A. C. Harris Bilbrew (March 12, 1891 – June 4, 1972) was an American poet, musician, composer, playwright, clubwoman, and radio personality known as Madame A. C. Bilbrew. She lived in South Los Angeles. In 1923, she became the first black soloist to sing on a Los Angeles radio program. She also hosted the city's first African-American radio music program, ''The Gold Hour'', in the early 1940s. The A. C. Bilbrew branch of the

LA County Library LA County Library is one of the largest public library systems in the United States which serves residents living in 49 of the 88 incorporated cities of Los Angeles County, California. United States, and those living in unincorporated areas r ...

in Willowbrook was named in her honor.

Early life

A. C. Harris was from

Tyler, Texas Tyler is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the largest city and county seat of Smith County, Texas, Smith County. It is also the largest city in Northeast Texas. With a 2020 census population of 105,995, Tyler was the List of cities in Texa ...

, the daughter of Rev. H. S. Harris.Bessie M. Gant
"Bess Dedicates Column to 'Sweetheart of L. A.'"
''Pittsburgh Courier'' (November 21, 1942): 11. via Newspapers.com Her initials were her given name; she was named for two nuns whom her mother had liked. She attended

Texas College Texas College is a private, historically black Christian Methodist Episcopal college in Tyler, Texas. It is affiliated with the United Negro College Fund. It was founded in 1894 by a group of ministers affiliated with the Christian Methodist Epi ...

in Tyler,"Workshop Founder to Speak"
''Independent Star-News'' (October 26, 1968): 5. via Newspapers.com"West Coast to Get Mammoth Stage Production in Fall" ''Chicago Defender'' (November 20, 1948): 17. via

ProQuest ProQuest LLC is an Ann Arbor, Michigan-based global information-content and technology company, founded in 1938 as University Microfilms by Eugene B. Power. ProQuest is known for its applications and information services for libraries, provid ...

and studied music at the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

Career

Bilbrew was active in many ways with performing arts in the African-American community of South Los Angeles. She played church organ, produced pageants and plays, gave dramatic readings, accompanied a jubilee quartet,Mark Sebastian Jordan
"Follow-up: From the Maplehurst murder to Hollywood"
''Knox Pages'' (December 22, 2018). and directed choirs. In 1923 she became the first black soloist to sing on a Los Angeles radio program.Wanda Coleman
''Native in a Strange Land: Trials and Tremors''
(David R. Godine Publisher 1996): 169. In the 1930s she performed "pianologues" and led a musical sextet. She was the host of the city's first African-American radio music program, ''The Gold Hour'', broadcast on KGFJ from 1940 to 1942, and was also the announcer on ''The Bronze Hour'', which she produced with

Gilbert W. Lindsay Gilbert William Lindsay (November 29, 1900 – December 28, 1990), also known as Gil Lindsay, was a Los Angeles, California, politician who worked his way up from City Hall janitor to become the city's first black City Council member and one of i ...

. Her on-air guests included California governor Culbert Olson in 1942. She also performed on a tour of the eastern United States in the 1940s. She was a popular speaker in church and women's groups into the late 1960s, and was known as "Madame Bilbrew" in the community.Vincent Proby
"Untitled" (1974)
Public Art Archive.

Poet and songwriter

Bilbrew wrote poems and songs, including the wartime poem "The Black Boys in Khaki" (1919), and songs "Black Boys of Uncle Sam" (1918), and "Let's Go, Americans" (1942). She wrote "This is Freedom Day", an anthem for

National Freedom Day National Freedom Day is a United States observance on February 1 honoring the signing by President Abraham Lincoln of a joint House and Senate resolution that later was ratified as the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. President Lincoln sig ...

. In 1955, her choral composition, "The Death of

Emmett Till Emmett Louis Till (July 25, 1941August 28, 1955) was a 14-year-old African American boy who was abducted, tortured, and lynched in Mississippi in 1955, after being accused of offending a white woman, Carolyn Bryant, in her family's grocery ...

", was performed by Scatman Crothers and the Ramparts and released as a single, with a percentage of the royalties benefiting the

NAACP The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E.&nb ...

. "I feel strongly that this American folk song will live on and serve a purpose," Bilgrew commented at the time. One of her last songs was a peace anthem, "Let's Lay the Weapons Down and Join Hands" (1969).

Film

Bilbrew was also involved in several films. She was the musical arranger and director for the choir that appeared as cotton pickers singing spirituals in the Stepin Fetchit film ''

Hearts in Dixie ''Hearts in Dixie'' (1929) starring Stepin Fetchit was one of the first all-sound film, "talkie", big-studio productions to boast a predominantly African-American cast. A musical film, musical, the film celebrates African-American music and dan ...

'' (1929), considered one of the first

talking pictures A sound film is a motion picture with synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, but decades passed before ...

with an all-black cast. She appeared as "Tante Caleen" in the film ''

The Foxes of Harrow ''The Foxes of Harrow'' is a 1947 American adventure film directed by John M. Stahl. The film stars Rex Harrison, Maureen O'Hara, and Richard Haydn. The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Production Design ( Lyle R. Wheeler, Mau ...

'' in 1947.

Politics

Bilbrew campaigned for

Kenneth Hahn Kenneth Hahn (August 19, 1920 – October 12, 1997) was a member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors for forty years, from 1952 to 1992. Hahn was on the Los Angeles City Council from 1947 to 1952. He was an ardent supporter of civil r ...

for Los Angeles County supervisor in 1952. In 1958, she was named director of a new Republican campaign office opened in South Los Angeles. She was later described by Hahn as the "first Negro woman to sing on radio in Los Angeles, pioneering the opportunity for young people to get into music, stage, radio and television." In 1960, she attended the

International Women's Day International Women's Day (IWD) is a global holiday celebrated annually on March 8 as a focal point in the women's rights movement, bringing attention to issues such as gender equality, reproductive rights, and violence and abuse against wom ...

Jubilee in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

, part of the 22-member delegation from the United States. By 1962, she was on the advisory board of the Independent Voters League of California. In 1963, she founded the Opportunity Workshop, a community arts, education, and empowerment program in south Los Angeles.

Personal life and legacy

A. C. Harris married Ralph Bilbrew, a fellow performer. They had three daughters: Roberta, Kitty Jean, and Maudie Jeannette; all three daughters had musical careers. Kitty Bilbrew was later known as jazz singer

Kitty White Kitty Jean Bilbrew (July 7, 1923 – August 11, 2009), better known as Kitty White, was an American jazz singer who was popular in Los Angeles nightclubs. She recorded mostly on the West Coast with Buddy Collette, Gerald Wiggins, Chico Ha ...

(1923-2009). A. C. Bilbrew died in 1972, aged 84 years. The A. C. Bilbrew branch of the

, in Willowbrook, was named for the her in 1974. It was designed by black architect Vincent J. Proby. This branch houses the African American Resource Center.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bilbrew, A. C. 1891 births 1972 deaths People from Tyler, Texas Texas College alumni University of Southern California Musicians from Texas Writers from Texas American composers American radio personalities African-American musicians 20th-century African-American people Clubwomen