Crown Heights in Brooklyn in Kings County, New York — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)
Ethel Waters
October 31, 1896 - September 1, 1977
190 New York Avenue, Brooklyn
Photographed by Devry Becker Jones (CC0), October 1, 2021
1. Ethel Waters Marker
Inscription.
Ethel Waters. October 31, 1896 - September 1, 1977. Born in Chester, Pennsylvania, and married at the age of 13, Ethel Waters overcame a childhood of abuse and poverty to become a jazz and gospel singer and actress, with a career spanning five decades. Waters toured on the black vaudeville circuit until 1919, when she moved to Harlem, and began her recording career. In 1929, she recorded "Am I Blue," which became a hit, and her signature song. Her film career began the same year, but she is best known for her Academy Award-nominated role in Pinky (1949), and for the 1952 film reprisal of her NY Drama Critics Circle Award-winning performance (1950) in A Member of the Wedding. She was the second African-American woman to be nominated for an Emmy (1962) for her performance in Route 66. On Jan. 8, 1954, Waters was interviewed in this house by Edward R. Murrow for his live television show "Person to Person," which focused on the careers, as well as personal lives, of celebrities.
Born in Chester, Pennsylvania, and married at the age of 13, Ethel Waters overcame a childhood of abuse and poverty to become a jazz and gospel singer and actress, with a career spanning five decades. Waters toured on the black vaudeville circuit until 1919, when she moved to Harlem, and began her recording career. In 1929, she recorded "Am I Blue," which became a hit, and her signature song. Her film career began the same year, but she is best known for her Academy Award-nominated role in Pinky (1949), and for the 1952 film reprisal of her NY Drama Critics Circle Award-winning performance (1950) in A Member of the Wedding. She was the second African-American woman to be nominated for an Emmy (1962) for her performance in Route 66. On Jan. 8, 1954, Waters was interviewed in this house by Edward R. Murrow for his live television show "Person to Person," which focused on the careers, as well as personal lives, of celebrities.
Erected by Historic Landmarks Preservation Center; medallion program created by Barbaralee Diamonstein-Spielvogel.
Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists:
Location. 40° 40.428′ N, 73° 56.852′ W. Marker is in Brooklyn, New York, in Kings County. It is in Crown Heights. It is on New York Avenue just south of Prospect Place, on the right when traveling south. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 190 New York Ave, Brooklyn NY 11216, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in New York City. It is also in the American Northeast and on the Eastern Seaboard. Globally, it is in North America and the Western World. Historically, it finds itself in what was once one of the original Thirteen Colonies.
Another marker is no longer nearby. Charles C. Pinn Triangle (was approx. 0.8 miles away but has been replaced with another marker now near it).
Credits. This page was last revised on January 31, 2023. It was originally submitted on October 4, 2021, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia. This page has been viewed 1,112 times since then and 44 times this year. Photos:1, 2. submitted on October 4, 2021, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia.
