S2E19 The Tragic life of Billie Holiday, Check out the episode link below
Born Eleanora Fagan or Elinore Harris on April 7, 1915, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Holiday's early years are mostly rumors because of her ghost written autobiography "Lady Sings the Blues" but it would be honest to say that she did not have a stable early life. Her mother, Sadie Fagan, was only a teenager when she had her and her father is widely believed to be Clarence Holiday, who eventually became a successful jazz musician and played guitar with pianist Fletcher Henderson. he was only an infrequent visitor in Elinore's life growing up. In the 1920s Elinore Mother married Philip Gough and for a few years Elinore's life was somewhat stable. But after the end of the marriage, Elinore and Sadie were struggling on their own once again. many times Elinore was left in the care of other people. Elinore started skipping school, and she and her mother went to court over her truancy. She was then sent to the House of Good Shepherd, a facility for troubled African American girls, in January 1925. at only 9 years old, she was one of the youngest girls there. She was returned to her mother’s care in August of that 1925, only to return again in 1926.