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Women’s History Month
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| Courtesy Photo |
Ida Cox, like some of her contemporaries, left home at an early age and worked the Southern tent show and vaudeville circuit as a comedienne and singer. She spent some time with pianist Jelly Roll Morton before signing a recording contract with Paramount in 1923. Paramount billed her as the Uncrowned Queen of the Blues, though her singing style was as much influenced by vaudeville as by the blues.
One of Cox's most enduring songs, “Wild Women Don't Have the Blues,” hinted at sexual freedom. Two other Cox classics, “Pink Slip Blues” which dealt with the woes of unemployment, and “Last Mile Blues” a song about capital punishment, revealed a decidedly female view of social issues.
Ida Cox may have been the complete classic blues artist of the 1920s. Ida had a convincing blues delivery that made her one of the more popular female singers of the era like Bessie Smith and Ma Rainey. Cox symbolized the liberated spirit of some black American blues women in the '20s with her stylish outlook, lavish wardrobe, and business savvy. Cox wrote many of her own songs, often produced her own stage shows, and managed her own touring company, appropriately called Raisin' Cain.
Information courtesy of www.aaregistry.com. |
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| Courtesy Photo |
Wilma Rudolph: The Triumphant Story of the World’s Fastest Woman
By Omarr Lee
WI Contributing Writer
In the 1960 Olympics, Wilma Rudolph became the first American woman to capture three track-and-field gold medals and claim the title of the fastest woman in the world. The tall, slim sprinter at 5-feet-11-inches, 130 pounds, lived a heroic tale of overcoming adversity. |
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| Courtesy Photo |
Toni Stone was an African American professional baseball player. As a teenager in the 1930s she played with the local boys' teams in her hometown. During World War II she moved from Minnesota to California, playing first with an All-American Girls Professional Baseball League American Legion team, then moving to the San Francisco Sea Lions, a Black, semi-pro barnstorming team. The AAGPBL was segregated throughout its 12-year existence even though its male counterpart integrated in 1947.
Stone didn’t feel that the owner was paying her what they’d originally agreed on, so when the team played in New Orleans, she switched and joined the Black Pelicans. From there she went to the New Orleans Creoles, part of the Negro League minors, where she made $300 a month in 1949. The local Black Press reported that she made several unassisted double plays, and batted.265.
In 1953, the Indianapolis Clowns, signed Stone to play second base, a position that had been recently vacated when the Boston Braves signed Hank Aaron. This contract made Stone the first woman to play in the Negro Leagues. The Clowns had begun as a gimmick team, much like the Harlem Globetrotters, but by the ‘50s they had toned down their antics and were playing straight baseball. Having a woman on the team didn’t hurt revenues, which had been declining steadily since Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in the majors, and many young Black players left the Negro Leagues.
In 1954, her contract was sold to the Kansas City Monarchs, one of the stronger teams in the Negro Leagues. But a lack of playing time led Stone to retire that season.
Information courtesy of www.aaregistry.com. |
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