Broome Special Phonograph Records | |
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Founded | 1919 |
Founder | George W. Broome |
Defunct | 1923 |
Status | Inactive |
Country of origin | US |
Location | Medford, Massachusetts |
Broome (Special Phonograph) Records was the first African American owned and operated record label in the United States. Established by George W. Broome in 1919, Broome focused on promoting black concert artists who faced discrimination from the major labels. The label stopped pressing records in 1923 but overstock records were supposedly still being sold as late as 1940.
Most of the records were original issues recorded and pressed by Columbia, but at least two were pressed from pre-existing masters. (Black Swan was the first African American owned label to record and press their own records.) Broome sold them through a regional mail order catalog that operated throughout eastern Massachusetts but also placed national ads in The Crisis.