Harry Pace

Harry Herbert Pace (January 6, 1884 – July 19, 1943) was an American music publisher and insurance executive. He was the founder of Black Swan Records, the first record label owned by an African American with wide distribution capabilities. The first was Broome Special Phonograph Records, founded in Massachusetts in 1919 and closed in 1923.[1]

Not to be confused with Charles Henry Pace.
Harry Pace, c. 1911

Biography

Harry Pace was born in Covington, Georgia. His father, Charles Pace, died when he was a baby so Harry was raised by his mother, Nancy Francis Pace. He finished elementary school at the age of twelve, and seven years later graduated valedictorian of his class in Atlanta University. Pace worked in printing, banking and insurance industries in Atlanta, Georgia, and Memphis, Tennessee.

After receiving another degree in 1903, Pace went into the printing business with W. E. B. Du Bois in Memphis. Two years later they put together the short-lived magazine The Moon Illustrated Weekly.

In 1912, Pace met and collaborated with W. C. Handy, who took a liking to him; they wrote songs together. In Memphis Pace also met, and married, Ethylene Bibb. Pace and Handy founded the Pace and Handy Music Company, which brought Pace to New York City. Around 1920, the company began working with composers William Grant Still and Fletcher Henderson. Although the company did well, Pace did not like Handy’s business methods and resigned.

In 1921 Pace formed the Pace Phonographic Corporation, which issued records on the Black Swan label. The label was named for singer Elizabeth Taylor Greenfield, who was called "the Black Swan". They had offices in the Gaiety Theatre office building in Times Square.[2]

For his record company, Pace brought in Henderson as recording manager and Still as arranger. His first releases featured performances of light classical music, blues, spirituals, and instrumental solos. Black Swan’s first hit was a recording of "Down Home Blues" and "Oh, Daddy", sung by Ethel Waters. Although Pace recorded many outstanding artists, the business failed, and Pace was forced to declare bankruptcy in December 1923. A few months later he sold Black Swan to Paramount Records.

In 1925, Pace founded the Northeastern Life Insurance Company in Newark, New Jersey, which became the largest African-American-owned business in the North during the 1930s. Pace then moved to Chicago to attend the Chicago-Kent College of Law; he received his degree in 1933. He opened a law firm in downtown Chicago in 1942.

Pace died on July 19, 1943, in Chicago, and is buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx, New York.[3]

Legacy

References
  1. "Black History Month: Broome Special Phonograph Records, The First African-American Owned And Operated Record Label". Vintage Media Group. Retrieved June 25, 2020.
  2. Ken Bloom, Broadway: An Encyclopedia, Routledge; 2nd edition (November 11, 2003). ISBN 0-415-93704-3
  3. findagrave.com
  • Miles, J. H., Davis, J. J., Ferguson-Roberts, S. E., and Giles, R. G. (2001). Almanac of African American Heritage. Paramus, NJ: Prentice Hall Press.
  • Potter, J. (2002). African American Firsts. New York, NY: Kensington Publishing Corp.
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