Bettye Miller - Milt Abel Collection

Audience member seated during Bettye Miller's birthday party performance.

Audience members during Bettye Miller's birthday party performance. Two women are applauding.

Bettye Miller greeting fans. She's speaking with a white man and an African American man holding a hat and possibly a performance program looks on.

Bettye Miller playing piano on a stage and leaning over toward Milt Abel playing double bass. An unidentified African American man is on drums behind them. Microphones are also set up on stage and an...

Bettye Miller playing piano with an audience of white men and women behind her and to the side of her. Unidentified event. A small lamp is on the piano and a large column is to the side of the piano.

Bettye Miller playing piano and turning around to look over at the camera. An unidentified bassist (likely Milt Abel) is partially seen next to her. Three audience members (two white women and a white...

Bettye Miller playing piano with an audience of white men and women behind her and to the side of her. Unidentified event. A small lamp is on the piano and a large column is to the side of the piano.

Bettye Miller playing piano during her birthday party. Two unidentified men, one standing, are behind her watching as she plays.

Bettye Miller playing piano during her birthday party. A cymbal from a drum set is seen at her left and a group of people are seen behind her.

Bettye Miller singing while playing the piano during her birthday party. An unidentified man is seated behind her.

Milt Abel, double bass, and Bettye Miller, piano, playing in front of an audience (primarily white men seen). The photo is taken from behind and to the side of Miller and Abel. Abel is wearing a...

Bettye Miller (piano), Milt Abel (double bass), and an unidentified drummer perform for a small audience during Miller's birthday party.

Unidentified band performing in front of an audience at Bettye Miller's birthday party. All are white men and include a pianist, double bassist, and a drummer. The audience is partially seen from...

Performers in a line in front of an audience with a band behind them. The photo is taken from behind the audience, which is partially seen. It's unclear exactly what the performers are doing.

Bettye Miller, piano, and Milt Abel, double bass, performing in front of a large crowd of white men and women standing in front of them. Photo taken from behind Miller's piano looking toward the crowd...

Scene from the play "Negroid Evolution" produced and directed by Bettye Miller. A group of men and women are on stage dressed as enslaved persons in front of cotton plant props while they sing. One...

Scene from the play "Negroid Evolution" produced and directed by Bettye Miller. A group of men and women standing on stage and looking out to the audience. Some are in formal clothes, some in...

Scene from the play "Negroid Evolution" produced and directed by Bettye Miller. A group of men and women dressed as enslaved persons standing in front of props designed to look like cotton plants. A...

Scene from the play "Negroid Evolution" produced and directed by Bettye Miller. A group of men and women, dressed in 19th century costumes, are lying in a crowded group on the floor of the stage. The...