Bessie Smith Photographs by Carl Van Vechten: Picture 6
The Empress of the Blues: Bessie Smith
Bessie Smith's life fit her blues theme. She was married briefly to Jack Gee, whom she met in Philadelphia about the time her first record went public. He was a security guard. In 1926 they adopted a son whom they named Jack Gee, Jr. But the marriage was always stormy, and they broke up and reunited several times, with both unfaithful during the marriage. Gee enjoyed the money that Smith brought in; he did not enjoy her career, nor her bisexuality. When Gee's affair with Gertrude Saunders, also a singer, came to Smith's attention, Jack and Bessie separated. Gee then tried to keep the son from his mother by moving around, living in boarding houses.
While Jack and Bessie never divorced, Bessie eventually entered, essentiall, a common-law marriage with Richard Morgan, an uncle of Lionel Hampton.
Bessie Smith drank heavily, abstaining for long intervals, then going on binges.
Pictures in this series: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Index
Images of Bessie Smith courtesy of Library of Congress
