W. C. Handy

William Christopher Handy (November 16, 1873 - March 28, 1958) was an African American blues composer, often known as "The Father of the Blues".

Musical and social development

His musical endeavors were varied, and he sang first tenor in a minstrel show, moved from Alabama and worked as a band director, choral director and trumpeter. At age 23, he was band master of Mahara's Colored Minstrels.

Related Topics:
Tenor - Minstrel - Band - Choral director

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As a young man, he was playing cornet in the Chicago World's Fair in 1893, and in 1902 he travelled throughout Mississippi listening to various musical styles played by ordinary Negroes. The instruments most often used in many of those songs were the guitar, banjo and to a much lesser extent, the piano. His remarkable memory served him well, and he was able to recall and transcribe the music he heard in his travels.

Related Topics:
Cornet - Chicago World's Fair - 1893 - 1902 - Mississippi - Negroes - Guitar - Banjo - Piano

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Shortly after his July 19, 1896 marriage to Elizabeth Price, he was invited to join a minstrel group called "Mahara's Minstrels." In their three year tour, they travelled to Chicago, Illinois, throughout Texas and Oklahoma, through Tennessee, Georgia and Florida on to Cuba and was paid a salary of $6 per week. Upon their return from their Cuban engagements, they travelled north through Alabama, and stopped to perform in Huntsville, Alabama. Growing weary from life on the road, it was there he and his wife decided to stay with relatives in his nearby hometown of Florence.

Related Topics:
July 19 - 1896 - Marriage - Chicago, Illinois - Texas - Oklahoma - Tennessee - Georgia - Florida - Cuba - Alabama - Huntsville, Alabama

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On June 29, 1900 in Florence, Elizabeth gave birth to the first of their six children. Around that time, William Hooper Councill, President of Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical College for Negroes in Normal, Alabama (a small community just outside Huntsville) approached Handy about teaching music. At the time, AAMC was the only college for Negroes in Alabama. Handy accepted Councill's offer and became a faculty member that September. He taught music there from 1900 to 1902 which is today named Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical University.

Related Topics:
June 29 - 1900 - William Hooper Councill - Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical College for Negroes - Normal, Alabama - Teaching - 1902

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An important factor in his musical development and in music history, was his enthusiasm for the distinctive style of uniquely American music which was often considered inferior to European classical music. Handy felt he was underpaid and felt he could make more money touring with a minstrel group and after a dispute with AAMC President Councill, he resigned his teaching position to rejoin the Mahara Minstrels to tour the Midwest and Pacific Northwest. In 1903 he was offered the opportunity to direct a Black band named the Knights of Pythias, located in Clarksdale, Mississippi. Handy accepted and remained there six years.

Related Topics:
Music history - European classical music - Midwest - Pacific Northwest - 1903 - Clarksdale, Mississippi

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