<I>Rock-A-Bye My Baby Blues</I>
date: label: Date
content: 1923
name: label: Composed by
content: William Joseph Hill, American, 1899 - 1940
label: Written by
content: Larry Yoell
label: Subject of
content: Billy Elliott
label: Published by
content: Sherman, Clay & Co., American, founded 1870
label: Owned by
content: Vernon Sugg McDonald, American, 1906 - 1982
notes: label: Description
content: Sheet music for the song Rock-A-Bye My Baby Blues. The front cover of the sheet music features an image of Billy Elliott in blackface makeup. A caption under the image in blue type reads: [Successfully Introduced By / BILLY ELLIOTT]. A green and blue silhouette of the moon behind a house appears in the background of the front cover. Blue and green type the top of the front cover reads: [ROCK-A-BYE MY BABY BLUES]. A text box, next to the image of Elliot, has blue type that reads: [WALTZ / BALLAD / by / BILLY HILL / AND / LARRY YOELL / Writers of / The West, A Nest and You]. A logo for the publisher in a white box with blue type reads: [Sherman, Clay & Co. / SAN FRANCISCO]. White type at the bottom of the front cover reads [P O M/ GRIFFITH]. The inside of the front cover contains sheet music for a song titled [The West, A Nest, And You]. The interior of the sheet music contains three pages of music bars and notes in black ink for Rock A Bye My Baby Blues. The back cover features sheet music in blue ink for the songs titled: [I DON'T KNOW WHY] and [ORIENTAL LOVE DREAMS].
label: Statement
content: Objects depicting racist and/or stereotypical imagery or language may be offensive and disturbing, but the NMAAHC aims to include them in the Collection to present and preserve the historical context in which they were created and used. Objects of this type provide an important historical record from which to study and evaluate racism.
place: label: Place collected
content: Sugg McDonald House, Sonora, Tuolumne County, California, United States, North and Central America
label: Place printed
content: San Francisco, California, United States, North and Central America
topic: label: Topic
content: African American
label: Topic
content: Blackface
label: Topic
content: Minstrel (Music)
label: Topic
content: Stereotypes
setName: label: See more items in
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
label: Classification
content: Racist and Stereotypical Objects
label: Classification
content: Written Music
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Sylvia Alden Roberts
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture
identifier: label: Object number
content: 2014.275.4
objectType: label: Type
content: sheet music
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: Public domain
label: Restrictions & Rights
content: Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: ink on paper
label: Dimensions
content: H x W: 12 × 9 in. (30.5 × 22.9 cm)