The Memphis Blues Tradition
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: 1983 April 29-30
container: label: Container
content: Box 11, Folder 8-9
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 April 29-30, 1983, at Baird Auditorium, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution. Program highlighted the blues tradition that came out of Memphis, Tennessee, during the 1920s and 30s, a time when Memphis was thriving as the center of black American blues. The Memphis blues is a conglomeration of the crying vocal blues from western Tennessee, the rhythmic blues of northern Mississippi and the chanting style of the Mississippi Delta. The major cultural center for black American blues music in the mid-south was Beale Street. Vaudeville and blues performers like Ma Rainey and Bessie Smith appeared regularly. [From program guide by Bill Barlow. See program guide for additional information on the concert, colloquium and Memphis blues.] Program organized by Dr. Bernice Johnson Reagon, director, Program in Black Culture (later known as the Program in African American Culture). Program number AC408.18.