Timeline

1900s

1902:

  • Feb 9 – Blanche Dorothea Calloway was born in Baltimore, MD at 1017 Druid Hill Ave, home of her paternal grandparents.
    • Oldest child of Martha E. Reed and Cabell Calloway II.
  • Blanche’s mother: Martha Eulalia Reed
    • Morgan State College graduate, schoolteacher, piano teacher, organist at the Presbyterian Church.
  • Blanche’s father: Cabell Calloway II
    • Lincoln University graduate, Baltimore lawyer / legal clerk.

1906:

  • Blanche and family move to Rochester, NY.

1910s

1910:

  • The family moves across town to 93 Henrietta St., Rochester, NY.
  • June 16: Cabell Calloway II has mental health episode and is sent to County Hospital for treatment.

1912:

  • Blanche and family move back to Baltimore, MD. Shortly after, Cabell II has failed real estate venture.

1913:

  • Blanche’s father, Cabell II, has a mental breakdown, is institutionalized and mysteriously dies.

1914-1918:

  • Encouraged by her music teacher, Blanche auditions for local talent scout Ernest Hamilton Murray. Blanche was selected two years in a row, however, with the recent death of her father and the fact that she is the oldest sibling, she hesitates to pursue a career in entertainment and instead enrolls in Morgan State College to study music.
  • While in school, Blanche begins performing in local revues, speakeasies and nightclubs. She eventually drops out of college to pursue her passion for show business.

1919:

  • Blanche sings in the choir with her brother Cab at Grace Presbyterian Church.

1920s

1921:

  • Blanche leaves home to pursue a career in show business. Blanche’s first big break comes when she appears in “Shuffle Along”, the musical by Eubie Blake and Noble Sissle, which also featured Paul Robeson, Florence Mills and Josephine Baker.

1923:

  • Blanche joins the James P. Johnson touring show of “Plantation Days”.

1925:

  • Nov 9: Blanche records her very first songs in Chicago featuring Louis Armstrong on trumpet.

1927:

  • Blanche is on tour with “Plantation Days” revue and stops in Baltimore for two weeks at the Royal Theater. Blanche has not seen Cab in 5 years, they celebrate and catch up. Blanche tries to dissuade Cab from a career in show business but Cab does not listen. When a vocalist gets sick, Cab auditions and gets the spot for the rest of the tour. Cab promises his mother he will enroll in law studies at Crane College when the Chicago tour ends.
  • Tour takes Blanche and Cab to Pittsburgh, PA, Detroit, MI and Columbus, OH.
  • Difficult travel conditions and accommodations at black-only locations. Blanche is a veteran at this point while Cab goes wild chasing the chorus girls.
  • June: Blanche and Cab arrive in Chicago and the show closes with two weeks of performances.
  • Blanche lives with her boyfriend Waddy on the south side, Cab moves in temporarily.
  • Jun 13: Blanche and Cab perform together at the Metropolitan Theater in Chicago with the Sammy Stewart Orchestra.
  • Blanche becomes a successful nightclub entertainer.

1930s

Blanche and Her Joy Boys
Blanche Calloway and her Orchestra : Richard Jones, Tommy Stevenson, Archie Johnson (tp) Eli Robinson, Vic Dickenson (tb) Joe Eldridge, Chauncey Haughton (as) Alvin Campbell, Prince Robinson (ts) Clyde Hart (p, arr) Earl Baker (g) Abbie Baker (b) Percy Johnson (d) Blanche Calloway (vcl).

1931:

  • Blanche Calloway becomes the first black woman bandleader to lead an all-male orchestra which she names “Blanche Calloway and Her Joy Boys”and later “Blanche Calloway and Her Orchestra”. They saw great success and performed extensively from 1931-1938.
  • The Pittsburgh Courier makes a survey of 38 outstanding Black Orchestras. Blanche’s “Joy Boys” ranked 9th, only 5 points in back of Louis Armstrong, and well ahead of the bands of Jimmie Lunceford, Chick Webb, Bennie Moten and Claude Hopkins… all of whom went on to become a major part of Jazz History.
  • Mar 2: Blanche records multiple takes of three songs in Camden, New Jersey: “Casey Jones Blues”, “There’s Rhythm in the River”, and the Blanche classic, “I Need Lovin’”.
  • Mar 27: Blanche records multiple takes of four songs in Camden, New Jersey: “Just a Crazy Song”, “Sugar Blues”, “I’m Getting Myself Ready for You”, and “Loveless Love”.
  • May 8: Blanche records single takes of three songs: “Misery”, “It’s Right Here For You”, and “Make Me Know it” (unissued).
  • June 11: Blanche records single takes of four songs: “It Looks like Susie”, “Without that Gal”, “When I Can’t be with you” and “Make Me Know it”.
  • October 15: As part of a tour with four other dance orchestras called the “Battle of Music”, Blanche performs at Masonic Auditorium in Washington, DC. Blanche Calloway, Benny Moten, Chick Webb, Zack Whyte and Johnson Happy Pals tour takes in Philadelphia, PA / Baltimore, MD / Richmond, VA / Washington, DC / Harrisburg and Pittsburgh, PA / Orange, NJ / Wheeling, WV / Cincinnati, OH.
  • October 20: As part of the tour “Battle of Music”, Blanche performs at Pythian Temple in Pittsburgh.
    Nov 18: Blanche records single takes of five songs: “I Got what it takes”, “Concentratin’ on You”, “Last Dollar”, “Blue Memories”, and Blanche’s theme song, “Growlin’ Dan”.

1932:

  • Sep 19: Blanche performs at Philadelphia’s Pearl Theater with the Palmer Brothers, Apus Brooks, and the 3 Brown Buddies.

1933:

  • Aug 26: Blanche and her Joyboys perform in Maine at the Old Orchard Pier. “The Sepia Siren of Syncopation”.

1934:

  • Aug 27: Blanche records single takes of four songs in Chicago, Illinois: “Growlin’ Dan”, “Catch On”, “I Need Lovin’”, and “What’s a Poor Girl Gonna Do?”
  • Blanche Calloway and her Orchestra : Clarence Smith, Henry Mason, Archie Johnson (tp) Alton Moore, Vic Dickenson (tb), Ernest Purce, Roger Boyd (as) Charlie Frazier (ts) Egbert Victor (p) Earl Baker (g) Abbie Baker (b) Walter Conyers (d), Blanche Calloway (vcl).

1935:

  • Jan 31: Blanche records a single song in New York City, “Lookie, Rookie, Lookie, Here Comes Cookie” (unissued).
  • Nov 6: Blanche records four songs in New York City: “You Ain’t Livin’ Right”, “Louisiana Liza”, “I Gotta Swing (King Porter Stomp)”, and “Line-a-Jive”.

1936:

  • Blanche and the wife of one of her orchestra members are arrested, jailed and fined $7.50 each for disorderly conduct in Yazoo City, Mississippi. A band member steals all the money and the band breaks up. Blanche is forced to sell her yellow Cadillac for cash to get out of the state.

1938:

  • Blanche declares bankruptcy and disbands the orchestra.

1940s

1948:Blanche gives singer Ruth Brown, often referred to as “the Queen of R&B”, a chance to sing at the Crystal Caverns leading to Blanche mentoring Brown as a performer.

1940:

  • After disbanding her history-making orchestra and several years of performing solo. Blanche puts together an all-female orchestra which ends in short order due to lack of bookings. In the next few years, Blanche retires from show business.

1947:

  • Blanche divorces and moves to DC and starts to manage the Crystal Caverns (2001 11th St NW).

1948:

  • Blanche gives singer Ruth Brown, often referred to as “the Queen of R&B”, a chance to sing at the Crystal Caverns leading to Blanche mentoring Brown as a performer.
  • Blanche begins managing Brown.
  • Blanche advises Brown to sign a recording contract at new music label Atlantic.
    • One source has Atlantic’s Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson contacting Blanche Calloway in October 1948. Blanche convinced them to sign Ruth, although they hadn’t heard a note of her singing.
    • Another version has Abramson coming down from New York and, being entranced with Ruth’s performance, signing her on the spot.
    • Yet a third version has both Abramson and Ertegun present.
  • October: Ruth is the only one injured in a car accident on the way to NYC for a concert at the Apollo theater. Blanche, a driver and Ruth’s “husband” Jimmy Brown were also in the vehicle.

1949:

  • May 25: Ruth Brown has her first recording session at Apex Studios with Atlantic Records on crutches. Atlantic becomes known as “The House that Ruth Built”.

1950s

1950:

  • THe publication International Musician presents an article called “Dance Bands That Made History”. Blanche was singled out among seven other female orchestra leaders for recognition. She was the only black orchestra leader on the list.
  • Blanche moves to Tioga, a residential section of Philadelphia, where she becomes very active in local politics.

1958:

  • Blanche moves to Florida and becomes a DJ for radio station WMBM in Miami Beach.
    • She is the only African American female disc-jockey on the air in Florida, and possibly the entire Southern United States.
    • The same station hires her as Program Manager, a position she holds for close to 20 years before moving back to Baltimore.
  • During this time period Blanche also organizes and participates in community theater projects, bringing her style and talents to the stage and to the audience, both of which she loved.
  • Blanche is the first black clerk to serve in a voting precinct in Florida and the first black woman to vote in Miami.

1960s

1961:

  • Elected as Democratic Committee woman, belongs to several civic organizations and is considered to be a prominent civic and community leader in greater Miami.

1964:

  • Blanche visits the Hague with forty other black women to protest with the NATO Women’s Peace Force.

1968:

  • Founds Afram House, the first major Black-owned and operated mail-order cosmetics brand. The company specialized in cosmetics and hair preparations for black clientelle.

1970s

1970s:

  • Until her death in 1978, Blanche continues to be active in Civil Rights organizations such as the NAACP, Congress for Racial Equality and the National Urban League.

1978:

  • Dec 16: At the age of 76, Blanche dies at Deaton Medical Center in Baltimore, MD after an 8-year battle with breast cancer.