Gladys Bentley was an American blues singer, pianist, entertainer and lesbian icon during the Harlem Renaissance. She became one of the best known and financially successful black women in the U.S. during the 1920s and 1930s for the pioneering way she dealt with gender, sexuality, class and race in her act. Bentley was born in …
Today’s Illustrated Women in History is a written submission by James Purvis. Caroline Herschel 1750 – 1848 Caroline Herschel was an astronomer and singer, and was the first woman to be paid for her contribution to science. At the age of 22 Herschel, who had received training in music against the wishes of her mother, …
Janis Joplin was an American singer-songwriter who sang blues-influenced rock. She is best known for her number one hit “Me and Bobby McGee” and was known as “The Queen of Psychedelic Soul” and the ”First Lady of Rock ‘n’ Roll.” Joplin was born in 1943 in Port Arthur, Texas. Joplin had a tough time as …
Dolly Parton is an American singer-songwriter, actress, author, businesswoman, and humanitarian, known primarily for her work in country music. She is the most honoured female country performer of all time. Parton was born in 1946 in Sevier County, Tennessee. From a young age, she would sing in church and at the age of 7 she …
Josephine Baker was an American-born French dancer and singer who was the first black woman to star in a major motion picture. She devoted much of her life to fighting racism and was a vital member of the Civil Rights Movement. Baker was born in 1906 in St. Louis, Missouri. At the age of eight, …
Hattie McDaniel was an American actress, singer-songwriter and comedienne. She is best known for playing Mammy in Gone with the Wind, for which she became the first African American to win an Oscar. McDaniel was born in 1895 in Wichita, Kansas to Henry McDaniel, who had fought in the Civil War and Susan Holbert, who …
Lena Horne was an American singer, dancer, actress and civil rights activist. She was one of the most popular African American entertainers of the twentieth century and best known for films such as The Wiz and her trademark song, “Stormy Weather.” Horne was born in 1917 in Brooklyn, New York. Her mother, Edna, was an …
Eartha Kitt was an American actress, singer, cabaret star, dancer, stand-up comedian, activist and voice artist. She had a distinctive singing style and is best known for her Christmas song “Santa Baby” and for playing Catwoman in the television series Batman. Kitt was born in 1927 near the town of North in South Carolina. Her …
Etta James was a Grammy Award-winning singer who bridged the gap between rhythm and blues and rock and roll. James was born Jamesetta Hawkins in 1938 in Los Angeles, California to 14-year-old Dorothy Hawkins, her father is unknown. As a baby, James was put in the care of a series of foster parents including “Mama” …
Missy “misdemeanor” Elliott is a Grammy Award-winning singer, rapper, songwriter and producer who has achieved great success while breaking boundaries in the male-dominated world of hip-hop. Missy Elliott was born Melissa Arnette Elliott in 1971 in Portsmouth, Virginia. She was the only child of Patricia, a power-company dispatcher, and father Ronnie, a U.S. Marine. She …