The music world bids farewell to Ella Jenkins, the influencer and advocate for children’s sing-along music, who passed away at the age of 100. Jenkins, often referred to as the “First Lady of Children’s Music,” left a legacy that shaped the musical landscape for young audiences with her unique call-and-response style.
On Saturday, Jenkins died peacefully at the Harbors at the Admiral at the Lake, a senior living facility in Chicago, surrounded by loved ones and the sounds of her favorite melodies; an end fitting for a woman who dedicated her life to the joy of music, her publicist and friend of three decades, Lynn Orman, recounted to
the Sun-Times
. Twinning over six decades of her career, Jenkins created more than 40 albums, and her work was eternally enshrined in the Library of Congress, her versatile contributions also earning her a Grammy Lifetime Achievement award, according to
ABC7 Chicago
.
A beacon of acceptance and a trailblazer for the integration of diverse cultural sounds into children’s music, Jenkins was not just a musician; she was a social advocate through her art, bringing together sounds from Latin to Hebrew to Yiddish musical traditions, she once said how she got interested in percussion—be it tapping on tin cans or singing and whistling, defying the gender norms of the time which proclaimed, “Girls don’t whistle,” as Jenkins recounted in an interview with the Sun-Times in 1996. Celebrating her centennial birthday this past August, Jenkins had long established her place in the hearts of Chicagoans and indeed, people all around the globe.
Ella Jenkins, born on August 6, 1924, in St. Louis, but grew up in various neighborhoods on Chicago’s South Side, a child of ambition and resilience in the face of racial barriers that marked her early life; Jenkins transitioned from putting together meals for soldiers in World War II to delivering classified mail, and then breaking into the world of children’s music with singable, accessible songs, such as “You’ll Sing a Song and I’ll Sing a Song,” and “Miss Mary Mack,” and developed of a multitude of creative teaching methods widely adopted in educational settings told the Sun-Times. Despite her fame and the accolades she offered sage advice in a 2023 interview, reflecting on her legacy with simplicity and connecting it to one of her classic songs: “We’re all in this world together in warm or wintry weather. Just be yourself,” she said.
Jenkins’ lasting impact is also cemented in the community space dedicated to her in Chicago’s Old Town neighborhood — a true testament to the city’s appreciation for her contributions to music and society. A small, private service to commemorate Jenkins’ life and influence is set for Friday, and a public celebration of her life has been planned for the upcoming August as per the details shared by Orman.
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