Janie Norman Research Paper

On September 15, 1945, in Augusta, Georgia, Jessye Mae Norman was born. Her parents were Silas Norman and Janie King-Norman. Silas was her father and Janie was her mother. Her mother was a schoolteacher and her father was an insurance salesman.

She had five other siblings who were all musicians but not professional. Her mother, Janie, and her grandmother were both pianist. Her father, Silas, was a singer in a choir. Like all great musicians start, Jessye began playing the piano at age 2!
For her schooling she attended Charles T. Walker Elementary School, A.R. Johnson Junior High School, and Lucy C. Laney Senior High School. All of the schools she attended was in downtown Augusta, Georgia.

Jessye sang gospel songs at Mount Calvary Baptist Church at only age four. By that people already knew that she was going to talented singer. When she first heard opera on the radio, she was nine years old and she immediately fell in love with it. She especially listened to Marian Anderson and Leontyne Price. Looking back she credits them as her inspiration. When she was 16, she entered a contest called the Marian Anderson Vocal Competition, even though in the end she didn’t win, it landed her a full scholarship at Howard University in Washington D.C.
She also was a professional soloist at Lincoln Temple United Church of Christ. In 1966 she won the National Society of Arts and Letters singing competition. In 1967 after Jessye graduated with a degree in music, she later began graduated-level studies at Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore and University of