Research Catalog

FINDING AID AVAILABLE

Ada "Bricktop" Smith audio collection.

Title
  1. Ada "Bricktop" Smith audio collection.
Author
  1. Bricktop, 1894-1984

Collection information

Finding aid

The finding aid is a document containing details about the organization and contents of this archival collection. Archival collections require an appointment to view and use on-site.

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StatusFormatAccessCall numberItem location
Status
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Available by appointment at Schomburg Center - Moving Image & Recorded Sound.

FormatSpoken word recordingAccessUse in libraryCall numberSc MIRS Smith 85-65Item locationSchomburg Center - Moving Image & Recorded Sound

Details

Description
  1. 54 audiocassettes
Subject
  1. Bricktop, 1894-1984, interviews
  2. African American businesspeople
  3. African American entertainers
  4. African Americans in the performing arts
  5. African American women singers
  6. Music-halls (Variety-theaters, cabarets, etc.) -- Europe
Genre/Form
  1. Interviews.
  2. Sound recordings.
Call number
  1. Sc MIRS Smith 85-65
Note
  1. Ada Beatrice Queen Victoria Louise Virginia Smith, (August 14, 1894 - February 1, 1984), was an American dancer, jazz singer, vaudevillian, and club owner, who was known as "Bricktop" for her red hair. An expatriate and contemporary of Josephine Baker, she owned the nightclub Chez Bricktop in Paris (1920s and 30s), as well as clubs in Mexico City (1940s) and Rome (1950s). Bricktop closed her nightclub in 1961 and afterwards returned to the United States. Towards the end of her career she made appearances on radio broadcasts, performed at various establishments such as The Club Tango in Chicago, and introduced Josephine Baker for her "come-back" engagement at Carnegie Hall in 1973. She co-authored "Bricktop" (1983), her autobiography, with James Haskins.
  2. The collection consists of 54 audio recordings primarily of interviews conducted in the 1960s for various radio programs in which she tells the story of her life and career. The holdings are available in the Moving Image and Recorded Sound (MIRS) Division.
Linking entry (note)
  1. See the Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division for the Ada "Bricktop" Smith papers, 1926-1983. Sc MG 247. See the Photographs and Prints Division for the Ada "Bricktop" Smith photograph collection. Sc Photo Ada Bricktop Smith Collection. Drawing and plaque transferred to Art and Artifacts Division.
Author
  1. Bricktop, 1894-1984.
Title
  1. Ada "Bricktop" Smith audio collection.
Linking entry
  1. See the Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division for the Ada "Bricktop" Smith papers, 1926-1983. Sc MG 247. See the Photographs and Prints Division for the Ada "Bricktop" Smith photograph collection. Sc Photo Ada Bricktop Smith Collection. Drawing and plaque transferred to Art and Artifacts Division.
Connect to:
  1. Finding Aid for the collection
  2. Request Access to Schomburg Moving Images and Recorded Sound
Research call number
  1. Sc MIRS Smith 85-65
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