Pace Phonograph Company
Established in 1921, the Pace Phonograph Com-
pany was the first African-American recording
company in the United States. The organization
was based first in Pace’s New York City home on
West 138th Street. Harry H. Pace, a professor
turned music industry executive, founded the com-
pany. He had already made a name for himself in
the business through his collaboration with musi-
cian W. C. HANDY. The two men formed the Pace
and Handy Music Company, the first African-
American publisher of music, in 1908. Their part-
nership lasted through 1913.
Pace was an enthusiastic sponsor of Harlem Re-
naissance cultural and artistic events. He was one of
several successful entrepreneurs who financed the
Krigwa Awards, a competition organized by W. E. B.
DUBOIS. Shortly after Pace organized the company,
he renamed it the Black Swan Phonograph Corpo-
ration in honor of Elizabeth Taylor Greenfield, a cel-
ebrated 19th-century diva of color.
Pace, who regarded DuBois as one of his men-
tors, gained public recognition for his pioneering
work to produce the works of African-American
artists and to cater to African-American audiences.
DuBois was well aware of the company’s cultural
and professional significance. During his chief ad-
dress at the third Pan-African Conference in Lon-
don in 1923, the eminent scholar and CRISISeditor
included remarks about the Pace company’s efforts
to defend itself from predatory competitors who
wanted to engineer the company’s bankruptcy.
The impressive Black Swan client list included
Ethel Waters, Revella Hughes, Alberta Hunter,

and musicians such as William Grant Still and

members of Frank Henderson’s Novelty Orchestra.

The Black Swan had the opportunity to sign Bessie

Smith but, based on Pace’s criticism of her style,

chose not to do so. In 1924 Pace sold the com-

pany and it became part of the Paramount Record

Company.

Bibliography

Handy, W. C., and Bontemps, Arna, eds. Father of the

Blues: An Autobiography.1941, reprint, New York:

Da Capo Press, 1985.

Kenney, William. Recorded Music in American Life: The

Phonograph and Popular Memory, 1890–1945.New

York: Oxford University Press, 1999.

Padmore, George (Malcolm Ivan

Meredith Nurse) (1902–1959)

A Trinidad-born activist and influential commu-

nist who is regarded as the “Father of African

Emancipation.” During the Harlem Renaissance,

Padmore’s accomplishments included editorship of

the HARLEMLIBERATOR,the publication formerly

known as NEGROWORLD.

Padmore was born Malcolm Nurse in Arouca,

Trinidad. His father, James Hubert Alfonso Nurse,

was a respected and talented teacher. After begin-

ning a career as a reporter in Trinidad, Padmore,

who counted the scholar C. L. R. James as one of

his close childhood friends, emigrated to the

United States. Once in America, he changed his

name to George Padmore and joined the COMMU-

NISTPARTY. He pursued studies in social work and

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