)[1] After graduating from Booker T. Washington High School in 1949, she studied at Reed Business College.
[3] In late 1950, she was signed as a blues singer by Savoy Records in Newark, New Jersey.
She made her first recordings in early 1951, but none were issued until the Coral label released "I'll Keep Singing My Song" in late 1952.
[2] In 1954 she began broadcasting on radio station WAOK in Atlanta, where she was known as "The Mystery Lady" as her identity was not disclosed to listeners.
She also continued to record in the mid-1950s, for labels including Groove, a subsidiary of RCA, and then Atco.