Jazz Clarinet
date: label: Date made
content: 1930s
label: Associated Date
content: August - September 2005
name: label: referenced
content: White, Michael
notes: label: Description
content: Few aspects of the harm done to New Orleans by Hurricane Katrina in August 2005 are more poignant than the losses suffered by the musical community. The New Orleans jazz scene was especially vulnerable, since many jazz performers lived in areas inundated by the flood waters. One such performer was Dr. Michael White.
label: Description
content: White's house on Pratt Drive filled with eight feet of water when the London Avenue Canal levee failed behind his neighborhood. That water sat for several weeks before pumps could drain the area, destroying White's furniture, his rooms, his priceless collection of jazz sheet music, his recordings, and a lifetime's collection of jazz clarinets. Over sixty rare wood and metal clarinets, some from the 19th century, were lost. One of them, this 1930s marching band clarinet from Elkhart, Indiana, found its way from White's devastated house to the Smithsonian to acknowledge the hit taken by the New Orleans musical community but also the resilience of this community in the face of setbacks and hardship. Katrina has given new meaning to the blues. The struggle to overcome this loss adds a powerful chapter to this city's storied record of musical achievement.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: Indiana, Elkhart
label: referenced
content: United States: Louisiana
label: referenced
content: United States: Louisiana, New Orleans
topic: label: related event
content: Hurricane Katrina
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Mechanical and Civil Engineering
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content: Music & Musical Instruments
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content: Popular Entertainment
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content: Cultures & Communities
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content: Family & Social Life
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content: Work
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content: Art
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Michael White
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 2006.0062.01
label: catalog number
content: 2006.0062.01
label: accession number
content: 2006.0062
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Clarinet
label: Object Name
content: clarinet and case
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: metal (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall clarinet: 27 in x 3 in; 68.58 cm x 7.62 cm
label: Measurements
content: overall case: 24 in x 5 1/4 in x 3 1/2 in; 60.96 cm x 13.335 cm x 8.89 cm
label: Measurements
content: mouthpiece: 3 in x 1 in; 7.62 cm x 2.54 cm
label: Measurements
content: clarinet body: 24 in x 3 in; 60.96 cm x 7.62 cm