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Museum object · Photographs and Still Images

Photograph of Mary Lou Williams playing piano with Andy Kirk and his orchestra

1930s; autographed 1980

Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States, North and Central America

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Source catalog description

This description refers to material held by Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. Visual details below describe the original material.

A black-and-white photograph, landscape orientation, of Mary Lou Williams playing the piano with Andy Kirk and his Orchestra. Mary Lou is at the piano on the left side of the image, with the conductor behind her to the left, with the remaining orchestra are on levels going up towards the right, with the drums on the far right. Printed in white in bottom left corner of image, appears like handwritting, reads [Gordon/Conner/CLEVELAND]. Handwritten note in blue ink in bottom right corner of image, reads [To Serbert/Really fantastic/Yours Love/Mary Lou Williams/1980]. Captioned below the image, on white border with black type, reads [ANDY KIRT/And His Orchestra] on the left, and [Direction/JOE GLASER/R.C.A. Building 30 Rockefeller Plaza/New York, N.Y.] on the right. Nothing on reverse.

Sources & collection details

Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture — original record ↗

Source collection ↗

Catalog metadata · CC0 · Source checked 2026-10-13

Catalog reference: 2014.3.10

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