FLORENCE MILLS "LITTLE BLACKBIRD"

FLORENCE MILLS was born on January 25, 1895, in either Washington, D.C., or Virginia. The facts about her early life are uncertain. She was considered to be a child prodigy and was winning dance contests when she was virtually a toddler. At the age of 4 she was specially featured in "A Trip to Coontown." She made her first stage appearance at the age of eight in Williams and Walker's "Sons of Ham" in Washington, D.C. She was billed as "Baby Florence Mills" and sang "Miss Hannah from Savannah," a song she learned from Aida Overton Walker. Her family moved to New York where she and her two sisters worked in vaudeville as the Mills Trio. Florence played vaudeville until she was 25 years old, teaming up with people like Ada "Bricktop" Smith and Cora Green.

Sadly there are no existent audio or film recordings of Florence Mills, but from the numerous playbills, and sheet music portfolios it is clear that she was a sensational performer.

Ethel Waters : Jazz Baby Great

Ethel Waters was a major singing and acting star during the Harlem Renaissance period, and was the second African American to be nominated for an Academy Award. At a time when opportunities in entertainment were few for blacks, Ethel made the most of every opportunity she was offered. She performed regularly on Broadway beginning with the show "Hello 1919", and then in Hollywood films including "Rufus Jones for President", "Cotton Club", and Director Vincente Minelli's "Cabin in the Sky". Her classic phrasing as a singer on such songs as "Stormy Weather" and her best-known recording of the spiritual "His Eye is on the Sparrow" cemented her legacy, earning her a Grammy Hall of Fame Award.