Gelatin silver print of of Sid LeProtti: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

LeProtti is pictured from the chest up, at the center of the image, wearing a brimmed hat with a black band around it, a dark colored collared shirt, a dark colored suit jacket, and an argyle tie. He is also wearing sunglasses. His head is tilted to the proper left side. LeProtti stands in front of a doorway and window. There are seven (7) photographs of women in window behind him. To the left, a sign on the doorway is partially visible. The sign has an illustration of a nude woman with black text that reads [GIRLS / DANCING / & SINGING / GIRLS / Continuous / Entertainment].

On the back of the photograph is a stamp in red ink reading [PLEASE CREDIT / H. BOWDEN], followed by a handwritten inscription in black ink reading [SID LE PROTTI (RAGTIME PIANIST)] and a stamp in black ink reading [FRANK DRIGGS COLLECTION].

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1916-1958
• Photograph by: H. Bowden
• Subject of: Louis Sidney (Sid) LeProtti, American, 1886 - 1958
• Owned by: Frank Driggs, American, 1930 - 2011
• Type: gelatin silver prints
• Type: portraits
• Medium: silver and photographic gelatin on photographic paper
• Dimensions: H x W (Sheet): 7 13/16 × 10 9/16 in. (19.8 × 26.8 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W (Image): 7 1/16 × 8 15/16 in. (17.9 × 22.7 cm)
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Instrumentalists (Musicians)
• Topic: Photography
• Topic: Ragtime (Music)
• Object number: 2015.97.38.35
• 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 underlying object's rights statement is: Unknown - Restrictions Possible Rights assessment and proper usage is the responsibility of the user.