subseries 1, Personal Correspondence, 1950s-2004

Subseries 2, Correspondence with Celebrities and Notable People, 1962-2004

Subseries 3, Business Correspondence and Related materials, 1938-2005

Series 3, Photographs, circa 1908-2005

Subseries 1, With and of Family and Friends, circa 1908-2005

Subseries 2, With Celebrities and Notable People, circa 1953-1990s 

Subseries 3, Other Performers, Notable People, and Autographed, circa 1920s-1990s

Subseries 4, In Performance and Related Subjects, circa 1940s-2001 

Subseries 5, Publicity, Fashion, and Advertising, circa 1930s-2000s

Subseries 6, Photographs of Artworks Depicting Bobby Short, circa 1960s-1990s

Series 4, Contracts and Related Documents, circa 1953-2005

Subseries 1, Appearances in the United States and Foreign Countries, circa 1953-2005

Subseries 2, Radio, Television, and Film Appearances, 1978-2000

Subseries 3, Recording Contracts, Royalty Statements and Related Materials, 1955-2003

Subseries 4, Print, Radio and Television Advertising,  1976-1997

Subseries 5, Licensing Proposals,  1984-2000

Subseries 6, Union and Labor Department Documents, 1981-2005

Series 5, Programs, Publicity, and Promotion, 1956-1996

Subseries 1, Programs for Performances by Bobby Short

Subseries 2, Newspaper Clippings and Magazines

Subseries 3, Promotional Materials

Series 6, Special Events, 1963-2003

Series 7, Musical Materials, circa 1920-1995 

Series 8, Theatrical Productions as Producer or Investor, 1979-1988

Series 9, Manuscripts, Research, And Publishing Materials, circa 1954-1997

Subseries 1, Writings: Bobby Short

Subseries 2, Writings: Others
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: Processed by Anne Morgan Jones, 2006-2007; supervised by Franklin A. Robinson, Jr. and Vanessa Broussard-Simmons, archivists.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Correspondence -- 20th century
label: Genre/Form
content: Clippings
label: Genre/Form
content: Business records -- 20th century
label: Genre/Form
content: Music -- Manuscripts
label: Genre/Form
content: Contracts
label: Genre/Form
content: Photographs -- Black-and-white photoprints -- Silver gelatin -- 20th century
label: Genre/Form
content: Passports
label: Genre/Form
content: Posters
label: Genre/Form
content: Scrapbooks -- 20th century
label: Genre/Form
content: Concert programs
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: This collection consists of  personal materials relating to Mr. Short's childhood, family, and friends as well as business materials relating to his career as a performer. These include photographs, correspondence, business documents, periodicals, musical materials, manuscripts and awards. Most of the material is arranged chronologically. The container list is detailed as to the type and date of the materials.

Series 1, Personal Materials, circa 1908-2005. This series is divided into four Subseries: 
Early Life in Danville, Illinois; Awards, Honors, and Milestones; Personal Ephemera and Miscellaneous Publications; and Original Artworks owned by Bobby Short. 
Subseries 1 includes poems written in childhood and two high school annuals. Subseries 2  includes numerous citations and awards as well as three Grammy nominations. Subseries 4 contains small prints and sketches as well as larger works by various artists. 

Series 2, Correspondence, circa 1950-2005. This Series is divided into three Subseries: Personal Correspondence; Correspondence with Celebrities and Notable People; and Business Correspondence and Related Materials. The material is arranged chronologically. 
The material in Subseries 1 and 2 consists of letters, telegrams, invitations, and notes. 

Series 3, Photographs, circa 1908-2005. This Series is divided into six Subseries:
With and of Family and  Friends; With Celebrities and Notable People; Other Performers, Notable People, and Autographed; In Performance; Publicity, Fashion, and Advertising; and Photographs of Artworks Depicting Bobby Short. 

Subseries 1 contains a number of early family photographs and early photographs of Bobby Short. Subseries 1 and 3 include photographs by Carl Van Vechten. Subseries 1 and 5 include photographs by Horst, Hurrell, and Scavullo. Subseries 4 contains photographs of Bobby Short in performance, both alone and with others.


Series 4, Contracts and Related Documents, 1953-2005. This series is divided into six Subseries: Appearances in the United States and Foreign Countries; Film, Radio and Television Appearances; Recording Contracts, Royalty Statements and Related Materials; Print, Radio and Television Advertising; Licensing Proposals; and Union and Labor Department Documents.

Subseries 1 is arranged as follows: Hotel Carlyle Contracts; United States Contracts arranged alphabetically by state. These are followed by foreign contracts arranged alphabetically by name of country. Subseries 2 is arranged as follows: contracts and related materials for radio appearances, television appearances and appearances in films. Subseries 3 consists of recording contracts and royalty statements arranged chronologically and by company. Subseries 4, 5, and 6 are arranged chronologically.

Series 5, Programs, Publicity, and Promotion, 1956-1996. This series is divided into three Subseries: Programs for Performances by Bobby Short; Newspaper Clippings and Magazines; and Promotional Materials.

Subseries 1 consists primarily of programs for performances at concert halls. Subseries 2 consists largely of newspaper and entertainment magazine notices from the 1950s and 1960s. Subseries 3 includes flyers, announcements and table cards. 

Series 6, Special Events, 1963-2003. This series consists of materials relating to special events such as charity benefits and anniversary celebrations at which Short performed or was otherwise involved. Several of these events benefited the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). 

Series 7, Musical Materials, circa 1920s-1995. This series consists of a variety of materials relating to music; publications, sheet music, lyrics, recording contracts, album covers, and two 45 rpm recordings. Song lists, discographies, and articles about music are included.

Series 8, Theatrical Productions as Producer or Investor, 1979-1988 This series consists of contracts and performance materials for productions for which Bobby Short acted as a producer and/or investor. Programs, correspondence, and publicity materials are included; also partnership documents and financial statements.

Series 9, Manuscripts, Research, and Publishing Materials, circa 1954-1997. This series is arranged in two Subseries: Writings: Bobby Short; Writings: Others.

Subseries 1 includes a partial manuscript for Black and White Baby and research and other materials for a proposed volume, Black Lady Singers, that was not written. Subseries 2 consists of miscellaneous writings by others including a partial script for a play, Tinsel Town, and a film script, Johnny Twennies.
relatedmaterial: label: Related Materials
content: Objects (2006.0071): awards, clothing, medals, and a music portfolio, including thirteen sound recordings (1984.0134), are housed in the Division of Music, Sports, and Entertainment (now Division of Cultural and Community Life), National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution.