Photograph of Harry "Sweets" Edison playing the trumpet: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A silver gelatin print depicting a black-and-white image of Harry "Sweets" Edison playing the trumpet. He is wearing a dark, double-breasted suit jacket and standing behind a music stand decorated a horseshoe and the letter [M] inside the horseshoe. A second man, depicted wearing a dark jacket, bow tie and a white collared shirt, is seated on the right behind another music stand decorated with a horseshoe and the letter [M]. He is depicted in profile, looking toward the trumpet player. There are two (2) sets of pencil cropping marks along the top and bottom borders of the photograph. The photographer’s name and address is stamped in blue ink on the back of the photograph. There are additional notations written in pencil of the on the back of the photograph.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: ca. 1937
• Photograph by: Harry Rossner
• Subject of: Harry "Sweets" Edison, American, 1915 - 1999
• Type: gelatin silver prints
• Type: portraits
• Medium: silver and photographic gelatin on photographic paper
• Dimensions: H x W (Image): 4 7/16 × 6 1/2 in. (11.3 × 16.5 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W (Sheet): 5 1/16 × 7 in. (12.8 × 17.8 cm)
• Place made: New York City, New York, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Instrumentalists (Musicians)
• Topic: Music
• Topic: Nightlife
• Topic: Photography
• Object number: 2013.46.25.14
• 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.