Mahalia Jackson was a gospel singer. She was born in 1911. At the age 16 she had already sung many songs in church that would later make her famous. Mahalia's childhood dreams were to be a nurse, not a singer. She went to attend nursing school in Chicago, but life there wasn't easy. Working as a washer women, she barely had enough money to pay for room or board. Tuition for nursing school was out of the question. Mahalia was desperate at that time. In her church in Chicago, the Great Salem Baptist Church, Mahalia was getting involved in gospel singing and became part of a group in church. Mahalia was great at singing and that started her performing. Mahalia's voice was quality to a lot of people. The managers wanted Mahalia to sing for them for $25.00. To Mahalia that was a fortune. By 1946, Mahalia's record "Move on a Little Higher", which was the song that make her famous. She earned $100,000 in prophets and that was a real fortune. Mahalia met Martin Luther King, Jr. and he asked her to sing at a civil rights rally in Montgomery, Alabama. Mahalia died in 1972. She dedicated her life and money for a better America.

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