"Supper Time" is a popular song written by Irving Berlin for the 1933 musical As Thousands Cheer, where it was introduced by Ethel Waters. The song is about racial violence inspired by a newspaper headline about a lynching.
Ethel Waters and Irving Berlin in the 1940s
Image: Ethel Waters William P. Gottlieb
Irving Berlin was an American composer and lyricist. His music forms a large part of the Great American Songbook. Berlin received numerous honors including an Academy Award, a Grammy Award, and a Tony Award. He also received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Gerald R. Ford in 1977. Broadcast journalist Walter Cronkite stated he "helped write the story of this country, capturing the best of who we are and the dreams that shape our lives".
Berlin in 1948
Lower East Side in 1910
Berlin at his first job with a music publisher, aged 18
Berlin photographed in 1907 in Pach Brothers Studio