Carmen McRae swings with the band, c. mid 1950s: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

This black and white photograph depicts Carmen McRae performing with a band. Shown from the waist up, she stands close to a microphone with her head slightly turned and her eyes closed. She wears a short sleeved striped shirt. Visible behind her are several musicians. A man in a dark suit sits at a piano. Next to him is a man in a light colored suit playing the bass, and a man sitting in a drum set. Behind the men is a sign on the wall with text that reads "BOP CITY." On the back of the photograph is a green sticker with handwritten text that reads "#13."

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: ca. 1955
• Photograph by: Steve Jackson Jr., 1923 - 1999
• Subject of: Carmen McRae, American, 1920 - 1994
• Subject of: Jimbo's Bop City, American, 1950 - 1965
• Type: gelatin silver prints
• Medium: silver and photographic gelatin on photographic paper
• Dimensions: H x W (image): 7 1/2 × 9 7/16 in. (19 × 24 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W (sheet): 8 1/16 × 10 in. (20.4 × 25.4 cm)
• Place depicted: Fillmore, San Francisco, California, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Entertainers
• Topic: Jazz (Music)
• Topic: Nightlife
• Topic: Singers (Musicians)
• Object number: 2016.117.13
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Mary E. Jackson, Posthumously and Linda A. Jackson
• 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 underlying object's rights statement is: © Linda A. Jackson Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.