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September 17, 1994

“Ma” Rainey

Macon usually gets top billing when it comes to Georgia’s musical heritage, but Columbus has a trump card – “Ma” Rainey, the “Mother of the Blues,” who was honored on this day in 1994 by the U.S. Postal Service. Gertrude “Ma” Rainey was born in 1886 in Columbus, where she first started performing in vaudeville […]

Did you know?

The Broadway Play Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, named after her 1927 album, was adapted into a movie starring Viola Davis in 2020.