Mahala Jackson was a gospel singer in the United States. Jackson’s mother became ill and died when she was five years old, the cause of which is unknown.
In another house on Esther Street, Aunt Duke took in Jackson and her half-brother. Duke had a notorious temper. Jackson spent her days working, usually scrubbing floors and making moss-filled mattresses and cane chairs, playing along the levees catching fish and crabs and singing with other children, and attending Mount Moriah Baptist Church, where her grandfather occasionally preached.
In the 1950s, Jackson drew the attention of the William Morris Agency, which promoted her by booking her in large concert halls and on television with Arthur Godfrey, Dinah Shore, Bing Crosby, and Perry Como. Jackson’s respect and upbeat, positive demeanor made her appealing to progressive producers and hosts looking to feature a black person on television.
Jackson performed “I See God” at the Democratic National Convention in 1956, quieting a rowdy audience. Miller, who was in attendance, was awed by it, noting “there wasn’t a dry eye in the house when she got through”. Jackson made his film debut in 1958 as a missionary in St. Louis Blues and as a funeral singer in Imitation of Life (1959).
Did Mahalia Jackson sing at JFK funeral?
Mahalia Jackson sang at John F. Kennedy’s inauguration and Martin Luther King, Jr.’s funeral.
