WHO WAS “MA RAINEY”? Gertrude “Ma” Rainey, known as the “Mother of the Blues”, was the first entertainer to successfully bridge the divide between vaudeville — the cabaret-style… Read more: Blues, Bends, and Bisexuality: Gertrude “Ma” Rainey

Tom Turpin was arguably the first major African American composer and performer of rags. Born in Savannah, Georgia in 1871, he began his musical career in the early… Read more: Tom Turpin: “A Ragtime Nightmare” and a Dream