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Epilogue

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 June 2024

Sheila Curran Bernard
Affiliation:
University at Albany, State University of New York
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Summary

On December 9, 1949, Huddie Ledbetter died in a New York hospital at the age of sixty. This chapter briefly looks at the life that he and Martha remade after their permanent return to New York in early 1936. It also looks at damage caused to Ledbetter’s career by the November 1936 publication of Negro Folk Songs as Sung by Lead Belly, as well as all of the Lomax-driven publicity over the previous two years. In 1939, an altercation at a party hosted by the Ledbetters leads an unsympathetic prosecutor and judge, citing false narratives about Lead Belly, to incarcerate him yet again, this time at Rikers. Released later in 1939, he and Martha continue to build a new life. Over time, Huddie Ledbetter builds a celebrated (but not remunerative) career with significant impact on the folk and labor movements as well as the ongoing evolution of American musical forms, including rock and roll.

Type
Chapter
Information
Bring Judgment Day
Reclaiming Lead Belly's Truths from Jim Crow's Lies
, pp. 170 - 177
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2024

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  • Epilogue
  • Sheila Curran Bernard, University at Albany, State University of New York
  • Book: Bring Judgment Day
  • Online publication: 21 June 2024
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009103619.013
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  • Epilogue
  • Sheila Curran Bernard, University at Albany, State University of New York
  • Book: Bring Judgment Day
  • Online publication: 21 June 2024
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009103619.013
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Epilogue
  • Sheila Curran Bernard, University at Albany, State University of New York
  • Book: Bring Judgment Day
  • Online publication: 21 June 2024
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009103619.013
Available formats
×