Precious Memories: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A 33 1/3 rpm record album titled “Precious Memories” recorded by Sister Rosetta Tharpe. The vinyl record (2014.98.16a) has an orange label with black lettering. The front of the album sleeve (2014.98.16b) is dark blue with [SISTER ROSETTA THARPE] in large light blue text with a color photographic image of Sister Rosetta Tharpe holding a guitar and wearing an orange head scarf and a white feathered boa against a light blue background at center. At the very top is [Golden Gospel Classics] in yellow, scripted text. To the left of the image is [SPECIAL / MID-PRICED / ALBUM] in white text. Below the image is ["Precious Memories'].

The back of the sleeve is white with black text. To the left is a biography of Sister Rosetta Tharpe and to the right is the track listing ["Precious Memories" / SIDE A / PREVIOUS MEMORIES / COME BY HERE / NO ROOM IN THE CHURCH FOR LIARS / LAST MILE OF THE WAY / PEACE IN THE VALLEY / SIDE B / PRECIOUS LORD TAKE MY HAND / WALKING UP THE KING'S HIGHWAY / WHAT ARE THEY DOING / SAVIOR DON'T PASS ME BY / THIS TRAIN]. At the bottom is a logo for [SAVGOS RECORDS / 200 West 57th Street New York, N.Y. 10029].

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1968; published 1984
• Recorded by: Sister Rosetta Tharpe, American, 1915 - 1973
• Manufactured by: Savoy Records, American, founded 1945
• Distributed by: Savoy Records, American, founded 1945
• Type: record covers
• Type: long-playing records
• Medium: vinyl, ink on paper
• Dimensions: Diameter (record): 11 13/16 in. (30 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W (album jacket): 12 3/8 × 12 3/8 in. (31.5 × 31.5 cm)
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Blues (Music)
• Topic: Gospel (Music)
• Topic: Instrumentalists (Musicians)
• Topic: Religion
• Topic: Rhythm and blues (Music)
• Topic: Rock and roll (Music)
• Topic: Singers (Musicians)
• Object number: 2014.98.16ab
• 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: Unknown - Restrictions Possible Rights assessment and proper usage is the responsibility of the user.