Portrait of Melba Moore in Broadway character Lutiebelle: Museum Object and Cultural History
Portrait of Melba Moore in Broadway character Lutiebelle: Date: 1970. Photograph by: Unidentified. Subject of: Melba Moore, American, born 1945.
The object in the museum catalogue
A black and white photograph of actress and artist Melba Moore in character as Lutiebelle from her 1970 Broadway performance in Purlie. The image captures Moore backstage on the landing of a stairwell in costume as Lutiebelle Gussie Mae Jenkins. She wears a rounded hat, bow-tied pigtails, and light-colored lace dress, gloves, and shoes. The wall behind her is two-toned and she stands close to the dark stairwell railing, looking up at the camera. The photograph has several blue ink marks scattered across it and is stuck to another photograph from behind that has the blue inscription “CHARLS H.”. There are no other markings.
Materials, dates and provenance
- Date: 1970
- Photograph by: Unidentified
- Subject of: Melba Moore, American, born 1945
- Subject of: Broadway Theatre, American, founded 1924
- Published by: Playbill, American, founded 1884
- Published by: Library of Congress, American, founded 1800
- Type: photographs
- Type: portraits
- Medium: photographic materials
- Dimensions: H x W (image): 9 1/2 × 6 3/4 in. (24.1 × 17.2 cm)
- Dimensions: H x W (sheet): 9 15/16 × 8 1/16 in. (25.2 × 20.4 cm)
- Place depicted: New York City, New York, United States, North and Central America
- Topic: African American
- Topic: Actors
- Topic: Broadway Theatre
- Topic: Musicians
- Topic: Photography
- Topic: Singers (Musicians)
- Topic: Theatre
- Object number: 2024.13.2
- Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Melba Moore and Charli Huggins
- 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.
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