For this year’s A to Z Challenge, I will be posting an event for that date involving someone in my family tree. Of course it will also involve the letter of the day. It may be a birth, a death, a christening, a journal entry, a letter or a newspaper article. If the entry is a news item, it will be transcribed immediately below. Click on photographs to enlarge in another window.
MUSIC FESTIVAL FRIDAY.
Miss Pearl Reed One of Singers at Jones Tabernacle.
Among the special attractions of Easter week will be the music festival to be given next Friday evening at Jones Tabernacle, under the auspices of the Witherspoon Memorial United Presbyterian church. A carefully selected program has been arranged in which the best available talent will take part.
In addition to Miss Pearl Reed, popular soloist, Miss Osie Watkins, of Richmond, has been engaged to sing. Other features will be vocal solos by Aldridge M. Lewis and Mrs. Sallie Robinson. There will be Instrumental solos by Alfred Taylor and Philip Tasch, and readings by Miss Harriet Mitchell, of Knoxville, Tenn.; G. W. Cable, Aldridge and Alfred Taylor. The Twentieth Century Club of Jones tabernacle, will serve refreshments at the close of the program.
The Indianapolis News Indianapolis, Indiana • Sat, Apr 10, 1909 Page 12
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Pearl Reed was my paternal grandmother. In 1909 she lived with her mother and older brother George. She and my grandfather were “keeping company’ and married the following year.
You can see a better copy of the photo above at this earlier post: F- Forgive this writing
You can read more about my grandmother’s life at this post: Grandmother Pearl Reed Cleage and also find more links about her life.
I remembered earlier posts about Pearl and was able to navigate back using the tag 🙂 I thought you had a recording of her singing but it was of somebody else singing the song she sang “Oh Dry Those Tears” – good to listen to it.
The letter A in 2023 included a better version of the photo than the grainy newspaper – she was very pretty but solemn looking in the photos.
I used that photo this year too. https://findingeliza.com/archives/44979
I added that link and another with more information about her life. I tried to find what songs she sand at Jones Tabernacle Music Festival, but no luck.
Popular soloist! 🙂 Did you ever hear her sing? She must have had a lovely voice.
The Multicolored Diary
By the time I heard her sing, she was in her 70s and had a quavery old voice. We would be singing next to each other in the congregation at church. She must have had a lovely voice when she was younger.
Two of my aunts sang in the choir at that time.
Interesting peeks into your family history.
Are there twenty more days of peeks coming?
That’s great to see your grandmother as the headliner of this event.
Yes it was. Wish I could have heard her at the height of her singing.
Easter is always a good time for singing!
Yes it is.
Maybe that’s why Granddaddy was critical of my singing … growing up with a headlining soloist for his lullabies and all… I wonder if she sang Hush Little Baby & This is the Day they give Babies away…
That might be it!
Maybe “Hush Little Baby” I can’t imagine her singing “This is the Day They Give Babies Away With a Half a pound of tea”.
I wonder if she sang to me when she came to Springfield when I was born. We’ll never know.
I like the way you posted this Easter Week event just before the start of Easter Week. I didn’t know that your grandmother was a singer. No matter what your grandfather might have said about your singing, I’m sure your children appreciate it. It would have been good to know what songs were on the program–you are an amazing researcher to have tried to find that as well.
She sang at church and some community events before she married and while they were in Indianapolis. As the family grew I think she probably just sang as part of the congregation.
My grandfather didn’t comment on my singing. That was a comment by my oldest daughter about what my father, who was her grandfather said to her about her singing. Something like “don’t give up your day job.”