Martin, Sallie

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Martin, Sallie

Martin, Sallie, black American gospel singer; b. Pittfield, Ga., Nov. 20, 1896; d. Chicago, June 18, 1988. She became a member of Thomas A. Dorsey’s Ebenezer Baptist Church gospel choir in Chicago (1932), then helped him to found the National Convention of Gospel Choirs and Choruses that same year, remaining active with it until 1940. She subsequently toured extensively in the U.S. and Europe with her own Sallie Martin Singers. With Kenneth Morris, she also was co-founder and co-director of the Martin and Morris Music Co. in Chicago (1940–75).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire

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