Jazz

1927 · 9883 — New York 1927. 4.5x3.5" photograph slightly trimmed down affecting the studio stamp on the bottom edge. Signed by Florence Mills in 1927. Mounted on an autograph album page with a signature card from Betty Blythe to verso. Few spots to photo some soiling to edges. Signature bright and clear. Very good. <br /> <br /> Rare signed photograph from one of the most celebrated Black performers of the 1920s Florence Mills 1896-1927 who died at the age of 31 from complications from tuberculosis and an appendectomy. <br /> <br /> Mills was a child performer in travelling Black stage productions with her sisters as well as "The Tennessee Ten." One of her early major roles was in the Broadway musical Shuffle Along in 1921 one of the defining productions marking the beginning of the Harlem Renaissance. She was a regular performer at the Plantation Club and later headlined the Palace Theatre before becoming internationally known starring in Lew Leslie's Blackbirds of 1926. While performing some 300 shows in London of that year she became ill with tuberculosis her death the following year shocking the entertainment world.<br /> <br /> A naturally scarce signed photo from the year of her death depicting one of the defining performers of the Harlem Renaissance. unknown