Mining
Mining
Her
Her
Talents
Talents
In the 1930’s, Pearl moved to 1946 N 23rd Street in Philadelphia with her mother and three siblings, where she briefly attended William Penn High School. Their family home is currently listed with the Philadelphia Register of Historic places
While in Philadelphia, Pearl’s historic career in entertainment broke ground at the Pearl Theatre when she received a $5 prize for winning an amateur contest, performing the song “Poor Butterfly.” She was 15 at the time. Pearl also won another amateur contest at the renown Apollo Theatre in Harlem, NY. In her book The Raw Pearl, Pearl stated that since childhood, “Poor Butterfly” remained her favorite song.
Photograph of Pearl Bailey. 1940. Attributed to John W. Mosley
Photograph of Pearl Bailey ca. late 1930’s.
Following these early achievements, Pearl was invited to perform on the Vaudeville theatre circuit throughout Pennsylvania’s coal-mining towns, including Scranton, Wilkes-Barre, and Pottsville. The Harlem Moon /Manhattan Cafe, located in Minersville Street, was one of the best-known after-hours spots in Pottsville.
During the Depression and Big Band era, Pottsville was popularly known as a redlight district with its “sporting houses” or brothels. According to Pearl, she received an education on Minersville Street that no school could ever teach.
“A lot of people might think this must have been a pretty frightening experience or an unhappy life for a girl my age, away from home for the first time. But I didn’t feel that way. I was someone who went out there with something – not so much a sureness of my talent, but a sureness that this was where I wanted to go and where I belonged. God had given me enough to pay the price.”
