Early Life
Blanche Calloway was born in Rochester, New York. When she was a teenager, the family, including her three younger siblings, moved to Baltimore, Maryland. Her father, Cabell, was a lawyer and her mother, Martha Eulalia Reed, was a music teacher. The family was described as being middle-class. Her father died in 1910, and her mother married insurance salesman John Nelson Fortune a few years later. The couple would have two more children.
Calloway's mother was a major influence on her and her siblings passion for music. Aside from her and Cab, their brother Elmer would also go on to briefly pursue a musical career. Calloway's mother made her take piano and voice lessons as a child, but never promoted the idea of a musical career for the young Calloway. Martha hoped that her daughter would pursue a "respectable" career, such as a teacher or nurse. Calloway dreamed of a musical career and was influenced as a youth by Florence Mills and Ida Cox. Her music teacher would encourage her to audition for a local talent scout and to her mother's annoyance, Calloway dropped out of Morgan College in the early 1920s to seek out a career in music.
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