The Postcard
A postcard bearing no publisher's name. The image is a glossy real photograph. The card was posted in Worthing using a ½d. stamp on Thursday the 26th. October 1911. It was sent to:
Miss Wilson,
15, Adelaide Road,
Richmond,
Surrey.
The message on the divided back of the card was as follows:
"Shirley,
Park Road.
Dear Dorrie,
I should seriously
advise you to try
October instead of
August holidays
next year. The variety
in weather is charming.
Do try and manage a
weekend.
Love from
Madge."
The First Aircraft to be Hit in Combat
So what else happened on the day that Madge posted the card to Dorrie?
Well, on the 26th. October 1911, Captain Riccardo Moizo, flying a Nieuport, became the first pilot to have his plane hit in combat, with three bullet holes in the wing while flying over an encampment of 6,000 men.
Mahalia Jackson
The day also marked the birth, in New Orleans, Louisiana of singer Mahalia Jackson.
Mahalia, who was born Mahala Jackson, was an American gospel singer, widely considered one of the most influential vocalists of the 20th. century.
With a career spanning 40 years, Jackson was integral to the development and spread of gospel blues in black churches throughout the U.S.
During a time when racial segregation was pervasive in American society, she met considerable and unexpected success in a recording career, selling an estimated 22 million records.
Mahalia performed in front of integrated and secular audiences in concert halls around the world, making her one of the best-selling gospel music artists.
-- Mahalia Jackson - The Early Years
The granddaughter of slaves, Jackson was born and raised in poverty in New Orleans. She found a home in her church, leading to a lifelong dedication to deliver God's word through song.
Mahalia moved to Chicago as an adolescent and joined the Johnson Singers, one of the earliest gospel groups. Jackson was heavily influenced by musician-composer Thomas Dorsey and blues singer Bessie Smith, adapting Smith's style to traditional Protestant hymns and contemporary songs.
After making an impression in Chicago churches, she was hired to sing at funerals, political rallies, and revivals. For 15 years, she functioned as what she termed a "fish and bread singer," working odd jobs between performances in order to make a living.
-- Mahalia Jackson - The Later Years
Nationwide recognition came for Jackson in 1947 with the release of "Move On Up a Little Higher", selling two million copies and hitting the number-two spot on Billboard charts, both firsts for gospel music.
Jackson's recordings captured the attention of jazz fans in the U.S. and France, and she became the first gospel recording artist to tour Europe.
Mahalia regularly appeared on television and radio, and performed for many presidents and heads of state, including singing the national anthem at John F. Kennedy's Inaugural Ball in 1961.
Motivated by her experience of living and touring in the South and integrating in a Chicago neighborhood, she participated in the civil rights movement, singing for fundraisers and at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in 1963.
She was a vocal and loyal supporter of Martin Luther King Jr., and a personal friend of his family.
Throughout her career, Jackson faced intense pressure to record secular music, but she turned down high-paying opportunities in order to concentrate on gospel.
Completely self-taught, Jackson had a keen instinct for music, with her delivery marked by extensive improvisation with melody and rhythm.
Mahalia was renowned for her powerful contralto voice, range, an enormous stage presence, and her ability to relate to her audiences, conveying and evoking intense emotion during performances. Passionate and at times frenetic, she wept and demonstrated physical expressions of joy while singing.
Her success brought about international interest in gospel music, initiating the "Golden Age of Gospel," making it possible for many soloists and vocal groups to tour and record.
Popular music as a whole felt her influence and she is credited with inspiring rhythm and blues, soul, and rock and roll singing styles.
-- The Death of Mahalia Jackson
While touring Europe, Mahalia Jackson became ill in Germany and flew home to Chicago where she was hospitalized. In January 1972, she received surgery to remove a bowel obstruction and died in recovery.
Mahalia died at the age of 60 on the 27th. January 1972.
Although news outlets had reported on her health problems and concert postponements for years, her death came as a shock to many of her fans.
She received a funeral service at Greater Salem Baptist Church in Chicago where she was still a member. Fifty thousand people paid their respects, many of them lining up in the snow the night before, and her peers in gospel singing performed in her memory the next morning.
The day after, Mayor Richard Daley and other politicians and celebrities gave their eulogies at the Arie Crown Theater with 6,000 in attendance.
Her body was returned to New Orleans where she lay in state at Rivergate Auditorium under a military and police guard, and 60,000 people viewed her casket.
On the way to Providence Memorial Park in Metairie, Louisiana, the funeral procession passed Mount Moriah Baptist Church, where her music was played over loudspeakers.
