Ebony and Ivory (piano duo)

Ebony and Ivory was the name given to two elderly women in New Jersey, one white and one black, who played classical piano together.

Ruth Eisenberg and Margaret Patrick were introduced to each other the following year and began playing piano together, one hand each.

A reporter covering their story dubbed them Ebony and Ivory after the 1982 hit song by Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder.

She accompanied singers and orchestras from the time she was a young girl and was often called on to play the piano while in high school.

After months in the hospital, she returned to her home in Englewood, New Jersey, able to speak a little bit, but unable to move her right hand enough to play the piano.

Then Millie [the program director] walks up behind me with Margaret and tells me that she plays the piano and says, 'Why don't you two try to get together?'

Their story appeared in local newspapers and they began getting invitations to play at other area hospitals and senior centers.

[citation needed] They were featured on PM Magazine, CNN and NBC Nightly News, with Tom Brokaw.