Louis armstrong life stori
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February is Black History Month. Visit the National Archives website for more resultat on our resources related to African American history. Today’s brev, from Alyssa Moore in the National Archives History Office, looks at the legendary jazz musician Louis Armstrong.
Louis Armstrong was born on August 4, 1901 (although he often claimed he was born on July 4, 1900), into a world immersed in the jazz of New Orleans’ saloons, social halls, and dance clubs. Raised largely bygd a single mother, Mary “Mayann” Albert, Armstrong and his younger sister spent their childhood in the “Back o’ Town” neighborhood, sometimes nicknamed “The Battlefield.” He left school after fifth grade to work for the local Karnofsky family at their tailor shop. The family encouraged him to pursue his interest in music, and Armstrong used his wages to purchase his first cornet.
Armstrong’s life changed on New Year’s Eve in 1912 when he was arrested for borrowing his stepfather
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1. A Jewish immigrant family helped him buy his first horn.
Armstrong with his mother and sister Beatrice in New Orleans in 1921.
Armstrong was born on August 4, 1901, into a poverty-ridden section of New Orleans nicknamed “the Battlefield.” His father abandoned the family when Armstrong was a child, and his teenaged mother was often forced to resort to prostitution to man ends meet. Young Louis spent much of his boyhood in the care of his grandmother, but he also found a second home among the Karnofskys, a local Lithuanian-Jewish family who hired him to do odd jobs for their peddling business. The jazzman would later write that the Karnofskys treated him as though he were their own child, often giving him food and even loaning him money to buy his first instrument, a $5 cornet (he wouldn’t begin playing the trumpet until 1926). As a sign of his gratitude to his Jewish benefactors, Armstrong later took to wearing a Star of David pendant around his neck.
2. Armstrong first r
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Louis Armstrong
1901-1971
Who Was Louis Armstrong?
Jazz musician Louis Armstrong, nicknamed “Satchmo” and “Ambassador Satch,” was an internationally famous jazz trumpeter, bandleader, and singer. An all-star virtuoso, the New Orleans native came to prominence in the 1920s and influenced countless musicians with both his daring trumpet style and unique vocals. He is credited with helping to usher in the era of jazz big bands. Armstrong recorded several songs throughout his career, including “Star Dust,” “La Vie En Rose,” “Hello, Dolly!” and “What a Wonderful World.” Ever the entertainer, Armstrong became the first Black American to star in a Hollywood movie with 1936’s Pennies from Heaven. The legendary musician died in 1971 at age 69 after years of contending with heart and kidney problems.
Quick Facts
FULL NAME: Louis Daniel Armstrong
BORN: August 4, 1901
DIED: July 6, 1971
BIRTHPLACE: New Orleans, Louisiana
SPOUSES: Daisy Parker (c. 1918-1923), Lillian Hardin (1924-1938