For more than a decade, the 200 block of South Durham Street in Upper Fells Point has been known as “Lady Day Way’ because of all the murals, painted screens and other works of art that honor jazz icon and former Baltimorean Billie Holiday.
On Saturday Nov. 22, residents will celebrate the completion of the latest tribute to Holiday, a mural on a garage door at 243 S. Durham St.
Yewande Kotun Davis is the artist who created the painting, which shows the late singer standing in front of a vintage red convertible, with a jazz band playing in the back. The title is “A Night with Lady Day.”
The mural was commissioned by the Upper Fells Point Improvement Association through a Community Health & Safety Works grant from the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development. The community will hold a “new mural celebration” starting at 2 p.m. on Nov. 22.
The free, family-friendly event will include an opportunity to view the mural up close and meet the artist. City Council President Zeke Cohen and City Comptroller Bill Henry will be there.
In addition to Davis’ work, visitors who walk up and down the block will be able to see five more murals by artists such as Bridget Cimino and Jaz Erenberg, painted screens in the front windows of houses, and a 2013 mosaic tile piece by Joseph Michael Rizza, entitled “Flying.”
One painting that was made for the block reproduced part of a Romare Bearden mosaic entitled ‘Baltimore Uproar” that was commissioned for the Upton Metro Station in West Baltimore and honors Billie Holiday. Most of the works have labels that give the name of the artist and date of completion, turning the narrow street into a veritable outdoor museum.
Lived at 219 S. Durham St.
Holiday lived from April 7, 1915 to July 17, 1959. Born Eleanora Fagan, she was a legendary American jazz and swing music singer who made significant contributions to jazz music and pop singing. Her vocal style, strongly influenced by jazz instrumentalists, inspired a new way of manipulating phrasing and tempo. Known for her vocal delivery and improvisational skills, she was nicknamed “Lady Day” by her friend and music partner, Lester Young.
Though born in Philadelphia, Holiday is closely associated with Baltimore because she spent her youth in the city. She was born to an unwed couple, Clarence Halliday and Sarah Julia “Sadie” Fagan. Her mother moved to Philadelphia at age 19, after being evicted from her parent’s home in Baltimore’s Sandtown-Winchester neighborhood, for becoming pregnant.
Shortly after Holiday was born, her father abandoned his family to pursue a career as a musician. With no support from Halliday or her parents, Sarah Fagan made arrangements with her older married half-sister, Eva Miller, for Holiday to stay with her in Baltimore.
Holiday’s autobiography, Lady Sings the Blues, is inconsistent regarding details of her early life. But according to others, she spent her childhood in Baltimore and lived at 219 S. Durham St. in the mid-1920s. She was raised largely by Eva Miller’s mother-in-law, Martha Miller, and was enrolled at one point at Saint Frances Academy in East Baltimore. By the late 1920s, she had moved to Harlem and started her singing career.
The Baltimore Billie Holiday Project
According to resident Liz Bement and others, the transformation of the 200 block of South Durham Street into “Lady Day Way” began in 2012 with a suggestion at a community meeting. After a presentation about painted screens in Baltimore, a local folk art tradition, neighbors asked the question: what if homeowners commissioned painted screens honoring Billie Holiday, since she had lived in the area?
That was the impetus for the Baltimore Billie Holiday Project. With support from the Painted Screen Society, homeowners were matched with local artists to create Billie Holiday-themed screens, each funded by the individual owners. Ultimately, about 10 painted screens appeared on the block to celebrate the singer’s legacy, and many are still in place.
As momentum grew, the community applied for a $20,000 city arts grant that brought five Billie Holiday-themed murals and a mosaic to the block, each crafted by a different artist. The timing coincided with repaving and repairs to the narrow street. Residents advocated for historically-inspired brickwork to be included in the repaving, adding another layer of character to the block.
Neighbors have thrown block parties marking the singer’s 99th and 100th birthdays, in 2014 and 2015. The improvement association led efforts to officially name the street “Lady Day Way” and to add large planters and other features.
Much of the work is documented on the Baltimore Billie Holiday Project’s Facebook page. Still to come are additional traffic calming upgrades, including pavement art and colorful crossing murals to be designed and installed by Graham Projects.
“Billie Holiday’s story is woven into the fabric of this neighborhood,” said Lisa Knickmeyer, a representative from the Upper Fells Point Improvement Association, in a statement. “This mural is not just a tribute to her brilliance — it’s a love letter from the community she once called home.”
