Research Catalog

Title

Katherine Handy Lewis papers, 1920-1983.

Author

Lewis, Katherine Handy, 1902-1982.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

Handy, W. C. (William Christopher), 1873-1958.

Description

2.5 lin. ft.

Summary

The Katherine Handy Lewis papers document some of Mrs. Lewis' personal and professional interests and include material relating to her father and to the Handy Brothers Music Company. Papers pertaining to Mrs. Lewis consist of biographical information, correspondence, printed material and financial records concerning her musical endeavors, but do not reflect her presidency of the Handy Brothers Music Company. Family papers include financial and legal records in addition to correspondence between W. C. Handy and Mrs. Lewis and others, 1939-1957. Of special interest are a memorandum of agreement between Handy and E. A. Niles to collaborate on a collection of blues (1925), a legal document referring to W. C. Handy's estate; and printed material especially regarding the W.C. Handy Home and Museum in Florence, Alabama. Additional papers relating to W. C. Handy are comprised of printed material on the W. C. Handy Centennial Celebration in Florence, Alabama (1973), correspondence about issuing a commemorative stamp, and undated writings of W. C. Handy. Records of the Handy Brothers Music Company consist of sheet music published by the company, some written by Mrs. Lewis; correspondence, 1958-1981; a catalog of music, 1949; legal and financial records; and a script for a television program, "Road to Freedom" by Douglas Hardee which focused on the struggle of African Americans in Alabama and features W. C. Handy, among others, 1978.

Donor/Sponsor

Schomburg NEH Automated Access to Special Collections Project.

Subjects

• Handy, W. C (William Christopher), 1873-1958
• Handy Bros. Music Co
• African American singers
• African American composers
• African American musicians
• Lewis, Katherine Handy, 1902-1982
• Sheet music

Genre/Form

Sheet music.

Note

• Posters transferred to Art and Artifacts Division.
• Record album and film transferred to Moving Image and Recorded Sound Division.
• Scrapbooks and photographs transferred to Photographs and Prints Division.

Source (note)

• Williams, E. T.

Biography (note)

• Katherine Handy Lewis was an early blues singer who was the first to sing the songs written by her father, W.C. Handy.Born in Normal, Alabama in 1902, her family moved to Harlem, New York in 1919. Mrs. Lewis performed at an historic concert at Carnegie Hall in 1928, the first evening of African American music presented in the then bastion of white music. At the concert, she sang "St. Louis Blues," written by her father, and one of the first blues songs ever published.
• During the 1920s and 1930, Mrs. Lewis sang on the radio. Later she married Homer D. Lewis and retired from performing to raise a family. She stayed active, however, in the company founded by her father, Handy Brothers Music Company, of which she was president for a time. Mrs. Lewis died in 1982.

Processing Action (note)

• Accessioned
• Cataloged

Call Number

Sc MG 336

OCLC

NYPW090000003-A

Author

Lewis, Katherine Handy, 1902-1982.

Title

Katherine Handy Lewis papers, 1920-1983.

Biography

Katherine Handy Lewis was an early blues singer who was the first to sing the songs written by her father, W.C. Handy.Born in Normal, Alabama in 1902, her family moved to Harlem, New York in 1919. Mrs. Lewis performed at an historic concert at Carnegie Hall in 1928, the first evening of African American music presented in the then bastion of white music. At the concert, she sang "St. Louis Blues," written by her father, and one of the first blues songs ever published.

During the 1920s and 1930, Mrs. Lewis sang on the radio. Later she married Homer D. Lewis and retired from performing to raise a family. She stayed active, however, in the company founded by her father, Handy Brothers Music Company, of which she was president for a time. Mrs. Lewis died in 1982.

Connect to:

Finding Aid

Added Author

Handy, W. C. (William Christopher), 1873-1958.

Research Call Number

Sc MG 336