Amistad’s LGBTQ collections grew with the 2011 Larry Bagneris papers donation.
From the Stacks: Lloyd H. Smith’s Unique Jazz Library
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When Jazzmen, the early study of jazz music edited by Frederic Ramsey Jr. and Charles Edward Smith, was published in 1939, the book’s title page advertised “32 pages of illustrations”. These included photographs showing the major instrumentalists, singers, and bands of the genre’s early years. As seen above, the copy of Ramsey and Smith’s book held at the Amistad Research Center includes more than the standard 32 pages – something we in New Orleans call “lagniappe” or a little something extra.
This copy was part of the gift of jazz-related memorabilia, recordings, and books donated by Helen Smith in 1994. Mrs. Smith was the widow of Lloyd H. Smith, who she described as “a postman by day, and a lover of jazz at night.” The Lloyd H. Smith Collection consists of approximately 580 phonograph jazz recordings by such performers as Louis Armstrong, Count Basie, Billie Holiday, Cab Calloway, Bessie Smith, Charlie Parker, Artie Shaw, Sidney Bechet, Duke Ellington, Pete Fountain, Ella Fitzgerald, Fletcher Henderson, and others. Accompanying the recordings were over forty books on jazz music. A later addition to the collection included various programs and advertisements for jazz concerts and events sponsored by the New Orleans Jazz Club and the famed Preservation Hall, as well as a number of newspaper and magazine clippings on jazz musicians.
Some of those clippings found their way into Smith’s collection of books, pasted in and inserted throughout various titles. Smith’s additions include full articles, pictures of musicians, and other ephemera, making each a truly unique copy. While pasting in these bits of lagniappe may not have been the best for the books in terms of preservation (as evidence by the discoloration from the clippings and glue), they do serve as interesting additions to the books and illustrate Lloyd H. Smith’s passion—that of a devoted jazz fan.
To sample one of Smith’s copies, you can view the Instagram album here.
Images from the Lloyd H. Smith collection. Images from Amistad’s website, newsletters, and blogs cannot be reproduced without permission.
#Jazzmusic #LloydHSmith #FromtheStacks #librarycollection
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Kathe Hambrick is the Founder and former Executive Director of the River Road African American Museum (RRAAM), established in 1994 as Louisiana’s first African American Museum. She is a past President of the national Association of African American Museums (AAAM). She served as the Chief Curator and Director of Interpretation for the West Baton Rouge Museum for four years. Hambrick was born in New Orleans and spent half her life in California where she received an undergraduate degree in English and a minor in African American Studies from California State University Long Beach.
Hambrick is a Public Historian with a passion for collecting, preserving and interpreting history for diverse audiences. Her thirty-one-year career as a museum professional includes expertise in program development, interpretative planning, curation, grant writing, fundraising, and board governance. She led the effort to preserve three slave cemeteries and six historic buildings in Ascension Parish.
She is considered an expert on the history and culture of African Americans in communities along the Mississippi River. Kathe Hambrick’s interviews include local, national, and international media, the BBC Learning Channel, CBS Morning News, National Public Radio, and the New York Times. The consulting firm, 2PRESERVE was established by Hambrick in 2021 to provide cultural resources and guidance to corporations, museums, cultural centers, government agencies, and faith-based organizations.
Throughout her 31-year career, Kathe has curated over one hundred exhibits, including The Rural Roots of Jazz, African Influences on Louisiana Cuisine, Creole Du Monde, and The Square Collection which featured original art by Elizabeth Catlett, Jacob Lawrence, Richmond Barthé, and Tina Allen. Her most recent exhibit is the GU272 of Ascension: The Jesuit and Episcopal Connection to Slavery.
Kathe is the author and co-author of several books:
Kathe Hambrick is the Founder and former Executive Director of the River Road African American Museum (RRAAM), established in 1994 as Louisiana’s first African American Museum. She is a past President of the national Association of African American Museums (AAAM). She served as the Chief Curator and Director of Interpretation for the West Baton Rouge Museum for four years. Hambrick was born in New Orleans and spent half her life in California where she received an undergraduate degree in English and a minor in African American Studies from California State University Long Beach.
Hambrick is a Public Historian with a passion for collecting, preserving and interpreting history for diverse audiences. Her thirty-one-year career as a museum professional includes expertise in program development, interpretative planning, curation, grant writing, fundraising, and board governance. She led the effort to preserve three slave cemeteries and six historic buildings in Ascension Parish.
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Throughout her 31-year career, Kathe has curated over one hundred exhibits, including The Rural Roots of Jazz, African Influences on Louisiana Cuisine, Creole Du Monde, and The Square Collection which featured original art by Elizabeth Catlett, Jacob Lawrence, Richmond Barthé, and Tina Allen. Her most recent exhibit is the GU272 of Ascension: The Jesuit and Episcopal Connection to Slavery.
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