[2][3] He grew up at Handy Heights, a farm in Hazlehurst, Mississippi that was given to his mother by her grandfather, Ephraim G.
[2] Handy received a formal education at local schools in Copiah County before enrolling at the Tuskegee Institute, where he was a choir member of the traveling quintet.
[1] While enrolled as a student, he sang at the funeral of Booker T. Washington on November 17, 1915, in the Tuskegee Institute Chapel.
[1] Handy served on the board for the church's General Commission on World Service and Finance.
[1] His funeral was held on February 4, 1983, at Mount Zion United Methodist Church in New Orleans.