Tolliver & Harris

Description

Letter from stage act Tolliver & Harris to Charles Henry Douglass, Jr., African American entrepreneur and owner of the Douglass Theatre, probably dated 1925, regarding a scheduling problem attributed to legendary blues singer Bessie Smith. Tolliver & Harris explain that they have decided not to play at the Douglass Theatre with the Bessie Smith unit because they cannot afford to pay the rail fare from their small salary. They complain that Smith had previously agreed to pay their fare and later refused to do so. Tolliver & Harris worry about what Smith will tell Douglass and assure him that they mean to be honest with him. They assert that they will play at the Douglass Theatre next week because Mr. "Revene," probably Sam E. Reevin, manager of Theatre Owners Booking Association (T.O.B.A.), a Tennessee-based booking agency from 1920 to the 1930s for African American vaudeville acts, is picking them up. Tolliver & Harris suggest that Douglass ask Radcliff or Allen & Stokes for reports of the act. They claim to have two number-one acts.Digital image and encoded transcription of an original manuscript, scanned, transcribed and encoded by the Digital Library of Georgia in 2005, as part of Georgia HomePLACE. This project is supported with federal LSTA funds administered by the Institute of Museum and Library Services through the Georgia Public Library Service, a unit of the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia.

Record Contributed By

Middle Georgia Archives

Record Harvested From

Digital Library of Georgia