Vintage Black Glamour

I was sorry to hear of the loss of Maria Cole today. In this photo, she is attending the 35th annual Academy Awards with her husband who was, of course, the legendary Nat “King” Cole. Mrs. Cole was also the mother of Natalie, Timolin and Casey Cole along with two other children (Carol and Kelly, a son) who preceded her in death. Born Maria Hawkins in Boston in 1922, she was an accomplished jazz singer who performed with Count Basie and Duke Ellington. She was also the niece of a Vintage Black Glamour icon - educator Charlotte Hawkins Brown, founder of the historic Palmer Memorial Institute in Sedalia, North Carolina. Mrs. Hawkins Brown was one of the invaluable suffragists who worked for black women to have the same equal rights black men and white women were fighting for in the early 20th century. She was raised Maria Cole and her sisters (her brother’s children) when their mother died in childbirth. After Nat “King” Cole died in 1965, Mrs. Cole founded the Cole Cancer Foundation. She was 89 years old. Photo: Michael Ochs Archives/Stringer/Getty Images