Adah Louise Killion Jenkins (April 23, 1901 – May 8, 1973) was a civil rights activist, musician, teacher, and a music critic for the Afro-American newspaper.[1]
Adah Jenkins | |
|---|---|
 Adah L. Killion from a 1925 issue of The Crisis | |
| Born | Adah Louise Killion April 23, 1901 Baltimore |
| Died | May 8, 1973 Baltimore |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, educator |
| Known for | Civil rights activist |
Early life
editAdah Louise Killion was born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland, the daughter of Thomas Killion and Mollie L. Trusty Killion. Her father was a doctor.[2] Her mother's sister, Lillian Handy Trusty,[3] was a longtime teacher in Baltimore, and a member of the NAACP.[4] Adah Killion attended the Teachers Training College, now Coppin State University.[5]
Career
editTeaching
editJenkins taught in Baltimore City Public Schools, where she became the first Black supervisor of music, and the Coppin Teacher Training College. Jenkins became a professor of music at Morgan State University.[1] She was on the founding executive committee of the Maryland State Music Teachers Association.[6] Her piano students included singer and music educator Bill Myers,[7] and organist and music professor Hansonia Mitchell.[8][9][10]
The Baltimore Civil Rights Movement
editDuring the Civil Rights Movement, Jenkins was involved with many activist groups. She helped to organize the Baltimore Interracial Fellowship and she was a charter member and vice-chair of the Baltimore chapter of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE).[1][11] The Baltimore CORE participated in a number of protests, but at times its members suffered from lack of focus. Jenkins felt that some factions within the group were more interested in actions (picketing) than in meetings and negotiations, writing to the national organization there "seems to be more interest in new places to picket than in trying to finish some of the jobs already begun." Jenkins also felt that some of the black members of the chapter shied away from activism for fear of offending the white members.[12]
Ms. Jenkins was also a key organizer and picketer in the organized protests to integrate Ford's Theater in Baltimore.[13][14] Jenkins served as music critic for the Afro-American for 23 years.[5][15] She was also active in the work of Fellowship House, a program of the Baltimore Interracial Fellowship.[8] Baltimore activist A. Robert Kaufman considered Jenkins his "mentor".[16][17]
Personal life
editAdah Killion married James Logan Jenkins Jr. She was a widow when she died at the age of 72 on May 8, 1973.[5][2] Two of her children, Rebekah Jenkins Bain and Thomas Killion Jenkins, survived her.[18] A concert tribute to Jenkins was presented in 1975,[19] and a scholarship in the Morgan State University department of music was named in her memory.[20]
References
edit- ^ a b c "Mrs. Adah Jenkins, 72, was AFRO music critic". The Afro-American. May 19, 1973.
- ^ a b "Last RItes Sat. 10a.m. for Mrs. Adah Jenkins, AFRO-American Critic". The Baltimore Afro American. May 12, 1973. p. 33. Retrieved June 1, 2020 – via NewspaperArchive.com.
- ^ "Obituary for REBECCA TRUSTY SPRIGG". The Baltimore Sun. May 6, 1932. p. 24. Retrieved June 2, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Miss Trusty Rites Listed". The Baltimore Sun. December 17, 1969. p. 19. Retrieved June 2, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b c "Mrs. Jenkins, music critic, teacher, rites set". The Baltimore Sun. May 12, 1973.
- ^ "Piano Teacher Heads Group". The Evening Sun. November 6, 1957. p. 67. Retrieved June 2, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Oral history interview with William Myers, recorded by Elizabeth Schaaf, at the Peabody Conservatory of Music, Baltimore, Maryland (July 18, 2002).
- ^ a b "Girl, 11, Soloist with Orchestra". The Evening Sun. December 12, 1956. p. 58. Retrieved June 2, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Rackemann, Francis (January 3, 1962). "Eastern High Pianist, 17, Set for Big Audition". The Evening Sun. p. 35. Retrieved June 2, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Hansonia Caldwell". African American Art Song Alliance. Retrieved June 2, 2020.
- ^ "Pickets See Bias At Nations Fete". The Baltimore Sun. September 2, 1957. p. 24. Retrieved June 2, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Sartain, Lee (2013). Borders of Equality: The NAACP and the Baltimore Civil Rights Struggle, 1914-1970. Univ. Press of Mississippi. p. 131. ISBN 9781617037511.
- ^ "Integrating the city's theaters". tribunedigital-baltimoresun. Retrieved March 8, 2017.
- ^ Kaufman, A. Robert (September 17, 1993). "Integrating Ford's". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved June 2, 2020.
- ^ Jenkins, Adah K. "Seven from Md. Music Teachers Chapter at National Meeting". Baltimore Afro-American. p. 19 – via Google News.
- ^ O'Mara, Richard (June 16, 1998). "Class Warrior". The Baltimore Sun. p. 57. Retrieved June 2, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Bob Kaufman is a man with a mission -- no, many missions (continued)". The Baltimore Sun. June 16, 1998. p. 61. Retrieved June 2, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Jenkins death notice". The Evening Sun. May 11, 1973. p. 49. Retrieved June 2, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Northeast Symphony Tribute Tonight to Adah K. Jenkins". Baltimore Afro American. March 15, 1975. p. 38. Retrieved June 1, 2020 – via NewspaperArchive.com.
- ^ "Concert at College to Honor Hunt". The Baltimore Sun. February 23, 1975. p. 56. Retrieved June 2, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
External links
edit- A photograph of Adah Jenkins and others picketing against Jim Crow admission policy at Ford's Theatre in Baltimore, 1948. In the collection of the Maryland Historical Society.