Dolores C. Benjamin
Dolores Collins Benjamin, 94, whose parents were born in Winton, died November 27, 2007 in the Ashbrook Nursing Home in Scotch Plains, N.J. She was 94. Mrs. Benjamin was the subject of the recently published book, Sounds of Music: The Dolores Collins Benjamin Story, which documents her history and that of the North Jersey Philharmonic Glee Club. Founded in her Newark, N.J. home in 1939, the all-male African-American choral group is one of the nation's longest continuously performing ensembles of its kind. Mrs. Benjamin was a musical prodigy who began playing piano at age eight at Central Baptist Church in Berkley. After graduating from Booker T. Washington High School in Norfolk in 1930, she entered Virginia State College in Petersburg, Va., where she came under the influence of some of the most important educators of her era, including Luther P. Jackson, an early civil rights leader, and Undine Smith Moore, who was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in musical composition. She was a member of Delta Sigma Theta sorority for 75 years. Mrs. Benjamin's husband, Joe Benjamin, was a noted jazz bassist. He died in 1974 after spending twenty-five years as Duke Ellington's copyist. He also toured extensively with Ellington and other jazz greats, including Sarah Vaughan, Dave Brubeck, and Gerry Mulligan. Mrs. Benjamin was interred beside her husband and mother in Hollywood Cemetery in Union Township, N.J., where she lived for many years. Her survivors include her cousin, Odell Reynolds Robinson, proprietor of the Reynolds Funeral Home and a second cousin, Sedonia Jones, both of Ahoskie.
Obituary, News-Herald, December 14, 2007.
Dolores Collins Benjamin, 94, whose parents were born in Winton, died November 27, 2007 in the Ashbrook Nursing Home in Scotch Plains, N.J. She was 94. Mrs. Benjamin was the subject of the recently published book, Sounds of Music: The Dolores Collins Benjamin Story, which documents her history and that of the North Jersey Philharmonic Glee Club. Founded in her Newark, N.J. home in 1939, the all-male African-American choral group is one of the nation's longest continuously performing ensembles of its kind. Mrs. Benjamin was a musical prodigy who began playing piano at age eight at Central Baptist Church in Berkley. After graduating from Booker T. Washington High School in Norfolk in 1930, she entered Virginia State College in Petersburg, Va., where she came under the influence of some of the most important educators of her era, including Luther P. Jackson, an early civil rights leader, and Undine Smith Moore, who was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in musical composition. She was a member of Delta Sigma Theta sorority for 75 years. Mrs. Benjamin's husband, Joe Benjamin, was a noted jazz bassist. He died in 1974 after spending twenty-five years as Duke Ellington's copyist. He also toured extensively with Ellington and other jazz greats, including Sarah Vaughan, Dave Brubeck, and Gerry Mulligan. Mrs. Benjamin was interred beside her husband and mother in Hollywood Cemetery in Union Township, N.J., where she lived for many years. Her survivors include her cousin, Odell Reynolds Robinson, proprietor of the Reynolds Funeral Home and a second cousin, Sedonia Jones, both of Ahoskie.
Obituary, News-Herald, December 14, 2007.
Dolores C. Benjamin
Dolores Collins Benjamin, 94, whose parents were born in Winton, died November 27, 2007 in the Ashbrook Nursing Home in Scotch Plains, N.J. She was 94. Mrs. Benjamin was the subject of the recently published book, Sounds of Music: The Dolores Collins Benjamin Story, which documents her history and that of the North Jersey Philharmonic Glee Club. Founded in her Newark, N.J. home in 1939, the all-male African-American choral group is one of the nation's longest continuously performing ensembles of its kind. Mrs. Benjamin was a musical prodigy who began playing piano at age eight at Central Baptist Church in Berkley. After graduating from Booker T. Washington High School in Norfolk in 1930, she entered Virginia State College in Petersburg, Va., where she came under the influence of some of the most important educators of her era, including Luther P. Jackson, an early civil rights leader, and Undine Smith Moore, who was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in musical composition. She was a member of Delta Sigma Theta sorority for 75 years. Mrs. Benjamin's husband, Joe Benjamin, was a noted jazz bassist. He died in 1974 after spending twenty-five years as Duke Ellington's copyist. He also toured extensively with Ellington and other jazz greats, including Sarah Vaughan, Dave Brubeck, and Gerry Mulligan. Mrs. Benjamin was interred beside her husband and mother in Hollywood Cemetery in Union Township, N.J., where she lived for many years. Her survivors include her cousin, Odell Reynolds Robinson, proprietor of the Reynolds Funeral Home and a second cousin, Sedonia Jones, both of Ahoskie.
Obituary, News-Herald, December 14, 2007.
Dolores Collins Benjamin, 94, whose parents were born in Winton, died November 27, 2007 in the Ashbrook Nursing Home in Scotch Plains, N.J. She was 94. Mrs. Benjamin was the subject of the recently published book, Sounds of Music: The Dolores Collins Benjamin Story, which documents her history and that of the North Jersey Philharmonic Glee Club. Founded in her Newark, N.J. home in 1939, the all-male African-American choral group is one of the nation's longest continuously performing ensembles of its kind. Mrs. Benjamin was a musical prodigy who began playing piano at age eight at Central Baptist Church in Berkley. After graduating from Booker T. Washington High School in Norfolk in 1930, she entered Virginia State College in Petersburg, Va., where she came under the influence of some of the most important educators of her era, including Luther P. Jackson, an early civil rights leader, and Undine Smith Moore, who was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in musical composition. She was a member of Delta Sigma Theta sorority for 75 years. Mrs. Benjamin's husband, Joe Benjamin, was a noted jazz bassist. He died in 1974 after spending twenty-five years as Duke Ellington's copyist. He also toured extensively with Ellington and other jazz greats, including Sarah Vaughan, Dave Brubeck, and Gerry Mulligan. Mrs. Benjamin was interred beside her husband and mother in Hollywood Cemetery in Union Township, N.J., where she lived for many years. Her survivors include her cousin, Odell Reynolds Robinson, proprietor of the Reynolds Funeral Home and a second cousin, Sedonia Jones, both of Ahoskie.
Obituary, News-Herald, December 14, 2007.
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