African American History & Culture: Home

"The Rick Whitesell Record Collection has been characterized as one of the most comprehensive private collections of its type in the country. Tracing the development of black music from the turn of the century to the late 1950s, the collection consists of seven, ten, and twelve inch discs whose numbers span into the thousands. Early artists such as the Mills Brothers, the Southernaires, and the Charioteers are all represented in the collection. The Whitesell Collection also contains a broad cross-section of works by such premier groups as the Delta Rhythm Boys, Fred Astaire, Les Paul, Ella Fitzgerald, and the most successful of the jubilee groups, the Golden Gate Quartet."