Those We Lost — September 26

Honoring those we lost on September 26 — remembered for what they gave, and for what they left behind.

Bessie Smith

Born April 15, 1894 — died September 26, 1937

Empress of the Blues.

The highest-paid Black entertainer of the 1920s taught America what the blues could carry, influencing Billie Holiday, Mahalia Jackson, Aretha Franklin, and Janis Joplin — who later helped pay for the headstone her unmarked grave waited thirty-three years to receive. She died at forty-three from injuries in a car crash on Highway 61.

Betty Carter

Birth name: Lillie Mae Jones

Born May 16, 1929 — died September 26, 1998

Jazz singer and bandleader-teacher.

The most fearless improviser of her era bent melody and tempo until songs became brand new, ran her own label when the industry refused her, and trained decades of young musicians in her bands. The respect of musicians never needed to wait for the awards that came late.

Zelda Wynn Valdes

Born June 28, 1901 — died September 26, 2001

Fashion and costume designer.

The first Black designer with her own shop on Broadway sculpted gowns for Josephine Baker, Dorothy Dandridge, Ella Fitzgerald, and Eartha Kitt, designed the original Playboy Bunny costume, and spent her final decades dressing Dance Theatre of Harlem. She made elegance itself a Black-owned business.