Fifth Annotation.

"American Decades." enotes.com. 20 Nov 2008 .

During her lifetime the blues was regarded as a form of black expression; she performed for mostly black audiences and recorded for what were classified as race records that were not stocked in record shops catering to whites. Unlike Louis Armstrong, who reached all audiences, Smith was unknown or unavailable to most white Americans during her career. She was a black artist working with traditional black material for a black public nevertheless, Smith gave special performances for white audiences in some large cities.