Louis Armstrong

7 Pages 1698 Words

New Orleans is a melting pot of people and culture. Diversity is not just recognized but also celebrated. Out of this various blend of French, Spanish and African influences came jazz music. The most influential jazz musician in history was born in New Orleans. Louis Armstrong was not only the epitome of jazz, but he was the King of Jazz.
Louis Daniel Armstrong always said he was born on July 4, 1900 because that’s what he was told. After his death in 1971, the writer Gary Giddins discovered his baptismal certificate that proved he was born on August 4, 1901.
He was born in the Storyville District of New Orleans. It was a very poor section also called “the Battlefield” because there was a lot of shooting and fighting there. Willie Armstrong was his father. He was a straw boss in a turpentine factory. His mother was Mary Ann Miles. She was a country girl from just outside New Orleans. Everyone called her Mayann. She moved into the city and met and married Willie. Mayann was about fifteen when Louis was born and Willie abandoned them soon after. In order to support them Mayann cleaned houses and also was a part time prostitute which was a common occupation for poor black women in New Orleans. While he was still an infant he went to live with his paternal grandmother, Josephine Armstrong. She worked hard as a laundress.
When Louis was five, his sister Beatrice was born and he moved back in with his mother. She continued her carefree habits and would sometimes disappear from home for days at a time. Louis was often left to watch his sister. Louis went to school but like most of the kids in Storyville, he would rather be on the street playing with his friends or scrounging for money.
Louis grew up in poverty and he was deprived both emotionally and physically. He went barefoot year-round and he wore oversized hand-me-downs that he got from Mayann’s various boyfriends. Sometimes he had...