William Christopher Handy, known as W.C. Handy is commonly considered the "Father of the Blues." He did not invent them, but he was the first to write down the blues. Handy brought the blues to the masses and changed American Music history. Abbe Niles called him "The most affectionately regarded American Negro" and "a lyric poet." Mr. Handy was born in a log cabin in Florence, Alabama, on November 16th, 1873, to a family of former slaves. He was intelligent, well educated and musically talented. Despite his fathers’ wishes, he left home with a traveling minstrel show at 15 years of age, but had to walk home soon afterward. From 1892, when he left home again, until 1896 he worked at various manual labor jobs and played music. He and his Lauzetta Quartet left Birmingham ,Ala., and hoboed to Chicago for the World's Fair of 1893, only to find it had been postponed. They disbanded there due to lack of work, so Handy went on to St. Louis where he slept outdoors on cobblestones and faced other privations. He went to Evansville, Indiana, then Henderson, Kentucky, where he received a letter inviting him to Chicago to play cornet for Mahara’s Minstrels. WC Handy traveled with the minstrel show from 1896 to 1903, except for two years teaching music at the Agricultural and Mechanical College just outside Huntsville, Ala. While with Mahara’s Minstrels, he became a solo cornetist, arranged orchestrations and progressed to leadership of a 30 piece band. In 1903 Mr. Handy accepted an offer to lead a band in Clarksdale, Mississippi where he lived until 1905. It is in the Mississippi Delta, at night, on a layover at the Tutwieler train station that he "DISCOVERS THE BLUES." A lean black man plucked a guitar using a knife on the strings Hawaiian style. "The effect was unforgettable," said Mr. Handy. The song struck him too, "Goin’ where the Southern cross’ the Dog," which he sang three times. He was singing about Morehead, Mississippi, where the north and south bound trains crossed the east and west bound trains. He absorbed the music based on everyday life and places. His band played all over the Delta and he came to know it, the people and the music intimately, which led to his first big hit. Mr. Handy later settled in Memphis where he played music and wrote a campaign song entitled Mr. Crump in 1909. It was very popular so the lyrics were changed and it was renamed "The Memphis Blues" in 1913. Several other hits followed including "The St. Louis Blues," in 1914, which the Pace and Handy Music Co. was established to publish. In 1918, his partner Harry Pace suggested he move the music company to New York, which he did. He brought with him a song he had purchased entitled, "A Good Man Is Hard to Find" which had great success on Broadway. Its popularity spread worldwide and so did Handy’s fame. In the 1930's Mr. Handy went blind but kept composing and publishing his music in Braille. His interest in spirituals, which started in his youth, continued until his death. He lived in New York until his death on March 28, 1958, at the age of 84. He was buried there as well. In the course of his career W.C. Handy wrote 60 music compositions and his autobiography entitled, "Father of The Blues." He popularized a whole new style of music which incorporated the now traditional 12 bar form recognized as the Blues. Together with Harry Pace he established a music publishing company which was the first of its kind. A stamp was issued in his honor. He was given a tribute in 1938 at Carnegie Hall. A movie of his life named,"St. Louis Blues," was released in 1958, starring Nat King Cole. The most prestigious award given to blues artists bears his name. In 1987 he was inducted into the Alabama Music Hall of Fame. His birthplace has been restored and is now a museum in Florence, Alabama. "The Memphis Blues" and "The St. Louis Blues" are considered classics. They have been recorded by 14 different performers or bands between 1914 and 1948, hitting the Billboard Magazines’ chart at #20 or above, 21 times. Despite his humble beginnings, WC Handy became world famous because of a life long pursuit of something he loved, music. His hard work, thirst for knowledge, entrepreneurial spirit and perseverance in the face of hardships and the prejudices of the time, brought him success. Because of his broad musical knowledge and experience, he was able to put on paper and give voice to the life, emotion and music of the Mississippi Delta people he lived among. For this he will always be remember as "The Father of The Blues."