スミソニアン博物館のインスタグラム(smithsonian) - 3月30日 21時33分

Gladys Bentley was a blues singer who performed in male drag at clubs during the Harlem Renaissance.
Bentley left home at the age of 16 and ended up in Harlem, New York. She began her career singing at rent parties (held to raise rent money by charging attendees) until she moved up to nightclubs and speakeasies.

She appeared at Harry Hansberry's "Clam House" on 133rd Street, one of New York City's most notorious gay speakeasies, in the 1920s. After it closed, she went on to headline Harlem's Ubangi Club, where she was backed up by a chorus line of drag queens.
Bentley was compelling in her performances, dressed in her signature men’s style of tuxedo and a top hat. Audiences loved her raunchy remakes to popular tunes—sang in a deep, throaty voice.

In his 1945 autobiography, Langston Hughes described her as “an amazing exhibition of musical energy." Bentley went on to have a recording career that spanned two decades.

Thank you all for following along during our (@NMAAHC) takeover of the @スミソニアン博物館 account. Follow us for more #HiddenHerstory! #WomensHistoryMonth ?: Gladys Bentley, Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture

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