Savannah Churchill never denied her African American ancestry even as she attained fame, and she appeared in black publications such as Jet magazine.
11 Facts About Savannah Churchill
1.
2.
In 1939, Savannah Churchill quit her job as a waitress to pursue a singing career.
3.
Savannah Churchill began singing at Small's Paradise in Harlem, earning $18 a week.
4.
Savannah Churchill performed with the Crystal Caraverns in Washington, DC, and then toured with Edgar Hayes band in 1941.
5.
From 1949, Savannah Churchill recorded with Regal, RCA Victor and Decca Records, recording the original version of "Shake A Hand", later a big hit for Faye Adams, and recording with the Ray Charles Singers.
6.
Savannah Churchill toured widely with backing vocal group The Striders, including a visit to Hawaii in 1954.
7.
Savannah Churchill's career ended in 1956 when, as she was singing on stage in a club, a drunken man fell on top of her from a balcony above, causing severe, debilitating injuries from which she would never fully recover.
8.
Savannah Churchill moved from Louisiana to Bedford Stuyvesant Brooklyn in New York with her mother Hazel Roberts and step father.
9.
Savannah Churchill attended St Peter Claver catholic school and later Girls High School.
10.
Savannah Churchill later had two children with her first husband, David Savannah Churchill, who was killed in a car accident in 1941.
11.
On May 19,1952, Savannah Churchill remarried to Jesse Johnson in Franklin, Ohio.