Jessie Mae Finley (African-American history interviews)

Born in Springfield, Danville (see below — ed.), Jessie Mae Finley (1906-2006) was a talented musician and founder of the Voices of Love, Joy and Peace. She also worked for the state of Illinois. Finley was named Springfield’s First Citizen in 1976.

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In five interviews for the Springfield African-American History Foundation series, she covered her ancestors, husbands, and children; her activities as a music teacher and leader of musical groups; volunteer work and church activities; life during the Depression and two World Wars; and discrimination in education and in the workplace.

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7 Responses to Jessie Mae Finley (African-American history interviews)

  1. Charlotte E. Kenniebrew Johnson says:

    Jessie Mae Finley was not born in Springfield, Ill. She was born in Danville, Illinois. I don’t know how this tale was started.

  2. Philip Vance says:

    London, United Kingdom
    For several decades I have sought information about a dear friend, Alonzo Kenniebrew, with whom I attended high school in Springfield, Illinois in the late 1940s and then went through basic training in the US army in the mid 1950s. We were close friends and thereafter I took much satisfaction in observing the first years of Alonzo’s successful medical career. Eventually, however, we lost touch since he remained in the US and I have lived 50 years here in Europe. Is Al still alive and well?

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