Publications

Blues Empress in Black Chattanooga: Bessie Smith and the Emerging Urban South

Scott, Michelle Renee

As one of the first African American vocalists to be recorded, Bessie Smith is a prominent figure in American popular culture and African American history. Mellon Mays Fellow Michelle R. Scott uses Smith's life as a lens to investigate broad issues in history, including industrialization, Southern rural to urban migration, black community development in the post-emancipation era, and black working-class gender conventions. Buy from Amazon.

Published: University of Illinois Press, 2008

ISBN: 978-0252075452

Citation: Scott, Michelle Renee, Blues Empress in Black Chattanooga: Bessie Smith and the Emerging Urban South (Champaign, IL: University of Illinois Press, 2008).

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Blues Empress in Black Chattanooga: Bessie Smith and the Emerging Urban South