, the prolific musician, educator, and entertainer known as the “First Lady of Children’s Folk Song,” has died. , the label that released all 39 of Jenkins’ albums during her lifetime, confirmed the news in posted to Instagram, sharing that she died “peacefully” at her longtime Chicago, Illinois, home. She was 100 years old.
Ella Louise Jenkins was born August 6, 1924 in St. Louis, Missouri, though her family moved to Chicago’s south side shortly after. Despite receiving no formal musical training, it was here Jenkins first discovered gospel music, blues, and rhyming children’s songs and games, as well as being introduced the harmonica by her Uncle Flood.
In 1951, she graduated from San Francisco State University, where she studied sociology, child psychology, and recreation. Upon returning to Chicago, Jenkins volunteered at various recreation centers and began writing songs for children. In 1952, she was hired as a teenage program director at the Y.
W.C.A.
, and soon after landed a regular hosting spot on Chicago public access television, which she called . Jenkins became a full-time musician in 1956, touring school assemblies across the U.S.
She met the folklorist Kenneth S. Goldstein, who suggested she send a demo tape to Folkways Records founder Moses Asch; the following year, Asch released Jenkins’ debut album . Jenkins put out a total of 39 albums with Folkways, including 1995’s , which has long been the label’s most popular release.
Her oeuvre inclu.
