Bessie Smith, sometimes called The Empress of the Blues, was one of the most popular blues singers of the 1920s and 30s. Signed with Columbia Records, she made 160 recordings for the label, and became their best-selling recording artist at the time.
On September 26, 1937, Bessie Smith was critically injured at this location in a car accident.
She was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 1980 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989.
