Third Annotation & Thesis.

Hemsworth, Joan. "Bessie Smith Empress of the Blues." 14 Dec 1998. 14 Nov 2008
.
When Bessie was a bit younger, she was once removed from a job as chorus
girl-because her skin was too black. Years later she dealt with a similar
situation at the famous Apollo in New York by demanding that a very dark chorus
girl be kept-though she accepted a dimming of the lights. Bessie also despised
blacks that attempted to become like whites.

Thesis: Bessie Smith was a famous African American blues singer born during a time period of segregation. Bessie was always acknowledged for her singing but never for her courage. Being loved by not only blacks but whites as well, there was a lot of obstacles that stood in her way but she overcame them and became successful in her career. Bessie influenced a lot of folks to follow their dreams because anything is possible.

Second Annotation

Smith, Elizabeth. "Bessie Smith Biography (1894-1937)." biography.com. 2007. 14 Nov
2008 .
Bessie Smith ran away as a teenager to join a traveling show as a dancer. In 1912,
Bessie began performing in the same show as blues vocalist Ma Rainey. She really
became famous when she started to record in 1923.

First Annotation

Women In History, "Bessie Smith Biography." Women In History. 25 Jan 2008.
Lakewood Public Library. 14 Nov 2008.
.
This website taught me that Bessie died in a car accident around age 43. She was
born in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Topic Selection NHD 08/09.

I choose Bessie Smith for my NHD Project because I am interested in how African Americans were popular and influenced generations of musicians during a time when there was segregation (1920s).

Bessie Smith is important to history because without their efforts, many African Americans may not have felt as though they could fulfill their dreams just because of their race & also, the blues probably wouldn't be appreciated as much by all races.

For this week's research, I found a biography of Bessie Smith at (http://www.lkwdpl.org/wihohio/smit-bes.htm). I will read and summarize it for next week.