Physician and x-ray specialist. Graduate of Amherst College and Harvard University. Former head of X-ray Department of Freedmen's Hospital. Son of AME Bishop John L. Hurst. Member of Metropolitan AME Church. Member of Epsilon Boule Fraternity. Scoutmaster of Boy Scout Troop 256.
Died 19 Nov 1958at age 70 in Washington, District of Columbia, United States
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Profile last modified | Created 17 Aug 2011
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Biography
John Pinkett Sr. is a part of US Black heritage.
John Randolph Pinkett was born on 27 Sep 1888 in Lincolnia, Fairfax County, Virginia & his parents were John Pollard Pinkett and Cecilia Beckley.
He attended M Street High School in Washington, D.C. Upon graduation he attended the Carnegie Institute and Amherst College.
He married Flaxie Holcombe.
He served as a professor at Dunbar High School.
He gained valuable business experience as a vice-president and manager of Agencies-National Benefit Life Insurance Company.
In 1932, in the midst of the the Great Depression, he established his business in a one room basement. "John R. Pinkett Inc." [1] was the first insurance and real estate firm in Washington, D.C. that was fully owned and operated by an African-American. The enterprise prospered and eventually grew to include real estate and property management. The firm was the first of its type to be admitted to the Washington Board of Trade.
He died on 19 Nov 1958 in Washington, DC,[2] and cremation was on 24 Nov 1958 at Lee's Crematory.
In 1958 his daughter Flaxie inherited his business and against all odds, helmed it successfully for the next 49 years.
↑Obituary: "U.S., Newspapers.com Obituary Index, 1800s-current" Alabama Tribune; Publication Date: 5 Dec 1958; Publication Place: Montgomery, Alabama, USA; URL: https://www.newspapers.com/image/554096471/?article=4fdca871-509e-4415-99ff-543863fc9612&focus=0.033001542,0.34854853,0.26228717,0.49845356&xid=3355 Ancestry Record 61843 #507613817 Name: John R. Pinkett; Gender: Male; Death Age: 70; Birth Date: abt 1888; Birth Place: Lincolnia, VA.; Residence Place: Washington; Death Date: Abt 1958; Death Place: Washington; Obituary Date: 5 Dec 1958; Obituary Place: Montgomery, Alabama, USA; Newspaper Title: Alabama Tribune; Spouse: Flaxie; Child: John R. Charles A. K. Dyson Frances P. Robertson N : rris A. Dodson Flaxie M. Pinkett; Siblings: Rcscoe D. Pinkett.
1930 Census: "1930 United States Federal Census" Year: 1930; Census Place: Washington, Washington, District of Columbia; Page: 16A; Enumeration District: 0228; FHL microfilm: 2340033 Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry Record 6224 #6984508 John R Pinkett (41), married, Agheg Director, head of household in 122 V Street, N W.,, Washington, Washington, District of Columbia, USA. Born in Virginia.
1940 Census: "1940 United States Federal Census" Year: 1940; Census Place: Washington, District of Columbia, District of Columbia; Roll: m-t0627-00570; Page: 8A; Enumeration District: 1-508 Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry Record 2442 #1034923 John R Pinkett (51), Manager, in Washington, District of Columbia, District of Columbia. Born in Virginia.
1950 Census: "1950 United States Federal Census" United States of America, Bureau of the Census; Washington, D.C.; Seventeenth Census of the United States, 1950; Record Group: Records of the Bureau of the Census, 1790-2007; Record Group Number: 29; Residence Date: 1950; Home in 1950: Washington, Washington, District of Columbia; Roll: 4811; Sheet Number: 6; Enumeration District: 1-1109 Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry Record 62308 #15191161 John R Pinkett (61), married head of household in Washington, Washington, District of Columbia, USA. Born in Virginia.
Acknowledgment
WikiTree profile Pinkett-46 was created through the import of PINKETTFAMILYTREE.ged on 16 Aug 2011.
He married Charlotte Leonora Ridgeley on August 10, 1935 in Washington, District of Columbia. He was 21 years old and she was 18.[1]
Pearl Bailey married John R Pinkett on 31 August 1948 in Clark, Nevada, United States.[2]
John was buried in Arlington National Cemetery.[3]
Sources
↑ "District of Columbia Marriages, 1811-1950," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:V64L-DBL), John Randolph Pinkett and Charlotte Leonora Ridgeley, 10 Aug 1935; citing p. 244, Records Office, Washington D.C.; FHL microfilm 2,293,334.
↑Marriage: "Nevada County Marriages, 1862-1993" citing Marriage, Clark, Nevada, United States, Nevada State Museum and Historical Society, Las Vegas; FHL microfilm 005247197. FamilySearch Record: QL4G-RPF7 (accessed 12 October 2022) FamilySearch Image: 33S7-81WP-D6M Image number 00746 Pearl Bailey marriage to John R Pinkett on 31 Aug 1948 in Clark, Nevada, United States.
"United States Census, 1930," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XMK1-KX5 : accessed 29 January 2021), John R Pinkett in household of John R Pinkett, Washington, Washington, District of Columbia, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 228, sheet 16A, line 28, family 260, NARA microfilm publication T626 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2002), roll 298; FHL microfilm 2,340,033.
"United States Census, 1940," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K737-JFC : 25 January 2020), John Pinkett in household of John R Pinkett, Tract 33, District of Columbia, Police Precinct 13, District of Columbia, District of Columbia, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 1-508, sheet 8A, line 39, family 135, Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940, NARA digital publication T627. Records of the Bureau of the Census, 1790 - 2007, RG 29. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2012, roll 570.
Pearl Mae Bailey (March 29, 1918 – August 17, 1990) was an American actress, singer and author.[1] After appearing in vaudeville, she made her Broadway debut in St. Louis Woman in 1946.[2] She received a Special Tony Award for the title role in the all-black production of Hello, Dolly! in 1968. In 1986, she won a Daytime Emmy award for her performance as a fairy godmother in the ABC Afterschool SpecialCindy Eller: A Modern Fairy Tale. Her rendition of "Takes Two to Tango" hit the top ten in 1952.[3]
Bailey was born in Newport News, Virginia[1] to the Reverend Joseph James and Ella Mae Ricks Bailey.[5] When she was very young, the family moved to Washington, DC. After her parents' divorce, Bailey moved to Philadelphia to live with her mother.[6]
Bailey made her stage-singing debut at the age of 15. Her brother Bill Bailey[7] was beginning his own career as a tap dancer and suggested that she enter an amateur contest at the Pearl Theatre in Philadelphia. Bailey won and was offered $35 a week to perform there for two weeks. However, the theater closed during her engagement and she was not paid.[5] She later won a similar competition at Harlem's famous Apollo Theater and decided to pursue a career in entertainment. She was also known to have performed in the church choir at St Peter Claver Catholic Church in Brooklyn, at the behest of Msgr Bernard J. Quinn.[8]
Bailey began by singing and dancing in Philadelphia's black nightclubs in the 1930s, and soon started performing in other parts of the East Coast. In 1941, during World War II, Bailey toured the country with the USO, performing for American troops. After the tour, she settled in New York. Her solo successes as a nightclub performer were followed by acts with entertainers such as Cab Calloway and Duke Ellington. In 1946, Bailey made her Broadway debut in St. Louis Woman.[9] For her performance, she won a Donaldson Award as the best Broadway newcomer. Bailey continued to tour and record albums along with her stage and screen performances. Early in the television medium, Bailey guest starred on CBS's Faye Emerson's Wonderful Town.
Bailey, costumed in the role of Butterfly, gauges the applause following her performance of the song "It's a Woman's Prerogative" on July 5, 1946. Sustained applause required her to take another bow.
Female impersonator Lynne Carter credited Bailey with launching his career.[10]
In 1967, Bailey and Cab Calloway headlined an all-black cast version of Hello, Dolly! The touring version was so successful that producer David Merrick took it to Broadway, where it played to sold-out houses and revitalized the long-running musical. Bailey was given a special Tony Award for her role, and RCA Victor released a second original-cast album, the only recording of the score to have an overture written especially for the recording.
Following her 1971 television series, she provided voices for animations such as Tubby the Tuba (1976) and Disney's The Fox and the Hound (1981). She returned to Broadway in 1975, playing the lead in an all-black production of Hello, Dolly!. In October 1975, she was invited by Betty Ford to sing for Egyptian president Anwar Sadat at a White House state dinner as part of Mideast peace initiative.[12]
She earned a degree in theology from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. in 1985 at age 67.[9] It took her seven years to earn her degree.[9] At Georgetown, she was a student of the philosopher Wilfrid Desan.
In her later years, Bailey wrote several books: The Raw Pearl (1968), Talking to Myself (1971), Pearl's Kitchen (1973) and Hurry Up America and Spit (1976). In 1975, she was appointed special ambassador to the United Nations by President Gerald Ford, a position she held under three presidents.[15][16] Her last book, Between You and Me (1989), details her experiences with higher education. On January 19, 1985, she appeared on a nationally televised broadcast gala the night before the second inauguration of Ronald Reagan. In 1988, Bailey received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Reagan.[17]
Bailey went through a number of failed marriages in her earlier adult years. She married John Randolph Pinkett, either her third or fourth husband, when she was 30 years old, and divorced him four years later, accusing him of physical abuse.[4][18]
On November 19, 1952, Bailey married jazz drummer Louie Bellson in London. They remained married until her death nearly 38 years later in 1990. Bellson was six years Bailey's junior and white. Interracial couples were rare at that time, and Bellson's father was reportedly opposed to the marriage because of Bailey's race.[18]
They later adopted a son, Tony, in the mid-1950s. A daughter, Dee Dee Jean Bellson,[19] was born April 20, 1960. Tony Bellson died in 2004. Dee Dee Bellson died on July 4, 2009, at the age of 49, five months after her father, who died on February 14.[citation needed]
Bailey was a close friend of actress Joan Crawford.[21] In 1969, Crawford and Bailey joined fellow friend Gypsy Rose Lee in accepting a USO award. That same year, Bailey was recognized as USO's woman of the year.[22][23] Upon Crawford's death in May 1977, Bailey spoke of Crawford as her sister and sang a hymn at her funeral.[21][24] American socialite Perle Mesta was another of Bailey's close friends.[25] In the waning days of Mesta's life, Bailey visited Mesta frequently and sang hymns for her.[26][27]
