Serving Southern Jefferson County in the Great State of Montana

Creating Fiction from History: 9/21/2022

The year was 1930. Even with all the hubbub going on further east over the stock market crash of the year previous, the jazz scene in Milwaukee was going strong!

Now known as Bronzeville, the jazz district would later host greats such as Duke Ellington and Herbie Hancock; less well-known perhaps, but no less remarkable, was little Harriet Smith, now known as Hattie Smythe.

When Harriet's parents passed away within less than a year of each other, Harriet was just turning 18. This was in 1922 and little Hattie, really not so little anymore, was shuttled off to New Lisbon, Wisconsin to live with her aunt and uncle, who were direct descendants of one of the original inhabitants of the area. Charles and Harriet Smith, upon learning that their niece had been orphaned, took it upon themselves to bring the budding songstress to live with them.

Hattie had a good life in New Lisbon, but when her aunt and uncle took her to Milwaukee the year before the stock market crash, she fell in love with the city, vowing to return and see how far she could get with her God-given talent.

How far, indeed?!

Hattie might have been a smashing success, lending her vocals to such greats as a young Louis Armstrong, Count Basie, and The Boswell Sisters. Her crowning achievement might have come some years later, in 1939, when Duke Ellington came to town and headlined with her at The Riverside Theater. Harriet had certainly come a long way from her humble beginnings as a baby in 1902 Georgia!

The accompanying photograph might picture a 23-year-old Harriet Peregrin Smith, the year before she moved to Milwaukee, where she incidentally ran into a long-lost relative, Jabbo Smith, who was also a bit of a jazz musician!

If you would like to create fiction from history with one of the museum's photos, please contact the Ledger at (406) 287-5301 or email whledger@gmail.com.

 

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