Black History Month 2024: Newport News Native Pearl Bailey Made A Name For Herself & Virginia

As some observe the 2024 Black History Month theme, “African-Americans and the Arts,” the Pearl Bailey mural in Newport News puts a familiar face on this year’s theme, due to the fact that Bailey had a profound impact on her hometown and the nation.The name of the Tony-and-Emmy Awards-winning singer graces the Pearl Bailey Library, located at 2510 Wickham Ave., in Newport News. The library offers numerous services including computer labs, literacy stations, printers, iPad kiosks, cell phone charging stations, and bike racks. Bailey’s face also graces an outdoor mural In Annapolis. It was erected in 2021 in Annapolis’ 2nd Ward.Bailey’s Annapolis mural is painted outside of the Whitmore Parking Garage. Located in a now-demolished Black business district that was torn down during urban renewal, it once housed at least 33 minority businesses and numerous homes. Bailey used to perform at many Annapolis businesses including Susie’s Tea Room, Dixie Hotel, and The Washington Hotel.Not bad for the daughter of the Rev. Joseph James Bailey, a Newport News pastor, who nurtured his daughter’s musical talents in his church.“From him,” she once told an interviewer, “I got the wisdom, the philosophizing, the soul.”Her parents divorced when she was young. She grew up...