Ella Fitzgerald
Virginia native, Ella Fitzgerald, has been dubbed the "First Lady of Song." Born in Newport News on April 25, 1917, Ella moved with her mother to Yonkers, N.Y. when her parents went separate ways early in her life. She was a tomboy who loved neighborhood baseball games and occasionally took the train to Harlem to see the acts at the Apollo Theater.
Rougher days followed when Ella's mother was killed in a car accident. During this period of great instability, Ella became embroiled in trouble at school and with the police and soon found herself in a reform school. She escaped from the harsh regimen of this school and began living alone, at the age of 15, during the Great Depression.
Reflecting on the struggle of her early years, Ella often credited this time with giving her the determination to become a successful singer of great intensity and style. She was "discovered" during an Amateur Night at the same Apollo Theater she had loved as a carefree child. The rest, for lovers of great jazz and ballad singing, is history.
To hear or read about the lives of other outstanding African-Americans, both famous and obscure, visit the Black History Month 2005 Feature Stories website from the U.S. Census Bureau. You can listen to 60 second radio clips, one biography for each day of February, from their Profile America radio series. This site is available on VCU Libraries' Black History Month Research and Topic guide.
-- Phyllis Jennings, Reference Librarian.