June 8, 1937 “All God’s Chillun Got Rhythm“, Ivie Anderson

Ivie Anderson (sometimes Ivy) (July 10, 1905 – December 28, 1949) was an American jazz singer born in Gilroy, California. Though her mother’s name is unknown, her father was Jobe Smith. Anderson lived at 724 E. 52nd Place, Los Angeles, from 1930 to 1945, now part of the 52nd Place Historic District. From age nine to thirteen, Anderson attended St. Mary’s Convent and studied voice. At Gilroy grammar and high school, she joined glee club and choral society. She also studied voice under Sara Ritt while in Nannie H. Burroughs Institution in Washington D.C. Although specific dates of events in Anderson’s life were unknown, she opened Ivie’s Chicken Shack in Los Angeles alongside Marque Neal after they had married but sold the business when they divorced. She had a second marriage with Walter Collins but no children. After suffering for years from asthma, Ivie Anderson died in Los Angeles, California. Though her earliest obituary was dated as December 27, 1949; all other sources state her date