Does anyone know how to find a musician from the 1930's?

Question

I have a relative named Frederick Smith and he played clarinet in an orchestra somewhere in California in the 1930's.

Answer 1

Check with the archival department of the musician's union. The surname Smith makes things a bit more difficult - there will probably be a number of Frederick Smiths - but some of the archival information might add birth dates or residences or even next of kin. Your relative is likely no longer living, but if the archive can provide a death date, you can follow that up through the department of vital statistics and confirm both his ancestors and his next of kin

Good luck on your search

Answer 2

I tried the Calif death index (free, via rootsweb.com), which covers deaths in Ca from 1940 to 1997.  It brings up 212 persons with the name Frederick Smith.  If he stayed in CA.. it is very possible you could locate his date of death through that.. unless he moved to another state.

What you need are more explicit facts.. ie when and where he was born, names of siblings, so forth. Since he obviously was born before 1930, he should be findable in the census taken that year.  The question is WHERE (which you may know, depending on how he was related).

You can edit your question to give more leads. Sometimes a question "scrolls" back and is less likely to have someone see it, when more than a day or two old.

Once you have some firm dates, you may find an obituary that will give more info.  That could include living family members.

Answer 3

Try the musicians union and any historical society associated with show biz and or newspapers.