Estelle Ricketts (1871 - ?)

Estelle D. Ricketts is listed in the 1900 U.S. Census Records as "Stella D. Ricketts, black, born in July 1871, and residing with her parents and younger brother in Darby, Pennsylvania, where her father operated a boarding stable." She is mentioned in Mrs. N. F. Mossell's book The Work of the Afro-American Woman (Philadelphia, 1894) as a Musical Composer, Miss Estelle Ricketts. Her composition Rippling Spring Waltz was first published in Philadelphia in 1893. It is the earliest solo piano piece by a black woman located to date, and is in the Library of Congress. No other works by her have been found.