Lesbian Herstory Archives AudioVisual Collections

Tiny Davis Interview, 1988

Title

Tiny Davis Interview, 1988

Subject

Lesbian jazz musician Tiny Davis in her later years

Description

Ernestine "Tiny" Davis was a prolific Black lesbian jazz trumpeter and vocalist. Born in 1909 in Memphis, Tennessee, she was the youngest of seven children. She married young and had 3 children. Her start as a musician was with the all-women, racially integrated International Sweethearts of Rhythm band which was formed at her local school but soon toured nationally. She played alongside her partner, Ruby Lucas, in a subsequent band, the Hell Divers. She and her partner owned Tiny and Ruby's Gay Spot in Chicago during the 1950s and stayed together until her death in 1994. A 1988 documentary entitled Tiny & Ruby: Hell Divin' Women was made as a tribute to the couple. Davis was also the subject of the 1986 documentary International Sweethearts of Rhythm: America's Hottest All-Girl Band.

Source:Jazz Women's Archives

Contributor

Lisa Cowan

Rights

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Format

video/mp4

Extent

One 16mm motion picture film

Medium

16mm motion picture film

Language

N/A

Type

Musician portrait

Collection Items

  • Screenshot (32).png

    A portion of the 1988 documentary entitled "Tiny & Ruby: Hell Divin' Women", which was made by Jezebel Productions as a tribute to Tiny Davis and Ruby Lucas.

    In the documentary Tiny talks about how she started playing the trumpet, moving to Kansas City and getting involved in the music scene. She travelled and played with the Harlem Play Girls and then the Sweethearts. Tiny and Ruby talk about how they met and the after hours spots in Kansas City where women could be with women. They talk about how they left Kansas City and the formation of Tiny Davis Hell Divers. Tiny says she is ready to keep working and playing even at 76 years old. Also featured in the clip is Tiny’s daughter who talks about how she enjoyed playing music with her mother for 10 or 15 years. She says there wasn’t any song requested they couldn’t play.

    Note: This portion contains no audio but contains Tiny and her daughter.

Collection Tree

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