Blues singer Ma Rainey passed away at the age of 53 back in 1939 

Ma Rainey is acknowledged as one of the most influential blues singers of all time, part of the first generation to be recorded, she is often referred to as the ‘Mother of the Blues’.

Born Gertrude Pridgett, she gained her name through marriage when she wed Will ‘Pa’ Rainey in 1904 and began touring with the Rabbit Foot Minstrels, later the couple formed their own group. They toured around the USA until the separated in 1916.

She made her first recording in 1923 and over the next five years laid down over 100 different tracks.

During her career it was often suggested that Ma Rainey was involved in a romantic relationship with another singer, Bessie Smith. While most of her songs have lyrics about heterosexual romances, a few delve into lesbian and bisexual relationships.

On of her songs Prove It On Me is allegedly about an incident in 1925 when Rainey was arrested for taking part in an orgy at her house involving the women of her chorus. The song would become a lesbian anthem in the 1970s.

In 1982 the play Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom was a bit on Broadway, in 2020 it was adapted into a film for Netflix with Viola Davis portraying Ma Rainey. The film was the final appearance of actor Chadwick Boseman, who passed away after filming concluded.

Both Boseman and Davis were nominated for Oscars for their roles, while neither of them was a winner on the big night, they film did pick up the Oscar for Best Costume Design.

Find out more about Ma Rainey. 

Alexander Browne was executed in Sydney in 1828

In 1828 Alexander Browne was hanged in Sydney, the first person executed for the crime of sodomy in Australia.

Browne was accused of having sex with several young men while serving on the whaler Royal Sovereign.

When the ship docked in Sydney a month earlier the newspaper Sydney Gazette reported that Browne, the ship’s Chief Officer had been held in close confines onboard for the previous five or six weeks under charges of a “very serious nature”.

After an investigation by the local magistrate, four of the crew faced trial for buggery. The court heard from James Burns, the ship’s steward, who testified that he had witnessed Browne lying on top of James Phillips, a young apprentice.

On another occasion he said he watched Edward Curtiss another young crew member follow Browne to his cabin and when he looked through a crack in the cabin door he could see the younger man on his hand and knees and the ship’s Chief Officer behind him making a thrusting motion.

When the captain was alerted to the concerns he held an onboard trial and three crew members confessed to having sex with Browne. They included Phillips, Curtiss and another young crew member Richard Lyster (some documents list alternate names as his first name, as alternative spellings of his surname).

All four were sent to trial once the ship docked in Sydney but were found not guilty. Browne and Lyster went on trial over a second charge a week later and both were found guilty.

The Governor Ralph Darling later pardoned Lyster, on the condition that he immediately leave the colony. Browne was committed to be executed, he was hung alongside a group of bushrangers.

OIP Staff, The Ma Rainey section of this post was first published in 2020 and was subsequently updated. New content was added in 2023.

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