Initially, according to the Jas Obrecht Music Archive website, Smith was buried in an unmarked grave until 1963, when musicians from Iserlohn, West Germany used the money from a Hot Jazz benefit to buy a headstone that read “Mamie Smith (1883–1946): First Lady of The Blues”. With the help of fellow blues singer Victoria Spivey and "Record Research Magazine" publisher Len Kunstadt, Smith was re-interred at Frederick Douglass Memorial Park in Richmond, New York. Smith’s re-interment was celebrated with a gala honoring the late singer on January 27, 1964. However, according to the 2012 campaign website, Mamie Smith was still buried without a headstone 67 years after her death in 1946.