Women in Blues
name: label: Collection Collector
content: Maltsby, Portia
label: Collection Creator
content: Smithsonian Institution. Program in African American Culture
setName: label: See more items in
content: Program in African American Culture Collection
label: See more items in
content: Program in African American Culture Collection / Series 1: Program Files
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1985 March 9
container: label: Container
content: Box 13, Folder 20
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives Center, National Museum of American History
objectType: label: Type
content: Archival materials
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: Concert and colloquium held March 9, 1985, at the National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution. Program examined and celebrated the lives and work of those women, who chose to ignore the standards and dictates of society during the 1920s, 30s, and 40s, and do the unusual, become performing artists. The women documented in this program and many others rejected the usual roles--wife, mother, homemaker for lifestyles they fashioned for themselves. Though they may have made homes, married, and had children, they were primarily artists, business women, and working women. They worked at night in the clubs and theater tours in the growing Black urban centers of the nation. The live entertainment these women offered was a break from the pressures of everyday life and became a part of the weekly diet and celebration. The program was organized by Dr. Bernice Johnson Reagon, director, Program in Black Culture (later known as the Program in African American Culture). Program number AC408.30.