Photograph of Disc Jockey Bill “Hawk” Hawkins and his fan club in a jam session: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A black-and-white photograph of Disc Jockey Bill “Hawk” Hawkins with members of his fan club. Hawkins is depicted standing just right of center with a large group of teenage fans, arranged in roughly a semicircle, during a jam session inside a school gymnasium. A silver tone microphone stand is in front of Hawkins. He is depicted in full length, wearing a medium-toned, double-breasted suit, white collared shirt, and a polka dot bowtie. He is smiling and looking towards a boy in a plaid coat and jeans playing a tambourine, depicted in profile on the far left. Standing to the left of Hawkins, at the center of the crowd, is a teenage boy and girl holding drumsticks and soft mallets over a large drum. To the left of the drummers, is a boy playing an acoustic guitar. A girl on the far right, wearing a plaid jacket and a head scarf, holds a metallic gourd shaped object. And one boy, wearing a flat cap, sits with his legs crossed on an amplifier at the center front of the group. In the background are a few teenagers standing and sitting on the bleachers. In the background are four large windows covered with metal mesh. The photograph has a white border that is thicker along the left and bottom edges and a landscape orientation. The back of the photograph is white and plain with a photographer’s stamp at the center and an inscription at the top center. The black ink stamp reads [MITCHELL STUDIOS, INC / 9101 CEDAR AVENUE / RANDOLF 7611 / CLEVELAND 6, OHIO]. The black ink inscription near the top center edge reads [Fan Club \ Jam Session].

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1948-1958
• Photograph by: Mitchell Studios, Inc., American
• Subject of: Bill Hawkins, American, 1909 - 1975
• Subject of: Unidentified Child or Children
• Subject of: Central High School, American, 1846 - 1982
• Type: gelatin silver prints
• Type: portraits
• Medium: silver and photographic gelatin on photographic paper
• Dimensions: H x W (Sheet): 7 7/8 × 9 7/8 in. (20 × 25.1 cm)
• Place captured: Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States, North and Central America
• Place printed: Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Band (Music)
• Topic: Children
• Topic: Education
• Topic: Instrumentalists (Musicians)
• Topic: Photography
• Topic: Radio
• Object number: 2018.91.2.20
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of W. Allen Taylor, son of "Walkin' Talkin' Bill Hawkins," The First Black Disc Jockey of Cleveland, Ohio
• 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.