Eddie Rector was an idol of tap dance. He was born Feb.15,1896 in
Orange,NJ and died in Oct.,'62 in NY. Brough elegance to tap with his
famed Bambolina. Died still awaiting his big break. I need his date &
place of death. I can pay $10.00. |
Request for Question Clarification by
luciaphile-ga
on
25 Nov 2002 09:16 PST
How certain are you of the date of birth? I've found something
indicating he was born on December 25th, (but no birth year).
Regards,
luciaphile-ga
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Clarification of Question by
bluestreak-ga
on
25 Nov 2002 13:11 PST
Thank you Luciaphile! All I have is the social security death index. I
thought his SS# 721-03-1378. You may be quite right. I have almost
nothing, to be honest about it. That's why I'm here.
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Request for Question Clarification by
luciaphile-ga
on
25 Nov 2002 13:42 PST
I think I found the same social security number you did--in light of
what I found and in light of the fact that the ssn on the death index
falls in the range given to railroad workers, I'm inclined to think
that the December 25th date is correct for DOB. I will attempt to find
a YOB and the rest of what you asked for.
Social Security Number Allocations
http://www.ssa.gov/foia/stateweb.html
Regards,
luciaphile-ga
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Clarification of Question by
bluestreak-ga
on
25 Nov 2002 17:06 PST
Thank you Luciaphile. Hopefully, the information will tie everything together.
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Request for Question Clarification by
luciaphile-ga
on
25 Nov 2002 19:32 PST
Hi bluestreak-ga,
I seem to have hit a dead end and it's not encouraging. I'm posting
what I have. Perhaps another researcher can take this further.
Having verified this in several sources, it definitely looks like the
Eddie Rector you found through the Social Security Death Index is not
the same Eddie Rector.
Rector was interviewed extensively by Marshall Stearns for a book
entitled "Jazz Dance." "Born in Orange, New Jersey, on Christmas
Day--he could not remember the year, but it must have been in the late
1890s . . ." p.288
and then later, it states he was institutionalized for a time and
sometime after that he was working as a night watchman in 1960. "Eddie
Rector, a gentle man, died in 1962," p. 290
"Jazz Dance: the Story of American Vernacular Dance," by Marshall and
Jean Stearns. New York: Schirmer Books,1979.
I found a birth year of 1897 cited in "Profiles of African American
Stage Performers and Theatre People," but it's very unclear where they
got that year from.
"Profiles of African American Stage Performers and Theatre People,
1816-1960," by Bernard L. Peterson, Jr. CT: Greenwood Press, 2001, p.
211.
The December 25th date is backed up in "American National Biography,"
but again there's no year of birth. They list his place of death as
New York City.
"Eddie Rector," by Robert P. Crease. "American National Biography."
New York: Oxford University Press, 1999, vol. 1999, p241-242.
So that's where I'm at. There's not a great deal online unfortunately.
The fact that Rector himself couldn't recall his year of birth is not
hopeful. Perhaps another researcher can take it from here, but at
least you've got the right *date* of birth now.
Regards,
luciaphile-ga
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Clarification of Question by
bluestreak-ga
on
25 Nov 2002 20:41 PST
Thank you luciaphile. I've looked for all my subjects for almost 2
yrs. now. These are my last die-hards. I'm tickled pink that the
researchers are so tenacious. When I saw this service, I got excited!
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