Charles Henry Pace (1886–1963) began his career as a composer, director, and publisher of Black gospel music in Chicago, where he made some of the first recordings of early Black gospel standards with his group the Pace Jubilee Singers between 1926 and 1929. He met and married Frankie (1905–1989) in the early 1930s, and in 1936 they moved to Pittsburgh, eventually establishing their publishing business in the Hill District neighborhood. They were the central figures in bringing the early Black gospel style from Chicago to Pittsburgh, establishing a large choir, the Pace Gospel Choral Union, which drew its membership from Black churches across western Pennsylvania. Frankie, an activist, helped run the business and distribute Charles’s music through a nationwide network of Black-owned stores.

The Charles and Frankie Pace Collection includes manuscripts, negative photographs, printer’s plates, printed music, and limited correspondence documenting the musical activities of Charles and Frankie Pace. The collection is especially strong in documenting his creative and publishing process.