This exhibit highlights the contributions Bessie Jones, Big Mama Thornton, and Ethel Waters have made to American music and performance. In addition, the following pages address the challenges these women faced as African American women living through the Jim Crow era.
Major moments in the lives and careers of Jones, Thornton, and Waters are highlighted through this online exhibition. The materials featured include excerpts of interviews conducted by Willie Ruff, Anthony Connor, and Richard Neff that are held at Yale’s Oral History of American Music (OHAM),
