Ella Jenkins, the renowned children’s musician, passed away at the age of 100 on Saturday at a senior-living facility in Chicago. Surrounded by family and friends, she died peacefully, still humming her favorite tunes, including those by Perry Como and folk music.<\/p>\n
Born on August 6, 1924, in St. Louis, Ella grew up in various places on Chicago’s South Side, including near Washington Park. Her father worked in a factory, and her mother was a domestic worker. Despite their struggles, Ella’s mother instilled in her a love for music and encouraged her to experiment with sounds.<\/p>\n
As a child, Ella began tapping on tin cans, boxes, and knees, singing, and whistling. Her uncle, a steelworker, played the harmonica, and she was inspired to create call-and-response music. This style, which involved encouraging children to participate by repeating phrases and rhythms, became a hallmark of her performances.<\/p>\n
Ella’s love for music led her to attend Phillips Elementary School and DuSable High School. After graduating in 1942, she worked at the Wrigley Co. packaging prepared meals for soldiers in WWII and later delivered classified mail at the Metallurgical Laboratory at the University of Chicago. Encouraged by her coworkers, she went back to school and became a sociology major at San Francisco State College.<\/p>\n
In 1956, Ella appeared on “The Totem Club,” a television show for children on WTTW, and was later asked to demonstrate her innovative methods on “This Is Rhythm,” a weekly segment. This exposure led to her own television show, and she went on to perform on every continent, including Antarctica, where she entertained a group of penguins.<\/p>\n
Ella Jenkins, known as the “First Lady of Children’s Music,” received a Lifetime Achievement Grammy Award and saw her work immortalized in the Library of Congress. She composed her own music and was known for her colorful ponchos and infectious enthusiasm. Her last appearance in front of a live audience was in 2017, and she most recently lived at an assisted-living facility on the North Side.<\/p>\n
Ella Jenkins’ passing leaves a void in the world of children’s music, but her legacy will continue to inspire and delight generations to come. Her call-and-response style of music, which encouraged children to participate and express themselves, remains a powerful tool for teaching and bonding. As she once said, “Just be yourself.”<\/p>\n
Q: How old was Ella Jenkins when she passed away?
\nA: 100<\/p>\n
Q: What was Ella Jenkins’ call-and-response style of music?
\nA: A style of music that involved encouraging children to participate by repeating phrases and rhythms.<\/p>\n
Q: What was Ella Jenkins’ last appearance in front of a live audience?
\nA: In 2017<\/p>\n
Q: What was Ella Jenkins’ most recent living arrangement?
\nA: An assisted-living facility on the North Side of Chicago<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Ella Jenkins Dead: Chicago’s First Lady of Children’s Music A Life Dedicated to Spreading Joy and Music to Children Ella Jenkins, the renowned children’s musician, passed away at the age of 100 on Saturday at a senior-living facility in Chicago. Surrounded by family and friends, she died peacefully, still humming her favorite tunes, including those […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5386,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_lock_modified_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-5385","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/cst.brightspotcdn.com\/dims4\/default\/3ec9eeb\/2147483647\/strip\/true\/crop\/1475x842+0+34\/resize\/1461x834!\/quality\/90\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fchorus-production-cst-web.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F46%2F7e%2F578a7a0c452d94b032d798be2284%2F3-7-frost-ella-jenkins-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5385"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5385"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5385\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5387,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5385\/revisions\/5387"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5386"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5385"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5385"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5385"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}