Research Catalog

Details

Additional authors

1. Bettini.
2. Felici, Guglielmo.
3. Engle, Morey, 1923-
4. Ross, Raymond.
5. Smith, Marvin, 1910-2003.
6. Jones, Roger.
7. Mollberger, Bertil.
8. Haun, Declan.
9. Ottica Fotografia.
10. Foto Partenope (Naples, Italy)
11. Interpanoramic Photo (Rome, Italy)

Found in

1. Ada "Bricktop" Smith papers, 1926-1983. (CstRLIN)NYPW89-A197

Description

1. 777 items (1.9 lin. ft., 5 boxes); 21 x 26 cm. and smaller.

Summary

1. The Ada "Bricktop" Smith Photograph Collection documents some aspects of her personal life and professional career, from the 1890s to the early 1980s.

Subject

1. Bennett, Tony, 1926-2023
2. Moses, Lucia Lynn, 1908-1984
3. African Americans > Italy > Rome
4. Nightclubs > France > Paris
5. Nightclubs > Italy > Rome
6. Women-owned business enterprises > France > Paris
7. Williams, Tennessee, 1911-1983
8. Williams, Spencer, 1889-1965
9. Sheen, Fulton J (Fulton John), 1895-1979
10. Socialites > France > Paris
11. Waller, Fats, 1904-1943
12. African American business enterprises > France > Paris
13. John > XXIII, > Pope, > 1881-1963
14. Ellington, Duke, 1899-1974
15. Snapshots
16. Willshaw, Arturo Lopez
17. Pius > XII, > Pope, > 1876-1958
18. Porter, Cole, 1891-1964
19. Duconge, Peter
20. Photographic prints > Color > 1950-1989
21. Halftone photomechanical prints > 1930-1979
22. Andrews, Julie
23. Welles, Orson, 1915-1985
24. Soicalites > Italy > Rome
25. Bellson, Louie, 1924-2009
26. Paul > VI, > Pope, > 1897-1978
27. Flynn, Errol, 1909-1959
28. Webb, Clifton, 1889-1966
29. Morton, Jelly Roll, 1890-1941
30. Mercer, Mabel, 1900-1984
31. Meredith, Burgess, 1907-1997
32. Shannon, Hugh
33. Instant camera photographs > 1970-1979
34. African American business enterprises > Italy > Rome
35. Bailey, Pearl
36. Moses, Ethel
37. Group portraits > 1890-1989
38. Odetta, 1930-2008
39. Publicity photographs > 1910-1979
40. African American entertainers
41. Bricktop, 1894-1984
42. Wilder, Billy, 1906-2002
43. Charles, Ray, 1930-2004
44. Hartford, Huntington, 1911-2008
45. Photographic postcards > 1900-1959
46. Koch, Ed, 1924-2013
47. Gould, Elliott
48. Portrait photographs > 1890-1989
49. Wise, Robert, 1914-2005
50. Baker, Josephine, 1906-1975
51. Dye diffusion transfer prints > 1970-1979
52. Silver gelatin prints > 1890-1989
53. Blackwell, Otis
54. Women-owned business enterprises > Italy > Rome
55. Dalí, Salvador, 1904-1989
56. Kitt, Eartha
57. Businesswomen
58. Horne, Lena
59. Bromfield, Louis, 1896-1956
60. African Americans > France > Paris
61. Entertainers
62. Hutton, Barbara, 1912-1979
63. Taylor, Elizabeth, 1932-2011
64. Moses, Julia
65. Barnes, Bennie
66. Bunche, Ralph J (Ralph Johnson), 1904-1971

Genre/Form

1. Portrait photographs – 1890-1989.
2. Group portraits – 1890-1989.
3. Snapshots.
4. Photographic postcards – 1900-1959.
5. Publicity photographs – 1910-1979.
6. Silver gelatin prints – 1890-1989.
7. Photographic prints – Color – 1950-1989.
8. Dye diffusion transfer prints – 1970-1979.
9. Instant camera photographs – 1970-1979.
10. Halftone photomechanical prints – 1930-1979.

Call number

1. Sc Photo Ada "Bricktop" Smith Collection

Note

1. Title devised by cataloger.
2. Some items have photographer's or photography studio's handstamp on verso; some items have photographer's name printed on recto; some items have photographer's blindstamp on recto; some items have photographer's name printed on verso and recto of matte; some items have photographer's name typewritten on verso; one item has photographer's signature on recto.
3. Many items have handwritten captions or notations on either verso or recto; some items are inscribed on recto; some items have printed captions on either verso or recto.
4. Some items are duplicates; some items are reproductions.
5. Collection contains work by Raymond Ross, Carlo Riccardi, Morris A. Engle, D. Rousse, Ottica Fotografia, Bettini, and Marvin Smith, among others.

Terms of use (note)

1. Some items are restricted; permission of photographer is required for duplication.

Biography (note)

1. Ada Beatrice Queen Victoria Louise Virginia "Bricktop" Smith, entertainer and nightclub owner, was born August 14, 1894 in Alderson, West Virginia.

Indexes/finding aids (note)

1. Finding aid: folder level control.

Linking entry (note)

1. Forms part of the Ada Beatrice "Bricktop" Smith Papers, 1926-1983.

Author

1. Bricktop, 1894-1984.

Title

1. Ada "Bricktop" Smith photograph collection [graphic].

Imprint

1. [189-?]-1983.

Terms of use

1. Some items are restricted; permission of photographer is required for duplication.

Linking entry

1. Forms part of the Ada Beatrice "Bricktop" Smith Papers, 1926-1983.

Biography

1. Ada Beatrice Queen Victoria Louise Virginia "Bricktop" Smith, entertainer and nightclub owner, was born August 14, 1894 in Alderson, West Virginia. At a young age she began to perform on stage, and as a young woman, during the 1910s, she began to sing and dance full-time with the Theater Owners' Booking Association (TOBA) and Pantage vaudeville circuits. She was nicknamed "Bricktop" because of her bright red hair. She worked ina variety of locations including Vancouver, Los Angeles, New York and at Chicago's Panama Cafe, where, with Florence Mills and Cora Green, she formed the Panama Trio.
2. In 1924, Bricktop moved to Paris to perform at the Cafe Le Grand Duc. She befriended members of the American expatriate and European elite, including Josephine Baker, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Cole Porter. In 1926, she opened her own nightclub, the Music Box, for which she failed to get an operating license, after which she reopened Le Grand Duc as Bricktop's. In 1931 she moved Bricktop's to 66 Rue Pigalle, with Mabel Mercer as the main attraction. Her nightclubs were a focal point for the glamorous nightlife for both blacks and whites in Paris during the late 1920s and 1930s. However, an economic depression in Paris in the mid-1930s hurt business, and the coming of World War II in the late 1930s prompted many Americans, including Bricktop, to leave Europe, but not before she did radio broadcasts for the French government in 1938-1939. During her stay in Paris she was briefly married to New Orleans saxophonist Peter Duconge from 1929-1932.
3. Back in the United States, Bricktop co-owned the Brittwood Cafe in New York, which failed. After the failure of a similar club, Minuit and Chavez's, in Mexico City, she returned to Paris in 1949. Since Paris, after the war, was a changed city, the reopened Bricktop's lasted barely a year (1950) and she moved the club to Rome in the early 1950s. She continued to attract an international clientele to her club before retiring from the nightlife in 1964. She moved back to New York by the 1970s and resumed her singing career through the early 1980s. In 1972, she made her only recording, "So Long Baby," with Cy Coleman. She died in 1984 in New York City.

Indexes

1. Finding aid: folder level control.

Local note

1. Sc MG 247

Connect to:

1. Request Appointment
2. NYPL Digital Collections

Added author

1. Bettini. Photographer
2. Felici, Guglielmo. Photographer
3. Engle, Morey, 1923- Photographer
4. Ross, Raymond. Photographer
5. Smith, Marvin, 1910-2003. Photographer
6. Jones, Roger. Photographer
7. Mollberger, Bertil. Photographer
8. Haun, Declan. Photographer
9. Ottica Fotografia.
10. Foto Partenope (Naples, Italy)
11. Interpanoramic Photo (Rome, Italy)

Found in:

1. Ada "Bricktop" Smith papers, 1926-1983. (CstRLIN)NYPW89-A197

Research call number

1. Sc Photo Ada "Bricktop" Smith Collection