Plaque honour for ‘first black star’ Elisabeth WelchPosted in Articles, Arts, Biography, Media Archive, United Kingdom, Women on 2012-04-22 01:10Z by Steven |
Plaque honour for ‘first black star’ Elisabeth Welch
BBC News
2012-02-27
The singer Elisabeth Welch is to be commemorated with an English Heritage blue plaque in south-west London.
She is the second black woman to be honoured with a blue plaque in London.
It will be unveiled in Ovington Court, Kensington, which was her home during the 1930s when she rose to fame on the cabaret circuit.
The performer died aged 99 in 2003 and has been described as “Britain’s first black star”.
Paul Reid, Director of Black Cultural Archives said it was “an important moment for black heritage”.
Welch was born in New York in 1904, but lived in London for 70 years…
…The first black woman to be honoured with a plaque was the nurse Mary Seacole in 2005…
Read the entire article here.