What’s Right With Our Schools: Remembering Aretha Franklin at Howard
CHATTANOOGA, TN (WDEF) – Did you know that Aretha Franklin sang at Howard High School 67 years ago? We’ll she did. A touching tribute to that performance is coming up soon.
Ricardo Morris is the Theater Arts Teacher at Howard.
He says, “It was Monday, April the 4th 1955 when her dad was on an evangelistic tour of the country. Howard, this building itself, was newly built in 1953. So, it was kind of a bright shining space in Chattanooga, particularly for black people to gather. We are probably the only ones in this area particularly that can say that Aretha Franklin sang in their auditorium. Just a little while back I thought it would be incredibly interesting and cool to reenact that performance.”
He continues, “I was able to locate a local group that has performed Aretha Franklin before. They are somewhat of a tribute band. So, they really take us through kind of the entire life of Aretha Franklin.”
Jasmine Le’Shea performs with the Legends of Soul Chattanooga.
She says, “So, I’m glad to do that. I’m glad to share this and allow the kids to experience some of their parents and grandparents music, and some of the history that comes along with it.”
Ricardo explains,”Mary Wigfall is playing one portion of Aretha Franklin while Jasmine Le’Shea is doing the other. And then Miss Honeysuckle will be rounding out the three times within Aretha Franklin’s career, but the goal is to get this space back up and make it another vibrant entity here in Chattanooga, as it has been. All the proceeds that are earned for this performance will go towards helping those students and paying for things that we need as part of the theater arts program. We really need to show that our students that they should be proud to be students here at The Howard School. That we have a tremendous legacy of people that have come through the doors that have performed here.”
He concludes, “So, if you want to be a part of this remaking of history please join us on April the 4th at 7 here at The Howard School.”
Get more info and tickets by clicking here.
