... 1959,
Billie Holiday, who'd been born Eleanora Fagan in Philadelphia 44 years earlier, died in New York City. The jazz great's work included "
Strange Fruit," recorded April 20, 1939, a ballad that brought to tragic life lynchings in America at a time when politicians turned back bids to make the "strange and bitter crop" a federal crime. In a 2005, U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) cited the song in remarks supporting the
Senate's apology for its failure to pass an anti-lynching law. (Lyrics are
here, and a YouTube video of Holiday performing the work is
below.)