In 1953 Patrick Roan was diagnosed with kidney disease. Their daughter Patricia (Tisch) was born in 1948 in Oklahoma City where Southall continued studying piano under Herbert Ricker, earning her Artist's Diploma from the National Guild of Piano Teachers. They married in 1946 after returning to Louisiana. While in Los Angeles, Handy met Patrick Roan. Upon graduation from Dillard, Handy moved to Los Angeles where she undertook private study with John Gray and taught at the Gray Conservatory of Music. At Dillard, Handy was active in Delta Sigma Theta sorority, the school newspaper, and musical endeavors. Geneva Handy graduated from high school in 1941 and entered Dillard University, majoring in music.

Geneva Handy Southall was born Decemin New Orleans, Louisiana, the second of five children of Dorothy Pauline Handy and Rev. The Professional series also contains several audiocassettes of Southall performing (19-1963), and a 1982 studio recording of her performance of the music of pianist and composer Thomas 'Blind Tom' Wiggens. The Professional series contains copies of Southall's two books on African-American pianist, composer and former slave Thomas Greene Wiggens, known as 'Blind Tom,' including advertising and reviews for The Continuing 'Enslavement' of Blind Tom - Book II, recital programs, and a letter nominating Southall for the 1988 Distinguished Teaching Award in the College of Arts and Letters at the University of Minnesota. The Biographical series includes a biographical sketch of Southall, along with articles and newspaper clippings about Southall, her obituary, memorials and tributes, and an oral history interview conducted by Kathryn Neal for the Iowa Women's Archives at the University of Iowa in 1998. The papers are arranged in two series: Biographical and Professional. The Geneva Handy Southall papers date from 1960 to 2004 and measure 3 linear inches.

Blind Tom by Geneva H. Southall