[1] He also partnered with Percy Tappin, and The National Museum of African American History and Culture has a photo postcard from their studio of the Jenkins Orphanage Band from Charleston, South Carolina.
His father William was a waiter at the Haynes Hotel and his mother Cornelia A. Vandall was a painter.
[3] Elcha documented performers and social gatherings in Jazz Age New York City.
He photographed Bessie Smith and her funeral procession,[4] Helene Denizon,[1] Kay Hamilton, Don Dickerman, Eva Tanguay,[3] and Johnny Hudgins.
Elcha died of a heart attack November 3, 1939,[3] at his home at 225 West 112th Street.