Billy Strayhorn

Life and Orange County connections

Dated events connected with this person, in date order. See these 5 dated events in the chronology →

1. November 29, 1915 Billy Strayhorn, who spent boyhood summers in Hillsborough, was born Composer and pianist Billy Strayhorn was born in Dayton, Ohio. From about age five he stayed with his grandparents at Margaret Lane and Hillsborough Avenue in Hillsborough, attended his first year of school there, learned piano in their home, and spent breaks and summers in the town into his early teens. People: Billy Strayhorn Place: Hillsborough · Also mentions: Margaret LaneSearch the index · NC Department of Natural and Cultural Resources: Billy Strayhorn 1915-1967 (Highway Historical Marker G-125)
2. About 1920–1925 Billy Strayhorn stays with his grandparents in Hillsborough and starts school From about age five Strayhorn came from Ohio with his mother and siblings to his grandparents' house at the corner of Margaret Lane and Hillsborough Avenue, attended his first year of school in the town, and took to the piano his grandparents kept. He returned for breaks and summers into his early teens. Place: Hillsborough · Also mentions: Margaret LaneSearch the index · NC Department of Natural and Cultural Resources: Billy Strayhorn 1915-1967 (G-125)
3. cast 2007, put up by 2008 A state highway marker for Billy Strayhorn goes up in Hillsborough The North Carolina Office of Archives and History put up marker G-125 on South Churton Street. It calls Strayhorn a jazz composer and pianist who wrote Take the A Train for the Duke Ellington Orchestra and points a quarter mile west to his boyhood home site. Place: Hillsborough · Also mentions: South Churton StreetSearch the index · The Historical Marker Database: Billy Strayhorn Historical Marker
4. February 26, 2019 Hillsborough holds a celebration of Billy Strayhorn A day of events called A Celebration of Billy Strayhorn began at the historical marker on South Churton Street and ran on at the Orange County Main Library and the Burwell School Historic Site. Mayor Tom Stevens, the musician Yahyah Corbett, the choreographer David Rousseve, the Duke professor Thomas DeFrantz and the puppeteer Jeghetto took part. People: Tom Stevens Place: Hillsborough · Also named: Yahyah Corbett, David Rousseve, Thomas DeFrantz · Also mentions: Orange County Main Library, South Churton StreetSearch the index · North Carolina Arts Council: Hillsborough Celebrates Hometown Musical Great Billy Strayhorn
5. August 2019 A mural for Billy Strayhorn is painted on South Churton Street Max Dowdle painted an eleven by thirty five foot mural called Take the A Train on the side of 226 South Churton Street, the building that houses the record store and bar Volume. Volume's owner Tony Lopez proposed it, the Tourism Development Authority paid for it, and the Arts Council and the Historic District Commission approved it. Place: Hillsborough · Also named: Max Dowdle, Tony Lopez · Also mentions: South Churton StreetSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel: Low-cost, high-impact, Hillsborough honors jazz legend with first downtown mural