Gelatin silver print of Lil Green, Queen of The Blues: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A black and white photograph of Lil Green, Queen of the Blues.

The image is a bust-length portrait featuring Lil Green posed with her head tilted to lean against her proper left hand, which is formed into a fist. Green wears a headband with a large bow situated behind curly bangs. She wears a dark-colored top with beading and rhinestones in an all over diamond pattern with a large rhinestone brooch at the collar. She wears two rings on her proper left hand. She is gazing just to the side of the camera and is smiling. At the bottom left is the photographer's mark reading: [Bloom / Chicago]. There is a white border around the image with black typed text at the bottom center that reads [LIL GREEN "The In The Dark Mama' / Queen of The Blues].

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1939-1954
• Photograph by: Bloom Photography, American
• Subject of: Lil Green, American, 1919 - 1954
• Type: gelatin silver prints
• Type: portraits
• Medium: silver and photographic gelatin on photographic paper
• Dimensions: H x W (Sheet): 9 13/16 × 7 3/4 in. (24.9 × 19.7 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W (Image): 9 × 7 3/8 in. (22.9 × 18.7 cm)
• Place captured: Chicago, Cook County, Illinois, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Photography
• Topic: Singers (Musicians)
• Object number: 2015.97.38.25
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
• 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: Public domain Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.