W. C. Handy playing trumpet in his office above Times Square on November 11, 1949.
W.C. Handy is Born
William Christopher Handy ranks among the great musical forces of the 20th century. As a musician, songwriter, producer, folklorist and self-proclaimed “Father of the Blues,” Handy is credited with bringing the musical genre into the mainstream.
Handy was born on Nov. 16, 1873, in Florence, Lauderdale County. He came from a prosperous family, the son and grandson of prominent ministers in the African Methodist Episcopal denomination. He honed his musical skills singing and playing hymns in church. Beyond the sanctuary, he sought out music halls and other secular venues, much to his father’s chagrin.
Before his 19th birthday, Handy was writing and performing music in a variety of genres. In his 20s, he earned a teaching degree and served briefly as a music instructor at what is now Alabama A&M University. But it was on the road, not the classroom, where he plied his trade, at venues in Kentucky, Indiana, and Mississippi and in faraway Canada and Cuba. In 1905, he settled in Memphis, the Tennessee city closely associated with the blues.
Handy co-founded a popular music publishing company in 1913, arranging blues and spiritual music for a variety of singers. His autobiography, Father of the Blues, was published to acclaim in 1941. Two years later, an accident on a Harlem subway left Handy permanently blind. He continued to work and publish until his death in 1958 and was a television fixture, appearing as a frequent guest on The Ed Sullivan Show.
Handy’s likeness, trumpet in hand, graced a postage stamp in 1969. Statues of him stand in both Memphis and his hometown of Florence, where his birthplace stands as a museum and an annual music festival is named in his honor.
– Scotty Kirkland
