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How many children did Clara Ward have?

How many children did Clara Ward have?

While Ward never remarried nor had children, she was a close friend of Reverend Clarence LaVaughn Franklin, Aretha Franklin’s father, whom the Ward Singers toured with throughout the 1950s. Ward has composed and arranged more than 500 gospel scores.

Was Clara Ward married?

Although Clara eloped as a teenager (at age 17 in 1941), her mother Gertrude forced her to tour and the strain caused the always frail Clara to have a miscarriage. Her marriage ended after only one year.

Who are the members of the Clara Ward Singers?

Clara Ward
Agnes Jackson
Clara Ward & The Ward Singers/Members

How old is Clara Ward?

48 years (1924–1973)
Clara Ward/Age at death

Is Clara Ward still living?

Deceased (1924–1973)
Clara Ward/Living or Deceased

Where is Clara Ward buried?

Forest Lawn, CA
Clara Ward/Place of burial

Who was Aretha Franklin’s grandmother?

Rachel Walkervia C. L. Franklin
Aretha Franklin/Grandmothers

Did Aretha Franklin get pregnant by her father?

couldn’t be everywhere at once, though. Soon after her 12th birthday, Aretha was impregnated by a local boy reportedly named Donald Burke. Marriage was not considered and the baby was named Clarence. Just shy of her 15th birthday, Aretha gave birth to a second son: Eddie, named after his father, Edward Jordan.

Who inspired Clara Ward?

Clara Ward was influenced early in life by gospel singers Queen C. Anderson and Clara “The Georgia Peach” Hudman. In turn, she greatly influenced the young Aretha Franklin, with whose father, the Reverend C.L. Franklin, the Ward Singers frequently toured during the 1950s.

Who is the father of Aretha Franklin’s first baby?

Edward Jordan
She first became pregnant at the age of 12 and gave birth to her first child, named Clarence after her father, on January 28, 1955. In one of her handwritten wills, discovered in 2019, Franklin revealed that the father was Edward Jordan.

Did Aretha Franklin have a baby at the age of 12?

Franklin’s oldest son, Clarence was born when she was 12 years old in 1955. His father was believed to be Franklin’s classmate, Donald Burke according to her biographer and author of Respect: The Life of Aretha Franklin, David Ritz.

What did Aretha Franklin do to her sister?

Erma Franklin
Carolyn FranklinCarl Ellan Kelley
Aretha Franklin/Sisters

What kind of music did Clara Ward sing?

The Clara Ward Singers recorded an album together on the Verve label, V-5019, The Heart, The Faith, The Soul of Clara Ward, and the Ward Singers performed their music live in Philadelphia with the city’s Symphony and the Golden Voices Ensemble.

Who are the members of the Clara Ward Trio?

The Ward Trio. Mahalia Jackson. Roberta Martin. The Clara Ward Specials. James Cleveland. Willa Ward Singers. Marion Williams. Gertrude Ward Singers. Clara Mae Ward (April 21, 1924 – January 16, 1973) was an American gospel artist who achieved great artistic and commercial success during the 1940s and 1950s, as leader of The Famous Ward Singers.

Who was Clara Ward’s mother and what did she do?

“Mother” Gertrude Ward is a ruthless dynamo so driven that she never took no for an answer. In the era of segregation when there were few opportunities for women of any color, let alone African Americans, this pushy promoter blazed a new trail for the widely popular Clara Ward Singers.

Who are the members of the Ward Singers?

Career. Ward’s mother, Gertrude Mae Ward (nee Murphy; 1901–1981), founded the Ward Singers in 1931 as a family group, then called, variously, The Consecrated Gospel Singers or The Ward Trio, consisting of herself, her youngest daughter Clara, and her elder daughter, Willarene Mae (“Willa”).