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Look Back: W.C. Handy, 1932
Date: 3/2/2012 Album ID: 1425671
Photos by Post-Dispatch staff photographers
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William Christopher Handy stood before the live microphone of KMOX on March 5, 1932, raised a cornet to his lips and blew "St. Louis Blues", the bouncing melody that made him rich. W.C. Handy’s first visit to St. Louis in winter 1893 was all about blues, nothing of riches. Shivvering with other homeless men on cobblestone riverfront, Handy probably did "hate to see that evening sun go down," as the lyrics go.
W.C. Handy, composer of the St. Louis Blues, plays his famous melody at St. Louis Sportsman's Park on July 10, 1944, during the American Negro Music Festival. He was 70 at the time of the visit. Handy published the blues hit in 1914 in Memphis, where he had established himself as a musician on Beale Avenue (later Beale Street). He spent the winter of 1892-93 in St. Louis, mainly homeless and jobless -- good enough inspirations for the blues. But he named the song in honor of a wealthy friend from St. Louis, not the hard winter he endured as young man. (Post-Dispatch)
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Russell E. Gardner, owner of a buggy factory in St. Louis and great fan of Handy's music. He visited Memphis frequently to hear Handy's band play, and tipped him $20 each time. Handy named one of his compositions the St. Louis Blues in Gardner's honor. It became a national hit and made Handy rich. Gardner, who later dabbled in automobile sales, died in 1938. (Post-Dispatch)
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Russell Gardner's private steamboat, the Annie Russell, on the St. Louis riverfront. Gardner cruised the river on his stern-wheeler and often visited Memphis, where he particularly enjoyed W.C. Handy's music. (Post-Dispatch)
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Russell Gardner on the desk of his steamboat, the Annie Russell. Gardner was successful and prominent in St. Louis and along the river. His brother, Fred Gardner, was Missouri governor from 1917 to 1921. Russell Gardner's buggy factory on the riverfront just south of downtown on Rutger Street. (Post-Dispatch)
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W.C. Handy (right) is honored by the National Association of Negro Musicians during a convention in August 1947 at Centennial Christian Church, 4950 Fountain Avenue in St. Louis. Pinning a membership badge upon Handy's lapel is Clarence Hayden Wilson, association president. (Post-Dispatch)
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W.C. Handy signing copies of his autobiography, Father of the Blues, during a visit to St. Louis in 1949. (Post-Dispatch)
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A gathering at Soldier's Memorial in St. Louis on April 10, 1958, two weeks after W.C. Handy died in New York at age 84. Shown are (from left) Nat King Cole; Handy's widow, Louise Logan Handy; St. Louis Mayor Raymond R. Tucker; and Pearl Bailey. They participated in a music festival to honor the world premier of a movie on W.C. Handy's life. Handy's first wife, Elizabeth, had died in 1937. He and Louise were married in 1954. (Post-Dispatch)
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A photo of the cover of Handy's second edition of the sheet music for his greatest hit, St. Louis Blues. The Post-Dispatch included the reproduction for a story on Handy's life shortly after his death. (Edward J. Burkhardt/Post-Dispatch)
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Some of W.C. Handy's relatives gather with Mayor Raymond R. Tucker for the dedication of a park in his name in north St. Louis on June 22, 1960. The park is at Euclid and Lexington avenues, near North Kingshighway and Natural Bridge Avenue. Shown are (from left) Charles Handy, brother; William C. Handy Jr., son; mayor Tucker; Louise Handy, widow; Maddie Handy Robinson, sister; and Katherine Handy Lewis, daughter. (Jim Racquets/Post-Dispatch)
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W.C. Handy, composer of the St. Louis Blues, plays his famous melody at St. Louis Sportsman's Park on July 10, 1944, during the American Negro Music Festival. He was 70 at the time of the visit. Handy published the blues hit in 1914 in Memphis, where he had established himself as a musician on Beale Avenue (later Beale Street). He spent the winter of 1892-93 in St. Louis, mainly homeless and jobless -- good enough inspirations for the blues. But he named the song in honor of a wealthy friend from St. Louis, not the hard winter he endured as young man. (Post-Dispatch)
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