Ella Jenkins

Personal Information Full name Ella Louise Jenkins; born August 6, 1924, in St. Louis, MO. Education: Wilson Junior College, A.A,, 1945-47; Roosevelt College, 1947-48; San Francisco State College, B.A., 1949-51. Memberships: A.S.C.A.P. (American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers), American Federation of Musicians, International Platform Association. Career Young Women's Christian Association, program director, Chicago, 1952-56; folksinger, 1956--. Life's Work Ella Jenkins has been hailed as the "First Lady of Children's Folk Song," yet she never had any formal musical training. She has taught countless children in every corner of the world, yet she never trained as a teacher and insists she learns far more than she teaches. And Jenkins was actively promoting multicultural awareness long before the concept came in vogue. The talented and dynamic Jenkins did not set out to be a performer, never envisioned herself as an international children's ambassadress, yet these are only a few of her many unique accomplishments. Jenkins is also a composer and a musician who plays instruments ranging from the ukelele and harmonica to cowbells, the occasional pipe organ, and sometimes even rocks. She has recorded more than two dozen albums in her more than four-decade career, and she has written a book. She has visited all seven continents, and, in very special ways, has touched the lives of children from Hong Kong to Haiti, from the former Soviet Union to cities all across the United States, sharing the unique gifts of music and understanding that have become synonymous with her name. As Mike Joyce said in the Washington Post, "She's seen the world, to be sure, but more importantly, the world has seen and heard Ella Jenkins." Born in St. Louis, on August 6, 1924, Ella Jenkins grew up on Chicago's South Side. Her family was poor and often moved in an ongoing attempt to get farther "uptown." Thus, as a child Jenkins experienced life in many different neighborhoods and early on discovered that a shift of even a short distance might mean entirely new street games, jump rope songs, and chants. As the newcomer she quickly absorbed what her new friends had to teach her, then she shared with them from her own ever-growing supply.