Estelle Ricketts (1871–?) was an American composer.

Personal life

Ricketts lived in Darby, Pennsylvania, which is now a suburb of Philadelphia.^[1] She lived with her mother, her younger brother, and her father, who operated a boarding stable.^[1] She was the only one in her family who could read and write.^[1]

Career

Estelle Ricketts's 1893 parlor piano piece Rippling Spring Waltz is the earliest known piano solo written by a black woman.^[1] Rickets is mentioned in a book entitled "The Work of the Afro-American Woman" written by Gertrude Bustill Mossell. This book highlights the achievements of African-American women in all different disciplines, and was published in 1908.^[2]