Photograph of a woman singing into a microphone: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A silver gelatin print depicting a black-and-white image of a woman singing into a microphone. She stands behind the microphone stand with her hands at her sides. She is wearing a dark evening gown with a matching puffed sleeve jacket. The background is black. White text in the negative on the left side of the image reads, [Apollo Thea NYC / AUG 20-27, '37]. The image is framed by a white border that has pencil cropmarks and editing notations. On the back of the image is the photographer’s stamp in blue ink that reads, [harry rossner / CANDID PHOTOGRAPHER / 116 ave. c, b’klyn, n.y.]. Below are additional notations in pencil on bottom half on the back of the image.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: August 1937
• Photograph by: Harry Rossner
• Subject of: Unidentified Woman or Women
• Subject of: Apollo Theater, American, founded 1934
• Type: gelatin silver prints
• Type: portraits
• Medium: silver and photographic gelatin on photographic paper
• Dimensions: H x W (Image): 9 7/16 × 7 1/2 in. (23.9 × 19 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W (Sheet): 10 × 8 in. (25.4 × 20.3 cm)
• Place depicted: New York City, New York, United States, North and Central America
• Place printed: New York City, New York, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Entertainers
• Topic: Music
• Topic: Photography
• Topic: Singers (Musicians)
• Topic: Theatre
• Object number: 2013.46.25.31
• 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.