Photographic print of Sister Rosetta Tharpe: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A black-and-white photograph of Sister Rosetta Tharpe. She is wearing a black sirt and sitting. She is holding a guitar and looking up and to her right. A fur coat is on the left side of the image and white, patterned wall and darkened window are in the back ground. Handwritten vertically on the sheet to the left of the image is “LEEDS TOWN HALL 1957.” The back of the photograph is signed at center in black ink with “Terry Cryer / ©.”

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1957
• Photograph by: Terry Cryer, British, 1934 - 2017
• Subject of: Sister Rosetta Tharpe, American, 1915 - 1973
• Type: black-and-white photographs
• Type: gelatin silver prints
• Type: portraits
• Medium: silver and photographic gelatin on photographic paper
• Dimensions: H x W (image): 6 7/8 × 6 7/8 in. (17.4 × 17.5 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W (sheet): 7 15/16 × 10 in. (20.2 × 25.4 cm)
• Place captured: Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, United Kingdom, Europe
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Gospel (Music)
• Topic: Instrumentalists (Musicians)
• Topic: Photography
• Topic: Rock and roll (Music)
• Topic: Singers (Musicians)
• Object number: 2014.98.29
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Gayle Wald
• 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: © Terry Cryer Estate Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.