Florence Mills was one of the most popular personalities of the Harlem Renaissance. Many spoke about her enchanting qualities, but it was her singing that was most spellbinding. James Weldon Johnson’s assessment was that "the upper range of her voice was full of bubbling, bell-like, bird-like tones. Mills was a prolific working actress and contributor to American theater. She was nicknamed the “Queen of Happiness” for her unique voice, comedic timing, bubbly stage presence, and uninhibited dancing. Florence, the youngest of three daughters, was born on January 25, 1896 in Washington, DC. Both her parents were born in slavery in Amherst County, Virginia and worked in the tobacco industry until they had to move because of economic depression in the tobacco industry.
Mills grew from a childhood in vaudeville to a storied career as an acclaimed singer, dancer, and actor on Broadway and the international stage. The songs Mills popularized and her willingness to sacrifice seemingly lucrative personal opportunities in support of Black art are a testament to her commitment to advancing racial equity throughout her career. She was a talented performer from an early age, first appearing on stage at the age of three. By the age of six, she was touring in cabarets and vaudeville theaters as “Baby Florence” and captivating audiences with song and dance. She worked in vaudeville and joined a touring company at eight years old before authorities found out she was underage. The highpoint of her childhood was her appearance in the road company production of Bert Williams and George Walker’s "Sons of Ham". As a result of her success, the traveling White vaudeville team of "Bonita and Hearn" hired her.
Florence then moved to New York with her mother and sisters and by age fourteen had organized a traveling song and dance act with her sisters known as the Mills Sisters. From then on, Florence Mills was the name she used. The pay wasn't great, and traveling as a Black performer was perpetually degrading as hotels and restaurants wouldn't serve Blacks. They were often required to ride second class on trains between cities. So when she found an opportunity to perform in a cabaret in the South Side of Chicago, she took it. The timing was perfect, as the Black community in Chicago was booming with recent arrivals from the South as part of the Great Migration, when millions of Black Americans from the South relocated to northern, midwestern, and western cities across the United States in search of work opportunities and safety from racist practices. It was a precursor to the coming Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s.
Jazz was heard everywhere, and many jazz clubs were attracting both Black and White patrons. The Harlem Renaissance, kicked off the rise of jazz music and introduced awestruck audiences to pioneering Black artists like Mills, who had arrived just in time to entertain the throngs of White audiences who packed into Harlem nightclubs in search of the latest jazz hits. She then joined a tour of the South, Midwest, Southwest with a very successful all-African American troupe, the "Tennessee Ten". These tours took place back when traveling Black people faced exclusion from White hotels and restaurants and segregation on public transport. You know.....those Jim Crow days. While there she met Ulysses "Slowkid" Thompson, who was known as an acrobatic, tap, and "rubberlegs" dance director of the Tennessee Ten. They became romantically involved, got married (her second marriage), and were together until her death.
The Ten achieve a high profile as support for leading Vaudeville and Ziegfeld Follies star Nora Bayes in her own show, "The Songs We Love to Sing". "Slowkid" Thompson is drafted for World War I and serves overseas in France. By 1920, Mills had appeared in a variety of traveling shows that featured her singing and dancing, including the "Panama Four" featuring Carolyn WIlliams, tour of Canada and the West. When "Slowkid" returns from the war, he and Florence re-joins the Tennessee Ten. They are hugely successful in a show called Folly Town, which also included Bert Lahr (The Cowardly Lion) and Jack Haley (The Tin Man). Florence plays Harlem's famous Lincoln Theatre under her own name, billed as "Harlem's dainty, sweet singer".
Florence’s major break through happened in 1921. She was initially hired to replace Gertrude Saunders in the Eubie Blake and Noble Sissle production "Shuffle Along", which was a trailblazing musical with an all African American creative team. As the first-ever Broadway production to feature jazz, “Shuffle Along” is considered a landmark in both musical theater and the Harlem Renaissance. The show debuted in an integrated theater back when segregation was still in place, and ran for nearly 500 performances. Langston Hughes believed "Shuffle Along" initiated the Harlem Renaissance and inaugurated the decade when "the Negro was in vogue." It was Mills' dancing that completely stunned the audiences. "Shuffle Along” helped contribute to the desegregation of theaters and provided a positive counterpoint to the racist minstrel shows that remained a prominent part of American entertainment at the time.
"Shuffle Along” brought her national attention, and Mills became renowned for her performances, highlighted by the tune "I’m Craving for That Kind of Love." When “Shuffle Along” went on a national tour, Mills chose to stay in New York. In 1922, promoter Lew Leslie builds an all-Black show around Florence at the Plantation restaurant on Broadway called "The Plantation Revue" with Florence Mills in the role of Gypsy Blues. The revue featured Mills and a wide range of Black talent including visiting performers like Paul Robeson. She becomes the darling of fashionable society, featuring in "Vogue & Vanity Fair". Billboard notes she has "her name in lights on Broadway . . . an even hundred of them". With these recent successes, Florence became the Black female performer with the potential of breaking into the racially restricted show business establishment. She was now on her way.
She performed in various prestigious Broadway cabarets. In 1923, famous British theatre impresario C. B. Cochran brings Florence's show to London to perform in “Dover Street to Dixie". “Dover Street to Dixie,” was a mixed-race production with an all-White first act and an all-Black second act. Once again, her talents shone through as she charmed London audiences with her wide-ranging talents. Said Cochran: "That night, and every night she appeared at the London Pavilion, Florence Mills received an ovation each time she came on stage - before every song she sang. This is a tribute which in my experience I have never known to be offered to any other artist. In my humble opinion Florence Mills is one of the greatest artists of our time."
Even though the show was a critical success, the British cast considered Mills an outsider and treated her badly. Florence Mills was also aware of the racial segregation during the Harlem Renaissance and wanted to make a difference. She knew firsthand how prejudice shaped her world and the world of those around her. As a result, Florence chose to support and promote works by her fellow Black performers while heralding a call for their civil rights. Featuring a moving text and colorful illustrations, "Harlem’s Little Blackbird" is a timeless story about justice, equality, and the importance of following one’s heart and dreams. Florence was also considered an icon for Black performers and audiences. Triumphantly back in America, Florence was asked to join the Greenwich Village Follies -- the first time a Black woman was offered a part in a major White production -- the all White cast threatened to walk out.
Regardless, Florence continued performing and winning over audiences. She was even offered a contract to join the Ziegfeld Follies. At the time, “Follies” was one of the most popular shows on Broadway, but she turned it down, saying she didn't want to be the only Black performer. Had Mills joined the production, she arguably would have become more famous than she was right at that moment in time. Instead, Mills went against the conventional wisdom of the day and turned down the “Follies” role for a starring role in the renamed version of "Plantation Revue" musical, called “From Dixie to Broadway" (pairing-up with a one-act White revue). It ran for 77 performances at the Broadhurst Theatre, in Times Square before being launched again on the New York stage in October 1924. Mills believed in the power of Black art—so much so, that she was willing to sacrifice guaranteed personal success to support her fellow Black artists. Florence Mills’ decision would eventually prove prescient, as “From Dixie to Broadway” became a smash hit and turned Mills into a household name anyway.
Theater scholars point out that musical reviews such as "From Dixie to Broadway" gave African American performers like Mills an opportunity to showcase their talents and did much to eradicate vaudeville-era racial stereotypes. But their success depended upon remaining true to African American musical forms and the rhythms of jazz. She bet on herself and her fellow Black artists, and for that, she was rewarded with fame and personal success on her own terms. Florence dreamed of creating an all Black review of her own. In June of 1925, Mills became the first African American woman to headline at a Broadway venue with her engagement at the Palace Theatre, vaudeville's highest honor. Finally, in 1925, her dream come true when Blackbirds" opened at the Alhambra Theatre in Harlem. It showcased the song she was most associated with—"I’m a Little Blackbird Looking for a Bluebird."
After a successful run in Harlem and Paris, Blackbirds opens at London Pavilion in September 1925, where it lasted for 276 performances before taking off to tour the British provinces. All London is seized by Blackbirds mania and Blackbirds parties become the rage, with high society folk entertaining the performers. The show was a tremendous success, and Mills was especially loved by the Prince of Wales, who reportedly attended the show more than twenty times and memorized every line. Her role in Lew Leslie’s Blackbirds secured Mills’ place as an international star. In April of 1926, Blackbirds reaches its 250th performance at the London Pavilion. It is said Florence Mills was as beloved in London as Josephine Baker was in Paris. In addition to her theater work, Mills became very active in charity work while in London, including providing money to unhoused people on the Thames Embankment.
Florence speaks out on racial issues and starts promoting the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). She saw herself as a spokesperson for the Black community. Florence used her fame to try to improve relations between Whites and Blacks both in the U.S and abroad. She refused to degrade herself for the amusement of White audiences, and instead won them over with her incredible talent. Florence makes a sensational concert appearance at New York's Aeolian Hall, singing 4 pieces specially written for her by her friend, dean of African American classical composers William Grant Still, and conducted by Eugene Goossens, in front of a distinguished audience including Toscanini and George Gershwin. After seeing her performance, actress Ethel Barrymore said, “I like to remember, too, one evening at Aeolian Hall when a little colored girl named Florence Mills wearing a short white dress, came out on the stage alone to sing a concert. She sang so beautifully. It was a great and thrilling experience.”
By 1926, Mills, after having completed more than 300 performances of “Blackbirds” in London, began to suffer from extreme exhaustion. Mills went to Germany to rest but her condition did not improve. Doctors advised her that she had to stop performing and seek medical attention—she had become ill with tuberculosis. In 1927, she returned to New York to a royal welcome and decided to have an appendectomy she had put off for too long, but sadly, her condition had become too serious. In 1927, at just 31 years of age, the great Florence Mills passed away. Following Mills’ death, several musicians memorialized her in their songs. Jazz pianist Duke Ellington honored Mills’ life in his song "Black Beauty". Fats Waller wrote "Bye Bye Florence". Waller’s song was recorded just a few days after Mills’ death. Florence Mills’ name is not well known, as she did not live long enough to be recorded or filmed—especially given that she lived prior to the widespread use of recording and film technology. As such, there are no known recordings of Mills’ many performances. Her signature song "I'm a Little Blackbird" being a plea for racial equality. In her short life, she changed American popular culture and impacted Black entertainment for generations to come.