1939 Gertrude
"Ma" Rainey, known as the
"Mother of the Blues," died at age 53 in Rome,
Ga. Born in Columbus
on Apr. 26, 1886, Gertrude Malissa Pridgett began
singing at the Springer Opera House at age 14. She
subsequently joined black vaudeville troupes and
minstrel shows touring the south. Performing in tent
shows, the groups mainly sang popular music hits. But
shortly after she married "Pa" Rainey at age 18, "Ma"
Rainey began bringing audience something different. She
began to work into her Rabbit Foot Minstrels act
plaintive, poignant music she had first overhead a young
Missouri woman sing. As the music she dubbed the blues
caught on, Rainey's fame grew. She was one of the first
female artists to record the blues professionally. In
1934, she retired and purchased two theaters--one in
Columbus and one in Rome--which she managed until her
death.
1943 Former Atlanta University
professor W.E.B. Du Bois was elected the first black member of the
National Institute of Arts and
Letters.
