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GLARE Magazine: Select Articles, 1951-1954
Founded in August, 1951, GLARE was a monthly magazine devoted to Black social and cultural life in Birmingham, Alabama. According to an editorial introduction in its inaugural issue, "GLARE pictures the better things of life, the pleasant things, the…
Chuck Clarke, Mary Alice Clarke Stollenwerck, Joe Guy, and Jesse Evans
Charles “Chuck” Clarke, Mary Alice Clarke Stollenwerck, Joe Guy, and Jesse Evans perform in a Birmingham club, c. 1950s.
Frank Adams and Female Impersonator
Frank Adams, saxophone, backs a female impersonator at Birmingham’s 2728 Club, 1950s.
Alton "Snooky" Davenport
Drummer Alton “Snooky” Davenport. Davenport studied music at Tuskegee Institute, performed in Fess Whatley’s Birmingham orchestra, and during the Second World War directed the 334th ASF Band at Fort Benning, Georgia. He served as bandmaster at…
Leatha Lowe
Leatha Lowe at piano. Along with her brothers J. L. and Sammy, Leatha Lowe belonged to one of Black Birmingham’s most prominent musical families. A classically trained pianist, Leatha taught private piano lessons in her home to numerous Birmingham…
Richard "Dickie" Harris
Trombonist Richard “Dickie” Harris, undated photo. Harris’s credits include work with the Erskine Hawkins and Lucky Millinder orchestras, Sarah Vaughn, Illinois Jaquet, James Brown, and Sam Cooke.
J. B. Sims
J. B. “Jay” Sims. As a student at Alabama State, Sims served as the original singer and emcee of the ‘Bama State Collegians, performing in the frenetic “wildman” style of Cab Calloway; after graduation, he returned to his hometown of Birmingham,…
Jimmy Mitchell, Saxophonist and Singer
Jimmy Mitchell (aka Jimmy Mitchelle), saxophonist and vocalist with with the ‘Bama State Collegians / Erskine Hawkins Orchestra. 1940s Publicity photo.
Wilbur "Dud" Bascomb
Wilbur “Dud” Bascomb (1916-1972), trumpeter with the ‘Bama State Collegians / Erskine Hawkins Orchestra. Bascomb's solo on the 1939 Erskine Hawkins hit "Tuxedo Junction" was closely studied and faithfully reproduced by a generation of up-and-coming…
Erskine Hawkins
Erskine Hawkins (1914 – 1993), publicity photo, c. 1939. The Erskine Hawkins Orchestra, begun at Alabama State Teachers’ College as the ‘Bama State Collegians, developed into one of Black America’s leading dance bands. Nearly all the band’s members…
John T. "Fess" Whatley, 1968
John T. “Fess” Whatley (1885 – 1972), Birmingham’s legendary “Maker of Musicians,” 1968. From 1917 into the 1950s, Whatley’s music program at Industrial / Parker High School produced numerous professional musicians, many of whom performed in the…
Fess Whatley’s Sax-o-Society Orchestra, 1940s
Fess Whatley’s Sax-o-Society Orchestra, c. 1940s.
"Fess" Whatley and Black AFM Delegates, 1937
John T. “Fess” Whatley with other Black delegates to the 42nd annual convention of the American Federations of Musicians, Louisville, Kentucky, 1937. Barred from participating in Birmingham’s white musicians’ union, Whatley co-founded Local 733 for…
Industrial High School Band, 1930-1931
Industrial High School Band, 1930-1931. Band director John T. “Fess” Whatley at far right.
Laura Washington at Grundy's Music Room
Birmingham-born Laura Washington joined the Erskine Hawkins Orchestra as a teenager in 1946, scoring a hit that year for the band with her performance of Joe Liggins’ “I’ve Got a Right to Cry.” (The Hawkins/Washington cover reached #2 on the…
J. V. Jenkins performs at Richard Arrington inauguration, 1979
Singer J. V. Jenkins performs at the inauguration of Birmingham mayor Richard Arrington, Jr. Press photo, 1979. Jenkins performed “Here Am I, O Lord, Send Me,” at Arrington’s request. “It’s a song that has special meaning for black people,” Rachel…