Organ Shoes worn by Althea Thomas
name: label: referenced
content: King, Jr., Martin Luther
label: user
content: Thomas, Althea
label: maker
content: Bloch Company
notes: label: Description (Brief)
content: Althea Thomas served as organist for Martin Luther King Jr.’s congregation at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama from 1955 unti King announcing his departure for Atlanta in December, 1959. Her performances while wearing these shoes of gospel anthems such as “Precious Lord, Take My Hand” inspired King and his congregationevery Sunday during the landmark Montgomery bus boycott.
label: Description (Brief)
content: A pair of black tap shoes made by Bloch, modified to play organ bass pedals. Thomas removed the metal taps on the bottoms of the shoes to use them as organ shoes.
place: label: worn
content: United States: Alabama, Montgomery
topic: label: Subject
content: Civil Rights Movement
setName: label: See more items in
content: Culture and the Arts: Musical Instruments
label: See more items in
content: Music & Musical Instruments
label: Exhibition
content: Entertainment Nation
label: Exhibition Location
content: National Museum of American History
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Althea Thomas
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 2019.0071.01
label: accession number
content: 2019.0071
label: catalog number
content: 2019.0071.01
objectType: label: Object Name
content: shoes, pair of
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: canvas (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: textile (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: rubber (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: leather (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: metal (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 3 1/4 in x 3 1/2 in x 9 1/2 in; 8.255 cm x 8.89 cm x 24.13 cm
label: Measurements
content: part: left shoe: 3 3/8 in x 3 1/2 in x 9 1/2 in; 8.5725 cm x 8.89 cm x 24.13 cm