Roberta Evelyn Martin (1907 - 1969)

Born 12 Feb 1907 in Helena, Phillips, Arkansas, USA

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Biography

Roberta Martin is Notable.

Roberta Evelyn Martin was an American gospel composer, singer, pianist, arranger and choral organizer, helped launch the careers of many other gospel artists through her group, The Roberta Martin Singers.^[1]

Roberta Evelyn Winston was born in 1907 in Helena, Arkansas. Her family moved to Cairo, Illinois in 1917 and joined the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Chicago, where she began playing piano for the Young People's Choir. She studied classic piano at Northwestern University. She passed away in 1969. She was buried at Burr Oak Cemetery in Alsip, Illinois. ^[2] In 1998, the US Postal Service issued a 32¢ stamp honoring her musical and cultural influence. ^[3]

Research Notes

Her maiden name was Roberta Evelyn Winston. Her first husband was William "Bill" Martin. They later divorced, but she continued to be known as Roberta Martin. Her second husband was James Austin in 1947. However, she kept the stage name Roberta Martin.

Sources

1. ↑ Wikipedia: Roberta Martin
2. ↑ Find A Grave: Memorial #36819869
3. ↑ Women on Stamps: Part 4 / Roberta Martin, Smithsonian National Postal Museum.

• "United States Census, 1930," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XSL1-XJN : accessed 12 April 2023), Roberta Martin in household of Wade Brown, Chicago (Districts 0501-0750), Cook, Illinois, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 748, sheet 11A, line 22, family 146, NARA microfilm publication T626 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2002), roll 448; FHL microfilm 2,340,183.