Program from the Billie Holiday/Louis Armstrong “Birth of the Blues” concert: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A program from the Billie Holiday/Louis Armstrong “Birth of the Blues” concert, at Symphony Hall in Boston, Massachusetts, April 18, 1947. The front cover is missing.

2013.46.25.266a: The interior pages from a program from the Billie Holiday/Louis Armstrong “Birth of the Blues” concert, at Symphony Hall in Boston, April 18, 1947. The interior pages are white with black-and-white text and photographs and include a biographical article on Louis “Satchmo” Armstrong; an illustrated biography of Holiday; listings of Armstrong’s film credits, stage credits, locations, and radio appearances; the concert program; features on Velma Middleton and Joe Garland; recordings by Armstrong and Holiday; and a list of the members of the Louis Armstrong’s Orchestra. The program has twelve (12) interior pages.

2013.46.25.266a: The back cover from a program from the Billie Holiday/Louis Armstrong “Birth of the Blues” concert, at Symphony Hall in Boston, April 18, 1947. The back cover is orange with black text. The top and bottom edges of the cover have two black lines, framing centered text. The top third of the cover has the Decca Records logo, a black oval with the text [Decca / RECORDS] below the three five point stars printed in the negative. The in center third of the cover is text printed in varying fonts that read, [Presents Selections by / LOUIS ARMSTRONG / AND / BILLIE HOLIDAY], above three identical floral graphics. In the bottom third of the cover, in smaller type, is the text, [THESE RECORDS AND ALBUM ON SALE IN THE FOYER AND / AT YOUR FAVORITE RECORD DEALER]. The interior of the back cover is an advertisement for Café Savoy, in Boston, Massachusetts.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: April 18, 1947
• Written by: Unidentified
• Published by: Decca Records, British, founded 1929
• Subject of: Billie Holiday, American, 1915 - 1959
• Subject of: Louis Armstrong, American, 1901 - 1971
• Subject of: Velma Middleton, American, 1917 - 1961
• Subject of: Joe Garland, American, 1903 - 1977
• Subject of: Louis Armstrong and his Orchestra, American, 1928 - 1947
• Subject of: Symphony Hall, American, founded 1900
• Type: souvenir programs
• Medium: ink on paper
• Dimensions: H x W x D (2013.46.25.266a): 12 1/8 × 8 7/8 × 1/16 in. (30.8 × 22.6 × 0.1 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W (2013.46.25.266b): 12 1/8 × 8 15/16 in. (30.8 × 22.7 cm)
• Place used: Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Film
• Topic: Hollywood (Film)
• Topic: Instrumentalists (Musicians)
• Topic: Jazz (Music)
• Topic: Mass media
• Topic: Nightlife
• Topic: Singers (Musicians)
• Object number: 2013.46.25.266ab
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
• 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.