Title
Abstract
Despite his lifelong claim of 4 July 1900 as his birthday, Armstrong was actually born on 4 August 1901 as recorded on a baptismal certificate discovered after his death. Although calling himself “Louis Daniel Armstrong” in his 1954 autobiography, he denied knowledge of his middle name or its origin. Nevertheless, evidence of “Daniel” being a family name is strong: Armstrong's paternal great-great-grandfather, a third generation slave brought from Tidewater Virginia for sale in New Orleans in 1818, was named Daniel Walker, as was his son, Armstrong's great-grandfather. The latter's wife, Catherine Walker, sponsored her great-grandson's baptism at the family's home parish, the Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic Church on Canal Street.
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2013
Publisher Statement
Copyright © 2013, Oxford University Press. This article first appeared in The Grove Dictionary of American Music.
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Recommended Citation
Anderson, Gene H. "Louis Armstrong." The Grove Dictionary of Music. 2nd ed. Oxford University Press, 2013.