Find A Grave - Blue Island

Abbott, Robert Sengstacke b. November 24, 1870 d. February 29, 1940
Newspaper Publisher. He was the editor and founder of the popular African-American newspaper the "Chicago Defender" (May 5, 1905), considered by many to be the most influential black newspaper ever printed. However, he is better known as a racial crusader than writer. The paper he founded in with an initial investment of 25 cents later became the most prominent black newspaper in the history of Illinois and the United States, starting with 300 copies at 25 cents each to the paper reaching a...[Read More] (Bio by: Curtis Jackson)
Lincoln Cemetery, Blue Island, Cook County, Illinois, USA
Ammons, Albert b. September 23, 1907 d. December 2, 1949
Jazz Musician. He one of the big three of late-1930s boogie-woogie pianists along with Pete Johnson and Mede Lux Lewis. Arguably the most powerful of the three, he was also flexible enough to play swing music. Albert Ammons played in Chicago clubs from the 1920s on, although he also worked as a cab driver for a time. Starting in 1934, he led his own band in Chicago, and he made his first records in 1936. In 1938, he appeared at Carnegie Hall with Pete Johnson and Mede Lux Lewis, an event that...[Read More] (Bio by: Daniel L. Taylor Sr.)
Lincoln Cemetery, Blue Island, Cook County, Illinois, USA
Plot: Lot #122, Section TLA, Row SW 1/2
Ammons, Gene 'Jug' b. April 14, 1925 d. August 6, 1974
Jazz Musician. Born Eugene Ammons, he was a tenor saxophonist and son of jazz pianist Albert Ammons. In 1943 he went on the road with trumpeter King Kolax and the following year he joined Billy Eckstine's Bebop Band and soon made a name for himself. In 1947, he made his first records as a leader, for the Chicago-based Mercury label and teamed up with Sonny Stitt in the 1950s, making many fine recordings to include "Jivin", "Golden Sax", "Funky" and "Groove Blues". During the 1960s, he went...[Read More] (Bio by: John "J-Cat" Griffith)
Lincoln Cemetery, Blue Island, Cook County, Illinois, USA
Armstrong, Lillian Hardin 'Lil' b. February 3, 1898 d. August 27, 1971
Musician. Born in Memphis, Tennessee, she was a jazz pianist, composer, arranger, singer, bandleader and the second wife of Jazz legend Louis Armstrong. As one of the most prominent woman in early jazz, she led her own band in Chicago, when she started arranging for bands in New Orleans. In 1921, she met Louis Armstrong and they were married in 1924. She was credited as was a major contributor to Armstrong's recordings. She played piano, sang and composed several of the Louis Armstrong group's...[Read More] (Bio by: John "J-Cat" Griffith)
Lincoln Cemetery, Blue Island, Cook County, Illinois, USA
Brooks, Gwendolyn Elizabeth b. June 7, 1917 d. December 3, 2000
Pulitzer Prize winning poet (1950 for "Annie Allen") whose work focused on life in Chicago's South Side. She taught at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, City College of New York, Columbia College of Chicago, Northeastern Illinois University, and Elmhurst College. At the time of her death, Ms. Brooks was the Distinguished Professor of English at Chicago State University and the Poet Laureate of Illinois. She was awared over 75 honorary doctorates during her lifetime and won numerous literary...[Read More] (Bio by: Oliver)
Lincoln Cemetery, Blue Island, Cook County, Illinois, USA
Broonzy, William b. June 26, 1893 d. August 15, 1958
Musician. Known as ‘Big Bill', he was a prolific blues singer, songwriter and guitarist, beginning his career in the early 1920s. In 1924, he was signed to Paramount Records and later performed at the Spirituals of Swing Concert, filling the open slot of the late blues master Robert Johnson. Through the 1930s and ‘40s he successfully navigated a transition in style to urban blues which was popular with white and black audiences. He copyrighted more than 300 songs during his lifetime with hits...[Read More] (Bio by: John "J-Cat" Griffith)
Lincoln Cemetery, Blue Island, Cook County, Illinois, USA
Coleman, Bessie 'Brave Bessie' b. January 26, 1892 d. April 30, 1926
Generally recognized as the first African American aviator. She became interested in aviation from reading aviation magazines. Due to her race and gender, she could not gain entrance into any aviation schools in the United States. Learning from French (this group may have included Eugene "Jacque" Bullard, an African American who had been a military aviator with the French in World War I) and German instructor pilots, she earned her pilot's license in France in 1921 and an international pilot's...[Read More] (Bio by: Warrick L. Barrett)
Lincoln Cemetery, Blue Island, Cook County, Illinois, USA
Dodds, Johnny b. February 16, 1892 d. August 8, 1940
Jazz Clarinetist and Saxophonist. He played for King Oliver's band during the roaring twenties. In Chicago, 1923, began the chain of recordings, first with King Oliver and Louis Armstrong, then with numerous famous artists of the time. He played in many small bands and led his own groups, too. The recording phase which lasted for six years and produced over 240 sides with nearly all jazz talents of those days. After the depression, Dodds continued to play with small groups, until his health...[Read More] (Bio by: Chuck Kearns)
Lincoln Cemetery, Blue Island, Cook County, Illinois, USA
Plot: Sec.18 Lot 4 Grave 6
Dodds, Warren 'Baby' b. December 24, 1898 d. February 14, 1959
Jazz Drummer. He was the younger brother of jazz clarinetist Johnny Dodds. Baby Dodds was one of first great drummers of Jazz and the brother of Johnny Dodds. Baby got his start playing in parades in New Orleans, occasionally with Frankie Dusen's Eagle Band. He played briefly with his brother in Kid Ory's Band, but was embarrassed when all the musicians walked off stage because of his poor playing. This incident spurred him on to become a better musician. He played in several other bands in New...[Read More] (Bio by: Chuck Kearns)
Lincoln Cemetery, Blue Island, Cook County, Illinois, USA
Foster, Andrew 'Rube' b. September 17, 1879 d. December 9, 1930
Baseball Hall of Famer, manager and executive who founded the Negro National League in 1920. A baseball player for 24 seasons, an innovative and successful manager and visionary executive who came to be known as the Father of Black Baseball. Andrew "Rube" Foster excelled in all facets of organized baseball. He was born in Calvert, Texas in September of 1879. By the time the 6-foot-4 Foster was a teenager he had become a supremely skilled pitcher in the Negro Leagues. He was credited with...[Read More] (Bio by: Curtis Jackson)
Lincoln Cemetery, Blue Island, Cook County, Illinois, USA
Harrison, Richard Berry b. September 28, 1864 d. March 14, 1935
Actor. The son of fugitive slaves who had escaped to Canada on the Underground Railroad, he was named "Richard" after his mother had seen a performance of 'Richard III'. His interest in theatre led him to Detroit, where he studied acting at the Detroit Training School of Dramatic Art. He traveled frequently, giving dramatic readings of Shakespeare and the poetry of Paul Laurence Dunbar. His most famous role was playing "De Lawd" in Marc Connelly's Pulitzer Prize winning play, 'The Green...[Read More] (Bio by: Garver Graver)
Lincoln Cemetery, Blue Island, Cook County, Illinois, USA
Hibbler, Allbert George b. August 16, 1915 d. April 24, 2001
Jazz Singer. Blind from birth, he is best remembered as one of Duke Ellington's most colorful vocalists. After he went solo in the 1950's he enjoyed his biggest hit with "Unchained Melody." As a jazz singer he was known for his rich baritone voice and his exaggerated phrasing.
Lincoln Cemetery, Blue Island, Cook County, Illinois, USA
Hill, Bertha 'Chippie' b. March 15, 1905 d. May 7, 1950
Jazz Musician. Beginning her career as a dancer working with singer Ethel Waters in 1919, she was given the nickname "Chippie" because of her young age and her small size early in her career. During the late 1920s she began performing with the Rabbit Foot Minstrels as a singer and dancer, and toured with them on the Theatrical Owners Booking Association circuit throughout the south. She began recording in the mid 1920s, working with musicians such as jazz legend Louis Armstrong, and continued...[Read More] (Bio by: Adam Maroney)
Lincoln Cemetery, Blue Island, Cook County, Illinois, USA
Murray, George Washington b. September 22, 1853 d. April 21, 1926
United States Congressman, noted inventor, farmer and teacher. George Washington Murray was one of the major African American political leaders in the quest for racial justice in the new South following the Civil War and without a doubt, one of the most remarkable citizens of his time. He was born in Sumter County, South Carolina where he spent the first 13 years of his life as a slave, but after the Emancipation Proclamation he enrolled at the University of South Carolina and later continued...[Read More] (Bio by: Curtis Jackson)
Lincoln Cemetery, Blue Island, Cook County, Illinois, USA
Reed, Jimmy (Mathis James) b. September 6, 1925 d. August 29, 1976
Renowned Blues Musician. Mathis James (Jimmy) Reed, one of ten children born to sharecroppers Joseph and Virginia Reed, spent the first seven years of his life on a plantation in Dunleath, Mississippi. He learned guitar from Eddie Taylor, the man who helped raise him. Few fans knew that Reed's wife, Mary Lee "Mama" Davis, wrote many of his songs. Fewer still knew that the blues man suffered from severe epilepsy which caused him crippling attacks. His bouts with the disease, however, rarely...[Read More] (Bio by: Anonymous)
Lincoln Cemetery, Blue Island, Cook County, Illinois, USA
Williams, Steven b. 1973 d. April 30, 2002
Junior College National wrestling champion.Williams started wrestling at the Harvey (Illinois) Twister youth wrestling club in 1981 and won three youth state championships. He also won two state titles at Mt. Carmel High School and went on to win the National Junior College Athletic Association wrestling championship at Iowa Central Community College. He coached for two years at the college level and last year returned to the Harvey Twisters as a coach. Williams also founded an organization...[Read More] (Bio by: Warrick L. Barrett)
Cause of death: acute asthma attack
Lincoln Cemetery, Blue Island, Cook County, Illinois, USA

16 records found