“Broadway Rag” sheet music

James Sylvester Scott was an American ragtime composer and pianist, regarded as one of the “Big Three” composers of classical ragtime along with Scott Joplin and Joseph Lamb. In 1905, Scott came to St. Louis to ask Joplin to listen to one of his compositions. Upon hearing the rag, Joplin introduced him to his own publisher, John Stillwell Stark. The cover of “Broadway Rag” shows the newly opened Arcadia Ballroom on Olive Boulevard, a favorite spot for dancing until it was demolished in the 1960s.

Object Title and Accession Number

“Broadway Rag” sheet music. Composed by James Sylvester Scott and published by Stark Publishing Company, 1922. Lib0004-005.