Black History Month - Erased Heroes 2/18/21

 

Ethel Waters(1896 - 1977)

Born in 1896, on Halloween, Waters grew up poor and was married off by age 12. She left about 4 years in and became a Philidelphia hotel maid. On her 17th birthday, she sang for a nightclub on Juniper Street and won a competition that landed her an opportunity to sing at Baltimore's Lincoln Theatre. In 1919, she moved to New York City and made her nightclub performances more widespread. In 1921, Waters became the fifth African American woman to ever make a record. In 1925, Dinah became a hit and Waters toured with the Black Swan Dance Masters. In 1933, Waters appeared in an integrated Broadway show, As Thousands Cheer, becoming the first African American to ever do so. At the same time, she was also performing in Jack Denny & His Orchestra, making her the highest-paid Broadway performer at the time. In 1939, The Ethel Waters Show started showing on NBC, the first time an African American would star in their own show. Waters wrote an autobiography, His Eye Is On The Sparrow, in 1951, a bestseller and currently a classic read. She would continue to star in shows throughout the 1950s.