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Creator
Handy, W. C. (William Christopher), 1873-1958
Call number
Sc MG 122
Physical description
0.42 linear feet (1 box)
Language
English
Preferred Citation
[Item], W. C. Handy collection, Sc MG 122, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division, The New York Public Library
Sponsor
Schomburg NEH Automated Access to Special Collections Project
Repository
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division
Access to materials
Request an in-person research appointment.

This collection consists of documents relating to W. C. Handy, the Handy Brothers Music Company, and the W. C. Handy Foundation for the Blind. Materials include correspondence (personal and professional), printed matter (programs, broadsides, and invitations related to affairs honoring Handy; and advertising publications for Handy's music and publishing companies), and a 28 page bio-bibliography, Negro Authors and Composers of the United States by Handy (1938).

Biographical/historical information

William Christopher Handy was a composer and blues musician. Handy was known for elevating the popularity of a regional music style, the Delta blues. Handy was an educated musician who used elements of folk music in his compositions. He documented the sources of his works, which frequently combined stylistic influences from various performers. He also started a music publishing business with Harry Pace called Pace and Handy Sheet Music; in the 1920s, he founded the Handy Record Company in New York City.

Handy received numerous awards and honors including induction into the National Academy of Popular Music Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970, the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1983, the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame in 1985, and the Alabama Music Hall of Fame in 1993. He also received a Grammy Trustees Award for lifetime achievement in 1993.

Administrative information

Source of acquisition

Material purchased from Lindsay W. Patterson in 1982 and David Schulson Autographs in 1982.

Revision History

Finding aid updated by Lauren Stark. (2022 October 27)

Separated material

Transferred to the Photographs and Prints Division: photograph.

Transferred to the Sheet Music collection (Sc MG 915), also in the Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division: sheet music.

Using the collection

Location

Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division
515 Malcolm X Boulevard, New York, NY 10037-1801
Second Floor