Nannie Mayne McKinney (1912 - 1967)

Born 12 Jun 1912 in Lancaster County, South Carolina, United States

Wife of James Norman Monroe Jr — married 25 Nov 1931 in Portsmouth, Virginia, United States

Died 3 May 1967 at age 54 in New York City, New York, United States

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Biography

Nina Mae McKinney is a part of US Black heritage.

Ninnie Mayne McKinney AKA Nina Mae. She was an African-American born actress. She was called "BLACK GARBO" in Europe. She was in the all black musical movie "Hallelujah" (1929').

Early life Nannie Mayme McKinney was born to Hal and Georgia (Crawford) McKinney on June 12, 1912, in Lancaster, South Carolina.

In the 1920 census Nannie (age 8) was the granddaughter of Mary A Mckenna in Gills Creek, Lancaster, South Carolina.^[1]

1. Mary A Mckenna Black 70 widow Head

• Napolian Mckenna M Black 33 Single Son Delivery Man South Carolina

1. Nannie M Mckenna 'Black8' SingleGranddaughter South Carolina

Her career in plays and movies from 1927-1960.

Her career offically started on her 16th birthday in the production of Lew Leslie "Blackbirds Revue". It later changed its name to "Blackbirds of 1928". It ran for 518 performances off broadway costarting Paul Robeson. She got her BIG break starting in KIng Vidor's prodiction of an all black musical cast of "HALLELUJAH" in 1928 King Victo was in the audenice looking for black talent for his new musical film starting in 1928. She got rave rave reviews from the film critics about her small part in the film. Nina went on playing bit parts in European and American films until 1960. Still to this day a lot of folks dont know Nina Mae Mckinney.

Nina (19) married James Norman Monroe (23) (born in 1907 in Jacksonville, Florida) on November 25, 1931 in Portsmouth, Virginia, United States.^{[2] [3]}

Nina was on a memorial in Woodlawn Cemetery, Bronx, Bronx County, New York, United States with a death date of 3 May 1967.^[2]

Research Notes

In the 1920 US census it shoud read McKinney not McKinna as in the transcript.

I read her bio in Find a Grave. She is maintained by Find a grave with a golded "STAR". I need to look into this to check out the sources. in IMDB there is a bio with almost say bio as in Find A Grave. I have to figure out if she was married twice to husbands Douglas S Daniels and James Norman Monroe. It looks like in a newspaper article that the Daniels honeymooned in Europe. She stayed in Berlin, Germany while Douglas went back to New York to work.

Sources

1. ↑ 1920 Census: "1920 United States Federal Census"
   Year: 1920; Census Place: Gills Creek, Lancaster, South Carolina; Roll: T625_1701; Page: 17B; Enumeration District: 91
   Ancestry Record 6061 #43249347 (accessed 10 April 2024)
   Nannie M Mckenna (8), single granddaughter, in household of Mary A Mckenna (70) in Gills Creek, Lancaster, South Carolina. Born in South Carolina.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} Memorial: Find a Grave (has image)
   Find A Grave: Memorial #6863095 (accessed 10 April 2024)
   Memorial page for Nina Mae McKinney (12 Jun 1912-3 May 1967), citing Woodlawn Cemetery, Bronx, Bronx County, New York, USA (plot: Cosmos, Section 196/197 Lot N.W. 47, Unmarked); Maintained by Find a Grave.
3. ↑ Marriage: "Virginia Marriages, 1785-1940"
   citing Digital film/folder number: 007578228; FHL microfilm: 2048495; Record number: 1215; Packet letter: F
   FamilySearch Record: XR94-6MY (accessed 10 April 2024)
   Nannie Mae McKinney (21) marriage to James Norman Monroe (24) on 25 Nov 1931 in Portsmouth, Virginia, United States.

• Obituary: “Nina Mae McKinney, Who Defied the Barriers of Race to Find Stardom (Published 2019).” The New York Times, 2024, www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/obituaries/nina-mae-mckinney-overlooked.html. Accessed 17 Apr 2024.

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nina_Mae_McKinney Nina Mae has 13 languages to her profile.
• https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0571904/
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Filmmakers_Hall_of_Fame

See Also

• 1930 Newspaper: "Newspapers.com"
  The Indianapolis Star (Indianapolis, Indiana) Fri, Oct 24, 1930, page 10
  Newspapers Clip: 145109219 Marriage of Nina and Diuglas S Daniels in Crow Point on Oct 24 1930.

• 1931 Newspaper: "Newspapers.com"
  The Standard Union (Brooklyn, New York) Sat, May 23, 1931, page 6
  Newspapers Clip: 41089680 Pretty Colored Actress Makes Return to Hollywood for Role.

• 1932 Newspaper: "Newspapers.com"
  The New York Age (New York, New York) Sat, Mar 12, 1932, page 6
  Newspapers Clip: 145115249 A double feature ad for one movie co-starring Nina in "Safe in Hell".

• 1935 Newspaper: "Newspapers.com"
  The New York Age (New York, New York) Sat, Jul 20, 1935, page 4
  Newspapers Clip: 145111391 Advestiment for the film "Sanders on the River" costars Nina and Paul Robeson in movie theaters in Harlem.

• 1935 Newspaper: "Newspapers.com"
  The Brooklyn Citizen (Brooklyn, New York) Thu, Jun 27, 1935, page 14
  Newspapers Clip: 145114957 Great movie review co-stars Nina and Paul in "Sander's on the River"

• 1939 Newspaper: "Newspapers.com"
  The New York Age (New York, New York) Sat, Dec 2, 1939, page 4
  Newspapers Clip: 145115648 An movie review of "Straight to Heven" co-starring Nia. "ITs a million dollar production"

• 1944 Newspaper: "Newspapers.com"
  Daily News (New York, New York) Mon, May 29, 1944, page 33
  Newspapers Clip: 145115892 A shoot out to Nina for returning to Hollywood.

• 1949 Newspaper: "Newspapers.com"
  The Brooklyn Daily Eagle (Brooklyn, New York) Mon, May 9, 1949, page 6
  Newspapers Clip: 145116042 A backstab for Nina after 20 yrs from bigging a big hit now playing a maid for star Hedi Lamaar's film "Cooper Canyon".

• 1951 Newspaper: "Newspapers.com"
  The Brooklyn Daily Eagle (Brooklyn, New York) Tue, Aug 14, 1951, page 5
  Newspapers Clip: 3184188 Nina's back on broadway in a production with an ALL_BLACK cast of Sumerset Maugham's "RAIN".

• 1951 Newspaper: "Newspapers.com"
  The New York Age (New York, New York) Sat, Jun 16, 1951, page 12
  Newspapers Clip: 145116617 The alumin of the Grace Giles School are putting on "Showtime USA". One of the alumin is Nina Mae.

• 1960 Newspaper: "Newspapers.com"
  The Oneonta Star (Oneonta, New York) Mon, Jul 25, 1960, page 9
  Newspapers Clip: 145116911 So sad Nina is along in a hospital dying and they are asking for friends to come see her.
• 1969 Newspaper: "Newspapers.com"
  Democrat and Chronicle (Rochester, New York) Sun, Jun 1, 1969, page 94
  Newspapers Clip: 145117097 A sad note. Bernard Drew wrote an article about Broadway and movies. His friends that he made up the name Nina Mae McKinney.