Blues Empress in Black Chattanooga: Bessie Smith and the Emerging Urban South

Scott argues that Smith's music was particularly important to African Americans caught up in the Great Migration: "they turned to blues and gospel music to make sense of the injustices and confusion of city life, and a Bessie Smith performance that bridged the gap between the sacred and the secular could aid in the migration transition" (p. 126). [...] this is a clearly written, historically informed monograph that contributes nicely to the writing on Bessie Smith.