Bessie Smith
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Bessie Smith was an African-American blues singer widely renowned during the Jazz Age. Nicknamed the "Empress of the Blues" and formerly Queen of the Blues, she was the most popular female blues singe
Smith in 1936
Smith in 1936
Portrait of Smith by Carl Van Vechten
Smith's death certificate
Gertrude Saunders
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Gertrude C. Saunders was an American singer, actress and comedian, active from the 1910s to the 1940s.
Bessie Smith
…out about one of her husband's affairs, she proceeded to get Gee's gun, and shot at him. In 1929, when she learned of his affair with another singer, Gertrude Saunders, Smith ended the relationship, although neither of them sought a divorce. Smith later entered a common-law marriage with an old friend, Richard Morgan…
Saunders c. 1920s