Stein, BenDouglass Theatre (Macon, Ga.)United States, Georgia, Bibb County, Macon, 32.84069, -83.6324United States, Georgia, Fulton County, Atlanta, 33.749, -84.38798Theatre Owners Booking Association1928-02-14Agreement between the Theatre Owners Booking Association (T.O.B.A.), a Tennessee-based booking agency from 1920 to the 1930s for African American vaudeville acts, and Ben Stein, owner and manager of the Douglass Theatre, pertaining to the scheduled appearance of Ma Rainey and the Paramount Flappers at the Douglass Theatre, dated February 14, 1928. Rainey, born in Columbus, Georgia, is known as "the Mother of the Blues." The agreement shows that the performance spans three days, March 5 to March 7, 1928, and indicates that the twenty-three performers will share fifty percent of the revenue as salary in addition to a five percent commission. The address for tickets is listed as Eighty-One Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia. Charles F. Bailey, known for being hard on performers, ran the white-owned Eighty-One Theatre, located on Decatur Street. The Douglass Theatre was a shareholder member of the circuit.Digital image and encoded transcription of an original manuscript, scanned, transcribed and encoded by the Digital Library of Georgia in 2005, as part of Georgia HomePLACE. This project is supported with federal LSTA funds administered by the Institute of Museum and Library Services through the Georgia Public Library Service, a unit of the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia.text/htmlimage/jpegdbr047http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/Manuscript held by the Middle Georgia Archives, Washington Memorial Library, Charles Henry Douglass, Jr. business records, 1906-1967, box 20, folder 193, document 11.Theatre Owners Booking AssociationWomen blues musicians--United StatesBlues musicians--United StatesBlues (Music)--GeorgiaBlues (Music)--To 1931African Americans--MusicMusicians--Employment--Georgia--MaconEntertainment events--GeorgiaTheaters--Georgia--AtlantaTheaters--Georgia--MaconDouglass Theatre (Macon, Ga.)Reevin, Sam E.Rainey, Ma, 1886-1939Eighty-one Theatre (Atlanta, Ga.)Agreement between the Theatre Owners Booking Association and Ben Stein, 1928 Feb. 14Text