Loading...
Creator
Lewis, Katherine Handy, 1902-1982
Call number
Sc MG 336
Physical description
2.17 linear feet (6 boxes)
Language
English
Preferred Citation
[Item], Katherine Handy Lewis papers, Sc MG 336, 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.

Katherine Handy Lewis was an early blues singer who was the first to sing the songs written by her father, W. C. Handy. The Katherine Handy Lewis papers document some of Mrs. Lewis's personal and professional interests and include material relating to her father and to the Handy Brothers Music Company.

Biographical/historical information

Katherine (sometimes spelled Katharine) Handy Lewis was an early blues singer who was the first to sing the songs written by her father, W. C. Handy. Born in Normal, Alabama in 1902, her family moved to Harlem, New York, in 1919. Lewis performed at an historic concert at Carnegie Hall in 1928, the first evening of African American music presented in the then bastion of white music. At the concert, she sang "St. Louis Blues", written by her father, and one of the first blues songs ever published.

During the 1920s and 1930s, Lewis sang on the radio. Later, she married Homer D. Lewis and retired from performing to raise a family. She stayed active, however, in the company founded by her father, Handy Bros. Music Company, of which she was president for a time. Lewis died in 1982.

Scope and arrangement

The Katherine Handy Lewis papers document some of Lewis's personal and professional interests and include material relating to her father and the Handy Bros. Music Company. Papers pertaining to Lewis consist of biographical information, correspondence, printed material, and financial records concerning her musical endeavors, but do not reflect her presidency of the Handy Bros. Music Company. Family papers include financial and legal records related to the Handy family, including Lewis's husband and son, Homer Sr. and Homer Jr., in addition to correspondence between W. C. Handy and Lewis. Of special interest are a memorandum of agreement between Handy and E. A. Niles to collaborate on a collection of blues; a legal document referring to W. C. Handy's estate; and printed material regarding the W. C. Handy Home and Museum in Florence, Alabama. Additional papers relating to W. C. Handy are comprised of printed material on the W. C. Handy Centennial Celebration in Florence, Alabama; correspondence about issuing a commemorative stamp; and undated writings. Records of the Handy Bros. Music Company consist of sheet music published by the company, some written by Lewis; correspondence; a catalog of music; legal and financial records; and a script for a television program, Road to Freedom, by Douglas Hardee, which focused on the struggle of African Americans in Alabama and featured W. C. Handy, among others.

The Katherine Handy Lewis papers are arranged in three series:

Administrative information

Source of acquisition

Gift of E. T. Williams, 1988.

Revision History

Finding aid updated by Lauren Stark. (2021 November 5)

Processing information

Accessioned by Mary Yearwood, 1988, and Janice Quinter, 2011.

Separated material

Transferred to the Art and Artifacts Division: posters.

Transferred to the Moving Image and Recorded Sound Division: audio and moving image materials. For more information, please contact the division at schomburgaudiovisual@nypl.org or 212-491-2270.

Transferred to the Photographs and Prints Division: photographs.

Related Material

W. C. Handy collection, Sc MG 122, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture

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