Union card for Cab Calloway: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A membership card for Cab Calloway in the Musicians' Protective Union, Local 208 of the American Federation of Musicians for the year 1948. The orange, rectangular card has rounded corners and is printed in black, red, and green ink. The front top left corner is stamped [No. 692] in red ink. The top reads [THIS IS TO CERTIFY THAT / CAB CALLOWAY #58 / IS A MEMBER OF THE MUSICIANS' PROTECTIVE UNION, LOCAL 208 / American Federation of Musicians / CHICAGO, ILLINOIS]. Across the center of the card is the year [1948] in red with American Federation of Musicians seal in the middle, also in red. Stamped over top is [208] in large green numbers. The card is signed at the bottom [M.C. Buckner]. The opposite side of the card has two spaces at the top for [Signature of Member] and [Social Security Number], both of which are blank. The rest of the verso has four sections for quarterly dues paid, all of which are stamped [Dues Paid For This Quarter / JAN 26 1948] in black ink.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1948
• Issued by: American Federation of Musicians, founded 1896
• Used by: Cab Calloway, American, 1907 - 1994
• Medium: ink on paper
• Dimensions: H x W: 2 1/4 × 3 7/8 in. (5.7 × 9.8 cm)
• Place depicted: Chicago, Cook County, Illinois, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Band (Music)
• Topic: Composers (Musicians)
• Topic: Conductors (Musicians)
• Topic: Jazz (Music)
• Topic: Labor
• Topic: Singers (Musicians)
• Object number: TA2015.273.3.1
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Cabella Calloway Langsam
• 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: No Known Copyright Restrictions Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.