Ballad For Americans: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

Two vinyl records (2012.65ab) encased in paper inside housing. The cover (2012.65c) is blue with a red binding and reads: [Ballad for Americans, Paul Robeson, Bass] in black letters over a red and white striped feature surrounding a black and white photograph of Robeson. The inside cover has three photographs and information about the Ballad for Americans. The back cover continues information about the making of Ballad for Americans and provides two more photographs. Both records have Victor labels with track information, manufacturing information, and the Victor logo.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1940
• Recorded by: Paul Robeson, American, 1898 - 1976
• Created by: John La Touche, American, 1914 - 1956
• Created by: Earl Robinson, American, 1910 - 1991
• Type: record covers
• Type: 78 rpm records
• Medium: shellac with ink on paper (fiber product)
• Dimensions: Diameter (2012.65a): 10 in. (25.4 cm)
• Dimensions: Diameter (2012.65b): 10 in. (25.4 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W x D (2012.65c): 10 1/2 × 12 × 3/4 in. (26.7 × 30.5 × 1.9 cm)
• Place made: Camden, Camden County, New Jersey, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Folk (Music)
• Topic: Singers (Musicians)
• Object number: 2012.65abc
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Deborah Spiliotopoulos
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The displayed image also has an explicit CC0 designation. The underlying object's rights statement is: No Known Copyright Restrictions Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.