Woman to Woman: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

Record, jacket, and sleeve for Woman to Woman by Shirley Brown from the set of Scandal.

a. The black vinyl record has a circular maroon and off white ombre label in the center. There is black text at the top which reads [WOMAN TO WOMAN / SHIRLEY BROWN]. There is a black, white, and red logo on the proper right side which reads [stax] in red with a black and white image of a hand snapping its fingers below. The proper left side reads [STEREO / STX-4135 / Side 1]. Side 1 has four song titles and the length of each song, as well as the names of the song writers. There is black text on the bottom which reads [(P) Stax Records / (STX-4135-A) / DISTRIBUTED BY FANTASY RECORDS, BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA]. Side 2 has the same information, except it has six song titles listed with the lengths and songwriter names. There is some slight wear and tear on the labels on either side of the record.

b. The front of the jacket features a color image of Shirley Brown in profile. She is wearing dangly earrings and an open v-neck blouse with a pattern along the collar and neckline. She has short hair. There same image is flipped and upside down to the proper left side of the first image. Both images are inside of a red square border. The jacket background is white with red text that reads [WOMAN TO WOMAN / SHIRLEY BROWN] above the images. The same text is flipped below the images. The small text in the top proper right corner reads [STX-4135]. There is black text along the jacket spine which reads [STAX STEREO STX-4135 SHIRLEY BROWN WOMAN TO WOMAN © Stax Records, 1974, 1979, Made in U.S.A.]. The image from the front appears on the back left side of the jacket, this time in greyscale. There is black text at the top right which reads [SHIRLEY BROWN / WOMAN TO WOMAN]. There are several paragraphs underneath the title, written by Deanie Parker. There are two columns of song titles followed by production information and other information about people involved in making the record. There is copyright information followed by a red, black, and white “stax” logo. There is a barcode on the bottom left corner.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1974
• Produced by: Stax Records, American, founded 1957
• Recorded by: Shirley Brown, American, born 1947
• Used by: Shondaland, American, founded 2005
• Type: long-playing records
• Type: 45 rpm records
• Medium: a. vinyl with ink on paper
• Medium: b. ink on cardboard
• Medium: c. paper
• Dimensions: Diameter (a.): 11 7/8 in. (30.2 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W (b.): 12 5/16 × 12 1/8 in. (31.3 × 30.8 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W (c.): 12 1/8 × 12 in. (30.8 × 30.5 cm)
• Place made: Berkeley, Alameda County, California, United States, North and Central America
• Place used: Los Angeles, California, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Soul (Music)
• Topic: Television
• Topic: U.S. History, 1969-2001
• Object number: 2019.90.12.9abc
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Walt Disney Television
• 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: © Universal Music Group Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.