Henry Columbus Speir (October 6, 1895 – April 22, 1972)[1] was an American "talent broker" and record store owner from Jackson, Mississippi. He was responsible for launching the recording careers of most of the greatest Mississippi blues musicians in the 1920s and 1930s. According to blues researcher Gayle Dean Wardlow, "Speir was the godfather of Delta Blues" and was "a musical visionary [without whom] Mississippi's greatest natural resource might have gone untapped."[2] A historical marker commemorates his life and work.[3]