Ma Rainey
VERIFIED evidence grade — master store (canonical CSV)
Combined Graph record U-02304 · provenance: canonical master store (CSV), record CTL-W-1196. Master record source: CTL seed 2026-10-16 — UNVERIFIED, verify before public citation.
Mother of the Blues in a 1927 studio
Answer summary · this record in brief, from its own record text
Mother of the Blues in a 1927 studio
The record
- Also known as: portrayed by Viola Davis
- Work type: character
Relationships
- Ma Rainey's Black Bottom — featured in
STRONG EVIDENCE
Sources
- https://playbill.com/production/ma-raineys-black-bottom-cort-theatre-vault-0000003491 (verification source · master store)
Evidence note (master store)
Ma Rainey, character in Ma Rainey's Black Bottom by August Wilson; played by Theresa Merritt in the Broadway production (opened October 11, 1984)
More work records
Browse the full directory: all entity records
Record CTL-W-1196 · Combined Graph record U-02304 · CultureTechLens Knowledge Graph · 1 source · 1 mapped relationship.
Directory: all entity records · the knowledge graph
Researched and maintained by the CultureTechLens research program · CultureTechLens Combined Graph, Release 2026-11-04. Corrections are public: the corrections log.
Cite this record
Chicago: CultureTechLens. “Ma Rainey (CTL-W-1196).” CultureTechLens Combined Graph. Chicago, IL: CultureTechLens, 2026. https://culturetechlens.com/graph/entities/ctl-w-1196/
APA: CultureTechLens. (2026). Ma Rainey (CTL-W-1196) [Entity record]. CultureTechLens Combined Graph. https://culturetechlens.com/graph/entities/ctl-w-1196/
MLA: CultureTechLens. “Ma Rainey (CTL-W-1196).” CultureTechLens Combined Graph, 2026, https://culturetechlens.com/graph/entities/ctl-w-1196/
Citation guidance for teachers, journalists, and funders: How to Cite Us.
From the Archive
The archive in pictures
The people, places, and institutions this work documents. Photographs from the CultureTechLens research record — rights-cleared, credited, and cited like everything else here.



Trust & evidence
Evidence before authority. CultureTechLens publishes its methods, its limits, and its corrections alongside its findings. Claims carry grades — VERIFIED, SUPPORTED, PROVISIONAL, DISPUTED, UNRESOLVED — and unknowns are never reported as zero.
Every claim graded. Every source named. Every correction public — see the corrections log.