1911 - 1972
1911 (October 26)
Mahalia Jackson (born Mahala Jackson) was born in New Orleans, according to her birth certificate. Although her aunts and she herself believed until 1952 that she was born in 1912, her birth certificate confirms the year 1911. Her parents, Charity Clark and Johnny Jackson Jr., never married.
1918 (Juni)
Mahalia's mother, Charity Clark, dies. Mahalia is then adopted by her aunt Mahala Paul, known as Aunt Duke.
1920
The 1920 US census shows that Mahalia Jackson and her older brother Peter were living as adopted children with their aunt Duke and Manuel Paul on Pitt Street.
1930
The census shows that eighteen-year-old "Mahaly" Jackson still lives in New Orleans with her aunt Duke and Manuel Paul. This is important information for determining when Mahalia leaves New Orleans and moves to Chicago.
1931 (end of November)
Mahalia Jackson moves to Chicago with her aunt Hannah. Their arrival coincides with an intense mobilization of black gospel music in the United States.
1932
She began her professional singing career with the Johnson Gospel Singers.
1932–1934
Mahalia Jackson tours with Thomas A. Dorsey to promote his songs.
1934
Decca Records is founded.
1937
Mahalia Jackson makes her first recordings for Decca Records, accompanied by Estelle Allen on piano and organ. She records four songs: "God Shall Wipe All Tears Away," "Oh, My Lord," "God's Gonna Separate the Wheat from the Tares," and "Keep Me Every Day."
1938
She recorded swinging versions of hymns such as "Down by the Riverside" and "Rock Daniel" with Lucky Millender's big band. She also recorded Dorsey's "Hide Me in Thy Bosom" as "Rock Me."
1940 (December)
Mahalia is preparing a program at Morning Star Baptist School, but has no pianist. The American Federation of Musicians (AFM) recording ban is initiated.
1944 (April)
A photograph of her with Rosetta Tharpe in front of a restaurant next to a nightclub is published in the Chicago Defender, potentially damaging Mahalia's reputation in the gospel community.
1946
Mahalia Jackson begins recording for Bess Berman's Apollo Records, with her first session taking place on October 3. Mary Morris, Edna Mae's widowed mother, dies in a house fire.
1946 (Autumn)
Studs Terkel hears "Move On Up a Little Higher" by Apollo Records for the first time.
1947 (September)
She records the song "Move on Up a Little Higher" with Apollo Records.
1948 (beginning of the year)
"Move on Up a Little Higher" is released and sells 50,000 copies in Chicago alone within four weeks; sales rise to over two million copies nationwide. Another song from the same session, "Even Me," sells over a million copies. Studs Terkel acts as master of ceremonies at Paul Robeson's birthday celebration at Chicago's Civic Opera House.
1948 (September 8–12)
The National Baptist Convention Music Convention debuts in Houston, Texas, with Mahalia Jackson as treasurer.
1949
"TV Gospel Time" reports good ratings after its first year on air.
1950
Debut at Carnegie Hall on October 1.
In December, the Chicago Defender reported that CBS was planning a religious television program for Mahalia Jackson.
1951 (Juli)
Mahalia Jackson's Apollo recording of "It Is No Secret" is released.
1951 (March)
She receives the Grand Prix du Disque for her Apollo single "I Can Put My Trust in Jesus."
1951 (August)
She is invited to the roundtable discussion "Definitions in Jazz" at the Music Inn in Lenox, Massachusetts, to present the roots of jazz in African-American hymns.
1951 (October)
Mahalia celebrates her 25th anniversary as a gospel singer with a high-profile concert at the Chicago Coliseum.
1951 (December)
Mahalia appears on Studs Terkel's show Studs' Place.
1952 (Januar)
Mahalia is a guest on Ed Sullivan's nationally broadcast show Toast of the Town, the first appearance of an African-American gospel singer on national television.
1952
Mahalia Jackson applies for a passport for her first trip to Europe and sees her birth certificate for the first time, which lists 1911 as her year of birth.
1952 (August)
Appearance on Irv Kupcinet's show in Chicago, broadcast locally on WBKB-TV. She also performs at the Chicagoland Music Festival in Soldier Field in front of 80,000 people.
1953
The first Columbia album, Bless This House, is released. A music convention attended by Mahalia takes place in Miami. Tour through Memphis, Little Rock, Dallas, and Oakland.
1954 (Spring)
Mahalia Jackson becomes the first African-American gospel singer to have her own nationwide radio show. Bill Russell's interactions with Mahalia Jackson become more regular and personal.
1954 (September)
She suffers a gallstone attack. Her nationwide CBS radio show, "The Mahalia Jackson Show," premieres. Jackson insists that Studs Terkel be her writer.
1954 (October 28)
"A Birthday Salute to Mahalia Jackson" takes place at the Terrace Casino of the Morrison Hotel, with Studs Terkel as master of ceremonies. Mayor Richard J. Daley delivers a tribute.
1955 (March)
Her local television show, "Mahalia Jackson Sings," premieres on WBBM-TV in Chicago. It airs twice a week.
1955 (August 6)
Mahalia Jackson is a featured figure at the 26th annual Bud Billiken Parade and Picnic, sponsored by the Chicago Defender.
1956
Mahalia Jackson meets Martin Luther King Jr. and Ralph Abernathy at the 76th annual National Baptist Convention in Denver, Colorado.
1958
She appears in the film St. Louis Blues and twice at the Newport Jazz Festival, including a one-hour solo concert at midnight filmed for the movie Jazz on a Summer's Day. She also makes her debut on The Ed Sullivan Show.
1959
Mahalia Jackson and Laurraine Goreau meet at a newspaper conference in Chicago. Mahalia Jackson moves into a new apartment.
1961 (September 30)
The Chicago Defender publishes an article. Her television show "Mahalia Jackson Sings" returns as a series of five-minute music videos, and she wins the "Silver Dove" at the Festival International de Télévision de Monte-Carlo. Huge successful European tour!
1962
The gospel category is introduced at the Grammy Awards, and Mahalia Jackson is the first recipient. She makes her debut at New York's Philharmonic Hall and is the first gospel artist to perform there. "TV Gospel Time" is introduced. The program "Jubilee Showcase" receives an Emmy Award. Studs Terkel publishes "The Lady Vanishes."
1962 (September 22)
Mahalia Jackson participates in the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation and sings.
1963 (Februar)
"Jubilee Showcase" begins on WBKB.
1963 (February 12)
Mahalia Jackson is a guest at the White House and meets President Kennedy.
1963 (August)
She wins another Grammy Award for her album Great Songs of Love and Faith.
1963 (August 28)
Mahalia Jackson participates in the March on Washington, where she sings "How I Got Over" and "I Been 'Buked and I Been Scomed."
1963 (November 22)
President Kennedy is assassinated in Dallas. Mahalia Jackson is devastated. She meets Sigmond "Minters" Galloway, who will become her second husband.
1964 (July 2)
She marries Sigmond Galloway in a small private ceremony. First major US tour.
1964 (September)
Mahalia Jackson suffers a heart attack, attributed to exhaustion from her civil rights work. She is treated at Little Company of Mary Hospital in Evergreen Park.
1964 (October)
"TV Gospel Time" is no longer broadcast on WBKB. The program "Jubilee Showcase" is broadcast on Sundays at 8:00 a.m.
1965 (January 1)
Mahalias Aunt, Mama-Duke, dies.
1965(March 6)
Malcolm X is assassinated.
1965 (March 7)
"Bloody Sunday" in Selma, Alabama. Mahalia Jackson sends a telegram to the president asking for protection for Martin Luther King Jr.
1965 (March 24)
Studs Terkel arrives in Montgomery, Alabama, for the march. "TV Gospel Time" ceases broadcasting, but lays the foundation for Chicago's "Jubilee Showcase."
1966
The show "Jubilee Showcase" receives an Emmy Award. The autobiography "Movin' On Up" by Mahalia Jackson and Evan McLeod Wylie is published. Concert tour through Virginia, Miami Beach, Cincinnati. Participation in a demonstration for "open housing" in Chicago.
1967
Mahalia Jackson suggests to Laurraine Goreau for the first time that she write a "proper" book about her. Charles Clency begins his collaboration with Mahalia, which lasts until 1972. Her divorce from Sigmond Galloway is finalized in April. She purchases and moves into two condominiums on Chicago's South Side. Appearances at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana, and Lincoln Center in New York City. Performs at an Israel Bond Rally at the Chicago Opera House.
1968
March, trip to the Bahamas.
1968 (April 4)
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wird ermordet. Mahalia Jackson ist zutiefst erschüttert. Einmonatige Europatournee.
1968 (June 5)
Robert Kennedy is assassinated in Los Angeles. Mahalia sings "I Been 'Buked and I Been Scorned" a cappella on CBS television.
1968
Demokratische Parteikonvention in Chicago. Mahalia Jacksons "Festival of Stars" ist John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy und Martin Luther King Jr. gewidmet.
1969
"Jubilee Showcase" has a weekly audience of 250,000. Mahalia Jackson embarks on another European tour ("Summer of Soul" concert takes place).
1970
An extensive US tour with stops in Omaha, New York (several times), Philadelphia, Newport, Detroit, and the Berkshire Music Barn. Later in August, appearances on the Dick Cavett Show and the Mike Douglas Show in New York and Philadelphia, followed by concerts in Portland, Maine, and at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine.
1971 (April)
World tour to Japan, India, Thailand, and Germany. After a concert in Munich, the tour is cut short due to illness. Mahalia spends a lot of time in the hospital or visiting doctors. May 31, Return to Chicago for a "Miracle Tent Revival." Travels to Salt Lake City, Utah (recovery, spa treatment) and performances in Baton Rouge.
1971 (October 26)
Mahalia Jackson's 60th birthday is celebrated. Newspapers report that she was born in 1911, correcting an earlier misdate. She plans to reorganize her business, produce her own records under the label "Hallelujah!" and found her own temple. She appears on various television shows.
1972
Mahalia Jackson dies on January 27
There were two funeral services.
1. Februar 1972, Chicago, Arie Crown Theater, McCormick Place.
4. Februar 1972, New Orleans, Rivergate Convention Center.
Mahalia Jacksons body will be buried at Providence Memorial Park, in the Mausoleum in Metairie, Louisiana.