W.C. Handy

W.C. (William Christopher) Handy was born on November 16, 1873 in Florence, Alabama.  W.C. Handy was a trumpeter, bandleader, and composer.  He was known to many as "the Father of the Blues." Handy had a St. Louis connection having lived in the city for some time.  He tried his luck as a musician but was only able to find temporary work on the riverboats.  It was in St.  Louis that he found inspiration for his most popular composition, St. Louis Blues.  

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"In 1944, at age seventy, Handy made a triumphant return to St. Louis as the main act of the fifth annual Negro Music Festival, held at Sportsman's Park (at Grand Boulevard and Dodier Street) on July 10, 1944. The event was widely publicized in papers from the South Side Journal to the Argus, which featured a full-page advertisement touting the concert as "American's Greatest Cultural Program!" and "a national demonstration of interracial goodwill."  Proceeds from the festival as well as from related events in Chicago and Detroit were donated to the Army and Navy Relief Society."  (from: The archives at Washington University and the Missouri History MuseumRead more: 

http://omeka.wustl.edu/omeka/exhibits/show/music-segregation/handy