Gladys bentley

As part of our #BHM series, we’re showcasing Glady’s Bentley, a prominent black figure during the Harlem Renaissance who’s cultural impact and significance often goes unnoticed in modern times.

Gladys Bentley, American blues singer, pianist & performer. A cross-dressing lesbian, she was a prominent figure during the Harlem Renaissance, performing at gay speakeasies & Harlem nightclubs. While playing the piano, she sang her own raunchy lyrics to popular tunes in a deep, growling voice while flirting with women in the audience. In CA, she was billed as "America's Greatest Sepia Piano Player" & the "Brown Bomber of Sophisticated Songs;" however, she was harassed for wearing men's…

Gladys Bentley, c. 1940 © NMAAHC

GLADYS BENTLEY – The World’s Greatest Sepia Piano Artist! In the 1920s Harlem was an open and accepting place for gays and lesbians. African-American historian Henry Louis Gates has described the Harlem Renaissance as being “surely as gay as it was black, not that it was exclusively either of these.” Black gays and lesbians, described in Harlem vernacular as being “in the life,” provided entertainment in the form of private parties, sometimes fund raisers, and sometimes private erotic…

Gladys Bentley

The music scene of the Harlem Renaissance had numerous queer icons. One being Gladys Bentley. Born in Philadelphia in 1907, she ran away and found refuge in Harlem when she was 16. She started working at Harry Hansberry’s Clam House on 133rd Street, one of the city’s most notorious gay speakeasies. She performed in men’s evening attire and flirted with women openly in the audience. And while many thought her overt gestures were for publicity, it was actually a radical affirmation of who s...

From the Carl Van Vechten Collection

Gladys Bentley