Harry Pace

Harry Herbert Pace (January 6, 1884 – July 19, 1943) was an African-American music publisher and insurance executive, and the founder of Black Swan Records.

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. It was the first record company owned and operated by an African American. 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.

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