Object Details
- Artist
- Sid Grossman, 25 Jun 1913 - 31 Dec 1955
- Sitter
- Billie Holiday, 7 Apr 1915 - 17 Jul 1959
- Exhibition Label
- Born Baltimore, Maryland
- In 1937, Bronx schoolteacher Abel Meeropol (1903–1986) wrote a poem of protest after viewing a horrific photograph of African American lynching victims. When set to music, his poem became “Strange Fruit”—the haunting indictment of Southern lynching that emerged as one of Billie Holiday’s most iconic songs.
- Holiday was no stranger to racism. Among the first black vocalists to headline an all-white band when she joined Artie Shaw’s Orchestra in 1938, she suffered discriminatory treatment and racially charged heckling while touring with the ensemble.
- During an engagement at Café Society in Greenwich Village in 1939, she introduced “Strange Fruit” to an audience that responded first with stunned silence before erupting in vigorous applause. Holiday’s subsequent recording of “Strange Fruit” brought its message to the public at large and helped move “the tragedy of lynching out of the black press and into white consciousness.”
- Nacida en Baltimore, Maryland
- En 1937, un maestro del Bronx llamado Abel Meeropol (1903–1986) escribió un poema de protesta luego de ver una espantosa fotografía de afroamericanos linchados. Más tarde alguien musicalizó el poema y este se convirtió en “Strange Fruit” (“Fruta extraña”), la escalofriante denuncia de los linchamientos sureños que llegó a ser canción emblemática de Billie Holiday.
- El racismo no le era ajeno a Holiday. Fue una de las primeras vocalistas de raza negra que encabezaron un conjunto de blancos—la orquesta de Artie Shaw, a la que se integró en 1938—y en las giras sufrió tratos discriminatorios y burlas de tono racial. Durante una presentación en el Café Society de Greenwich Village en 1939, cantó por primera vez “Strange Fruit” ante un público que primero reaccionó con un silencio de estupefacción, para luego irrumpir en vigorosos aplausos. La posterior grabación de “Strange Fruit” por Holiday difundió el mensaje entre el amplio público y contribuyó a sacar
- “la tragedia de los linchamientos fuera de la prensa negra e insertarla en la consciencia de los blancos”.
- Credit Line
- National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
- c. 1948
- Object number
- NPG.87.44
- Restrictions & Rights
- Usage conditions apply
- Copyright
- © Miriam Grossman Cohen, courtesy Howard Greenberg Gallery
- Type
- Photograph
- Medium
- Gelatin silver print
- Dimensions
- Image/Sheet: 33.6 × 27.3 cm (13 1/4 × 10 3/4")
- Mat: 71.1 × 55.9 cm (28 × 22")
- See more items in
- National Portrait Gallery Collection
- Location
- Currently not on view
- National Portrait Gallery
- Topic
- Costume\Jewelry\Necklace
- Costume\Jewelry\Earring
- Interior
- Billie Holiday: Female
- Billie Holiday: Arts and Culture\Performing Arts\Music\Musician\Singer\Jazz singer
- Portrait
- Record ID
- npg_NPG.87.44
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/sm4bdbd308c-f687-4bbd-a37e-0b1c7aca4dc0
