Harry Pace

'Harry Herbert Pace (January 6, 1884, in Covington, Georgia to 1943, in Chicago, Illinois) was an African-American music publisher and insurance executive, and the founder of Black Swan Records.

His father, Charles Pace, died when he was a baby so he was raised by his mother, Nancy Francis Pace. Pace finished elementary school at age twelve and seven years later graduated valedictorian of his class in Atlanta University. Pace worked in printing, banking and insurance industries in Atlanta, Georgia and Memphis, Tennessee.

After receiving another degree in 1903, Pace went into the printing business with W. E. B. Du Bois in Memphis. Two years later they put together the short-lived magazine The Moon Illustrated Weekly.

In 1912, Pace met and collaborated with W. C. Handy, who took a liking to Pace; they wrote songs together. In Memphis Pace also met and married his wife, Ethylene Bibb. Pace and Handy the founded the Pace and Handy Music Company, which brought Pace to New York City. Around 1920, the company began working with composers William Grant Still and Fletcher Henderson. Although the company did well, Pace did not like Handy’s business methods and resigned.

In 1921 Pace formed the Pace Phonographic Corporation, which issued records on the Black Swan label. It was the first record company owned and operated by an African-American. The label was named for singer Elizabeth Taylor Greenfield, who was called “the Black Swan.”

For his record company, Pace brought in Henderson as recording manager and Still as arranger. His first releases featured performances of light classical music, blues, spirituals, and instrumental solos. Black Swan’s first hit was a recording of “Down Home Blues” and “Oh, Daddy,” sung by Ethel Waters. Although Pace recorded many outstanding artists, the business failed, and Pace was forced to declare bankruptcy in December 1923. A few months later he sold Black Swan to Paramount Records.

In 1925, Pace founded the Northeastern Life Insurance Company in Newark, New Jersey, which became the largest African-American-owned business in the North during the 1930s. Pace then moved to Chicago to attend the Chicago-Kent College of Law; he received his degree in 1933. He opened a law firm in downtown Chicago in 1942.

Pace died in 1943.

External links

* [http://www.aaregistry.com/african_american_history/706/Black_Swan_Records_founder_Harry_Pace_an_original Black Swan Records founder Harry Pace, an original!] , The African American Registry
* [http://www.redhotjazz.com/blackswan.html The Rise and Fall of Black Swan Records] , Weusi, Jitu K. (2001)

References

* Miles, J. H., Davis, J. J., Ferguson-Roberts, S. E., and Giles, R. G. (2001). Almanac of African American Heritage. Paramus, NJ: Prentice Hall Press.
* Potter, J. (2002). African American Firsts. New York, NY: Kensington Publishing Corp.