Fanspot
Douglass Hotel
“I had worked that week at the Showboat in South Philadelphia. We stayed at a little hotel around the corner in a room with a kitchenette.”
Billie Holiday in her autobiography Lady Sings the Blues published in 1956.
Along with New York and Baltimore, Philadelphia is one of the cities where Billie Holiday’s mother, Sadie Fagan, worked as a housekeeper and cook. She was only 13 years old when, on April 7, 1915, she gave birth to young Eleanora Harris Fagan. The child is not recognized by her father, the musician Clarence Holiday, then 15 years old. Facts that she will change in her autobiography where she talks about her birth in Baltimore. Entrusted to the care of her aunts and cousins, the little girl made a few stays in reform schools for young blacks where she was mistreated and raped.
Her mother brought her to New York, where she now resides, in 1928. It was here that the young Billie Holiday began to sing at a very young age, in 1933. She performed in many Harlem jazz clubs until one day in 1937 when she got a great opportunity in Philadelphia;
an audition at the Nixon Grand Theater to sing with Count Basie. It is a success.
The girl stays a few days in the city, staying at the Douglass Hotel. This institution welcomes African American artists from all walks of life without discrimination or segregation. Charmed by the establishment, the young singer would return there on each of her trips to Philadelphia.
In 1956, Billie Holiday even performed at the Showboat, a tiny concert hall in the basement of the Douglass Hotel that has become a legend for jazz fans. With only 100 seats, the Showboat had an intimate atmosphere. Billie Holiday died in 1959. After this date, the capacity of the hall was increased to 200 seats. And Philadelphia then mourns the one it probably saw born and who was Back in Your Own Back Yard.
Billie Holiday never saw her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, obtained posthumously in 1986.
1409 Lombard St
In the past, the Douglass Hotel at 1409 Lombard St was known for hosting many African American groups visiting “Philly.”
It was common knowledge that the Douglass Hotel was a place where discrimination and segregation had no place. Many African-Americans were able to stay in peace at this establishment. Later named Hotel 1409, it is now home to Citizens Acting Together Can Help, Inc. (CATCH). CATCH’s mission is to provide a full continuum of treatment, training, education, housing, consultation, and family support services to individuals with cognitive delays, behavioral health issues, intellectual disabilities, and substance abuse problems.
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Cult! music: 100 mythical music places [French Edition]
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By Damien Duarte
Passionné par la culture pop depuis son enfance, ses références vont de Donald Duck à Batman en passant par Marty McFly. Fantripper dans l'âme, voyager sur les traces de Ghostbusters, James Bond ou des héros de romans comme Cotton Malone fait partie d'un séjour idéal et réussi !