Eleanora (Fagan) Holiday (1915 - 1959)

Born 7 Apr 1915 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States

Ancestors

Wife of James Norman Monroe Jr — married 25 Aug 1941 in Elkton, Maryland

Died 17 Jul 1959 at age 44 in New York City, New York, United States

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Biography

Billie (Fagan) Holiday is Notable.

Billie Holiday was a legendary jazz and swing music singer and is a posthumous Grammy winner. ^[1]

Eleanora Fagan was born in Pennsylvania in 1915. She was the daughter of Clarence Holiday and Sarah Fagan.

Marriage

Holiday was married at least twice. First to Jimmy Monroe on August 25, 1941, whom she divorced in 1947. Second to Louis McKay on March 28, 1957. She and McKay were separated at the time of her death two years later on, but he had plans to start a chain of Billie Holiday vocal studios, based on the model of the Arthur Murray dance schools.

Death

On May 31, 1959, Holiday was taken to Metropolitan Hospital in New York for treatment of liver disease and heart disease. On July 15, she received the last rites of the Roman Catholic Church and died two days later, at the age of 44, on July 17, 1959, at 3:10 a.m., of pulmonary edema and heart failure caused by cirrhosis of the liver. In her final years, she had been progressively swindled out of her earnings by McKay and she died almost penniless with only $0.70 (US$6 in 2017 dollars) in the bank and $750 (US$6,296 in 2017 dollars), which was a tabloid fee, on her person. Her funeral Mass was on July 21, 1959 at the Church of St. Paul the Apostle in Manhattan. She was buried at Saint Raymond's Cemetery in the Bronx.

Holiday was childless, but she had two godchildren: the singer Billie Lorraine Feather (the daughter of Leonard Feather) and Bevan Dufty (the son of William Dufty).

Research Notes

Some tertiary sources claim a marriage to trumpeter Joseph Guy but no reliable sources have been found. Please do not attach him as a spouse without solid sources. -- Díaz-2569 19:44, 9 February 2023 (UTC)

Sources

1. ↑ Wikipedia

• file unit relates to jazz singer Billie Holiday, who was arrested in 1947 for narcotics use. It includes newspaper clippings, photographs, and letters (both handwritten and typed) between the Alderson, West Virginia female penitentiary prison warden and her record company detailing her return to performing onstage upon her release. https://catalog.archives.gov/id/18558234

• "Pennsylvania, Philadelphia City Births, 1860-1906," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QPZ2-JNFW : accessed 8 March 2021), Frank Deviese in entry for Elinore Harris, 7 Apr 1915; citing Birth, Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, City of Philadelphia, Department of Records, Pennsylvania.
• "1920 United States Federal Census"
  Year: 1920; Census Place: Baltimore Ward 5, Baltimore (Independent City), Maryland; Roll: T625_659; Page: 6B; Enumeration District: 61
  Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry Record 6061 #102739402 (accessed 3 April 2022)
  Elenora Fagan (4), single niece, in household of Robert Miller (43) in Baltimore Ward 5, Baltimore (Independent City), Maryland. Born in Maryland.
• "United States Census, 1930," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GRZ5-Q6N?i=8&cc=1810731&personaUrl=%2Fark%3A%2F61903%2F1%3A1%3AX42X-76F : accessed 27 May 2022), Eleanor Fagan in household of Luther B Mathens, Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 886, sheet 5A, line 8, family 64, NARA microfilm publication T626 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2002), roll 1563; FHL microfilm 2,341,298.
• "United States Census, 1940," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K3YG-Y15 : accessed 7 January 2021), Elnora Holliday in household of Sadie Holliday, New York City, New York County, New York, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 31-1849, sheet 9A, line 12, family 167, Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940, NARA digital publication T627. Records of the Bureau of the Census, 1790 - 2007, RG 29. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2012, roll 2669.
• Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 21 January 2021), memorial page for Billie Holiday (7 Apr 1915–17 Jul 1959), Find A Grave: Memorial #489, citing Saint Raymond's Cemetery New, Bronx, Bronx County, New York, USA ; Maintained by Find A Grave.

See also:

• Official website
• Artist on Spotify
• Wikidata: Item Q104358