Bessie Smith

Bessie Smith is a Tennessee historical marker in Hamilton County.

Hamilton Co, Chattanooga,intersection of 9th & Magnolia

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Born in Chattanooga to black parents, her great talent and determination earned her the title "Empress of the Blues." Death came in a tragic automobile accident in Clarksdale, Miss. In her memory, Columbia Records erected a tombstone with the epitaph "The Greatest Blues Singer In The World Will Never Stop Singing."

TodayHistorical map

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Library of Congress, Geography and Map Division

Historical maps covering this location

1796 · Map of The Tennassee (sic) Government. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1896 · Map of the Battlefields of Chattanooga and Wauhatchie (E. E. Betts, Chickamauga and… (Library of Congress, Geography and Map Division)
1901 · Sanborn Fire Insurance Map — Chattanooga, Tenn. (1901) (OldInsuranceMaps.net — Sanborn Map Collection)
1936 · Chattanooga, Tennessee (USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection)
1940 · Chattanooga, Tennessee (USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection)

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Marker text and location from the Tennessee Historical Commission, as the Commission publishes them on its marker map.

More markers nearby

The University of Tennessee at Chattanoogaunder 1 mi
Walden Hospitalunder 1 mi
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