W.C. Handy #1437

Caption from poster__         W.C. Handy   The father of the blues     " In the south of long ago, whenever a new ma  appeared to work in any of the laborers' gangs,  he would be asked if he could sing. If he could,   he got the job. The singing of these working  men set the rhythm of the work."     William Christopher Handy, known as W.C. Handy is commonly considered the "Father of the Blues." He did not invent them, but he was the first to write down the blues. Handy brought the blues to the masses and changed American Music history. Abbe Niles called him "The most affectionately regarded American Negro" and "a lyric poet." Mr. Handy was born in a log cabin in Florence, Alabama, on November 16th, 1873, to a family of former slaves. He was intelligent, well educated and musically talented. Despite his fathers’ wishes, he left home with a traveling minstrel show at 15 years of age, but had to walk home soon afterward. From 1892, when he left home again, until 1896 he worked at va