Royalty Agreement for "Walking Blues": Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

This printed, typed, and hand-written document is the Chicago Music Publishing Company's royalty agreement for the song "Walking Blues" by composers Gertrude "Ma" Rainey and Lovie Austin. The document was signed by the composers and witnessed and signed by the A&R (Artists and Repertoire) representative, J. Mayo Williams, on December 12, 1923. As per the agreement, Rainey and Austin would receive “two cents for each printed pianoforte copy of the said work sold by the PUBLISHER in the United States and Canada only,” as well as “a sum equal to one-fourth of any and all royalties that the PUBLISHER shall actually receive from the use of said musical composition for mechanical reproduction less ten per cent (10%) for cost of collection in the form of all player rolls, records, discs, or other mechanical reproduction of the musical composition.”

Gertrude"Ma" Rainey (born Gertrude Pridgett, 1886-1939) was a pioneering African American blues singer and entertainer, who became known as "The Mother of the Blues." Early in her career, Rainey was popular on the theatrical circuit known as TOBA (Theater Owners Booking Association). Between 1923 and 1928, she made more than 100 recordings for her record label, Paramount. Rainey continued to tour and record up to her retirement in 1935.

Materials, dates and provenance

• date made: 1923
• referenced: Rainey, Ma
• referenced: Austin, Lovey
• publisher: Chicago Music Publishing Company
• Object Name: contract
• Physical Description: paper (overall material)
• Physical Description: ink (overall material)
• Measurements: overall: 11 in x 8 1/2 in; 27.94 cm x 21.59 cm
• place made: United States: Illinois, Chicago
• ID Number: 2014.0162.01
• accession number: 2014.0162
• catalog number: 2014.0162.01
• Data Source: National Museum of American History

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of American History through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed.