Estelle Ricketts (1871–?) was an American composer.

Personal life

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Ricketts lived in Darby, Pennsylvania, which is now a suburb of Philadelphia.[1] She lived with her mother, her younger brother, and her father, who operated a boarding stable.[1] She was the only one in her family who could read and write.[1]

Career

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Estelle Ricketts's 1893 parlor piano piece Rippling Spring Waltz is the earliest known piano solo written by a black woman.[1] Rickets is mentioned in a book entitled "The Work of the Afro-American Woman" written by Gertrude Bustill Mossell. This book highlights the achievements of African-American women in all different disciplines, and was published in 1908.[2]

 
The frontispiece to Ricketts's "Rippling Spring Waltz"

Notes

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  1. ^ a b c d Walker-Hill 1992
  2. ^ Mossell 1908

References

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  • Walker-Hill, Helen. "Music by Black Women Composers at the American Music Research Center." American Music Research Center Journal. 2.1 (1992): 23-52.
  • Mossell, N. F. "The Work of the Afro-American Woman." Philadelphia: Geo. S. Ferguson Company, 1908.
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