📍Newark, NJ, USA
1924 – 1942“I was born in Newark, New Jersey, in March 1924, the only child of Asbury Vaughan, a carpenter who played the guitar, and Ada, a laundress who sang in the church choir. My parents had come up from Virginia, and we lived on Brunswick Street in Newark for my whole childhood. My father was deeply religious, and our family's life revolved around the New Mount Zion Baptist Church, on Thomas Street. I started piano lessons at seven, and I sang in the church choir and played piano for rehearsals and services; by my early teens I was the church organist. I went to East Side High School, then transferred to Arts High School, the first public arts high school in the country. But by then I was sneaking out to sing and play in Newark's clubs and taverns at night, and my schoolwork suffered, and I left in my junior year to make music my life. In 1942, I went over to Harlem with my friend Doris Robinson and played piano for her at the Apollo Theater's Amateur Night. Then I entered myself, sang Body and Soul, and won. Billy Eckstine heard me and told Earl Hines, who hired me to sing and play second piano in his band, alongside Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie. They called me Sassy and the Divine One, and I became one of the greatest singers of the century. Newark is proud of me: the great hall of Newark Symphony Hall is named the Sarah Vaughan Concert Hall.”
🗺️ Approximate location today
📍 Street view today