Duke Ellington celebrates 25th anniversary in show business, c. 1952: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

This black and white photograph depicts Duke Ellington sitting behind a table set with flowers and tall candles. Wearing a dark suit and tie over a gray shirt, he is surrounded by a crowd of people; seated to his left is a woman in a dotted dress, smoking a cigarette. Another woman, only partially visible, is seated on his right. In the foreground is a woman in profile, wearing her hair in a ponytail. On the wall over Duke Ellington's head is a sign that reads "Welcome the DUKE/ of ELLINGTON/ on His 25th Year/ in/ music." On the back of the photograph is a green sticker with handwritten text "#8."

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: ca. 1952
• Photograph by: Steve Jackson Jr., 1923 - 1999
• Subject of: Duke Ellington, American, 1899 - 1974
• Subject of: Unidentified Woman or Women
• 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): 8 × 10 in. (20.3 × 25.4 cm)
• Place depicted: Fillmore, San Francisco, California, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Bebop (Music)
• Topic: Entertainers
• Topic: Jazz (Music)
• Topic: Nightlife
• Topic: Singers (Musicians)
• Object number: 2016.117.8
• 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.