Eartha K1tt HID The Truth Ab0ut Her Real Or1g1ns Her Ent1re L1fe — DNA F1nally Revealed Why
She sang 1n 10 languages.
She perf0rmed f0r k1ngs and pres1dents.
Ors0n [sn0rts] Welles called her the m0st exc1t1ng w0man 1n the w0rld.
She became Catw0man.
She became a CIA target.
She was blackl1sted fr0m Amer1ca f0r tell1ng the truth t0 the m0st p0werful w0man 1n the c0untry.
And f0r her ent1re l1fe, every s1ngle year 0f 1t, fr0m a c0tt0n plantat10n 1n S0uth Car0l1na t0 a stage 1n Par1s t0 a Chr1stmas day 1n C0nnect1cut, she d1d n0t kn0w wh0 her father was.
N0t because she had n0t l00ked.
N0t because she had n0t asked.
Because the answer had been del1berately h1dden fr0m her.
H1dden 1n a legal d0cument w1th a name blacked 0ut.
H1dden beh1nd a system that made 1t 1mp0ss1ble f0r a black w0man 1n the J1m Cr0w S0uth t0 0ff1c1ally name a wh1te man as the father 0f her ch1ld.
The secret d1d n0t d1e w1th her 1n 2008.
It surv1ved 1n her DNA.
And what that DNA n0w p01nts t0ward changes everyth1ng ab0ut h0w y0u understand 0ne 0f the m0st c0mpl1cated, m0st extra0rd1nary, and m0st del1berately myster10us w0men wh0 ever stepped 0nt0 a stage.
Bef0re we d1ve 1n, c0mment where y0u are watch1ng fr0m and cl1ck subscr1be.
Start w1th the c0tt0n plantat10n 1n N0rth S0uth Car0l1na.
The year 1s 1927.
On January 17th, a g1rl 1s b0rn t0 a 14-year-0ld m0ther named Ann1e Mae Ke1th.
Ann1e Mae 1s descr1bed 1n every rec0rd that surv1ves as a sharecr0pper 0f Afr1can and Cher0kee descent.
She 1s barely a ch1ld herself.
She 1s w0rk1ng land she d0es n0t 0wn 1n a state where the law d0es n0t pr0tect her fr0m anyth1ng under c0nd1t10ns that the w0rd p0verty d0es n0t beg1n t0 descr1be.
The baby b0rn that January m0rn1ng 1s v1s1bly d1fferent fr0m her m0ther.
L1ght-sk1nned, red-ha1red, features that d0 n0t f1t neatly 1nt0 any 0f the rac1al categ0r1es that S0uth Car0l1na 1n 1927 had 0rgan1zed 1ts ent1re s0c1al and legal structure ar0und.
The father’s name 1s n0t rec0rded, n0t publ1cly, n0t 1n any d0cument that has ever been released 1ntact.
The b1rth cert1f1cate that was eventually l0cated 1n 1997, 70 years after the fact by a gr0up 0f students at Bened1ct C0llege d01ng research 0n her behalf, had the father’s 1dent1ty blacked 0ut.
Del1berately.
As was standard pract1ce 1n the J1m Cr0w S0uth when the father 0f a black w0man’s ch1ld was wh1te.
He c0uld n0t be named.
Nam1ng h1m w0uld have cr0ssed the l1ne the legal system had c0nstructed spec1f1cally t0 rema1n uncr0ssable.
What the b1rth cert1f1cate c0nf1rmed was what Eartha K1tt had suspected and publ1cly ackn0wledged her ent1re l1fe.
Her father was wh1te.
Bey0nd that, wh0 he was, what h1s name was, whether he knew ab0ut her, whether he ever th0ught ab0ut the ch1ld b0rn 0n that plantat10n, [mus1c] rema1ned sealed.
She spent 81 years n0t kn0w1ng.
She d1ed 0n Chr1stmas Day >> [mus1c] >> 2008 st1ll n0t kn0w1ng.
Here 1s what Eartha K1tt d1d kn0w and [mus1c] what 1t c0st her.
She knew she d1d n0t bel0ng fr0m the very beg1nn1ng.
In the m0st 1mmed1ate and brutal way p0ss1ble, her ex1stence was structured ar0und reject10n.
Her m0ther’s b0yfr1end refused t0 accept a l1ght-sk1nned ch1ld wh0 l00ked wh1te.
Ann1e Mae Ke1th, 14 years 0ld, dest1tute, w1th n0 res0urces and n0 legal stand1ng, made the ag0n1z1ng dec1s10n t0 leave her daughter beh1nd.
Eartha was taken 1n by a w0man named Aunt R0sa.
She was abused there.
She slept, by her 0wn acc0unt, 1n the crawl space under the h0use w1th the cats.
N0t metaph0r1cally, l1terally 1n that crawl space.
The ch1ldren 1n the c0mmun1ty taunted her.
They called her a yell0w g1rl.
The w0rd they actually used was ugl1er than that.
She was ne1ther black en0ugh f0r 0ne w0rld n0r wh1te en0ugh f0r the 0ther.
[mus1c] In the r1g1dly p0l1ced rac1al ge0graphy 0f the J1m Cr0w S0uth, that made her n0th1ng.
It made her a pr0blem t0 be managed.
A ch1ld n0 c0mmun1ty cla1med.
B0th the black sharecr0pp1ng c0mmun1ty ar0und her and the wh1te w0rld bey0nd 1t l00ked at her l1ght sk1n and saw s0meth1ng 1nc0nven1ent.
S0meth1ng that sh0uld n0t have ex1sted but d1d because the system that pr0duced her als0 requ1red the pretense that she c0uld n0t be pr0duced.
She p1cked c0tt0n.
She went hungry.
She later t0ld an 1nterv1ewer that there were stretches when the fam1ly surv1ved by d1gg1ng ed1ble r00ts and weeds fr0m the [mus1c] gr0und.
She sa1d she was glad that vers10n 0f herself, the ch1ld wh0 surv1ved 0n weeds and l1ved under the h0use, was st1ll a part 0f her.
Because that ch1ld, she sa1d, was the 0ne wh0 g0t her 0nt0 the stage every n1ght.
When her m0ther, Ann1e Mae, d1ed, Eartha was sent t0 Harlem t0 l1ve w1th a relat1ve named Mam1e K1tt, a w0man she later came t0 bel1eve m1ght have been her b10l0g1cal m0ther.
S0 deep d1d the c0nfus10n ab0ut her 0r1g1ns run.
In Harlem, she f0und a teacher wh0 rec0gn1zed her talent.
She aud1t10ned f0r the Kather1ne Dunham Dance Tr0upe at 15 and g0t 1n.
She left.
She d1d n0t l00k back.
She went t0 Par1s.
She went t0 L0nd0n.
She learned French.
She learned German.
She eventually sang 1n 10 languages, 1nclud1ng Turk1sh and Hebrew.
She perf0rmed f0r W1nst0n Church1ll and Albert E1nste1n.
Ors0n Welles cast her and called her the m0st exc1t1ng w0man 1n the w0rld.
She came back t0 Amer1ca and became a Br0adway sensat10n, a rec0rd1ng star, a telev1s10n 1c0n.
And she d1d all 0f 1t w1th0ut kn0w1ng where she came fr0m.
In 1968, Eartha K1tt walked 1nt0 a Wh1te H0use lunche0n h0sted by Lady B1rd J0hns0n and sp0ke the truth ab0ut the V1etnam War t0 the m0st p0werful r00m 1n the c0untry.
She sa1d the y0ung men 0f Amer1ca were be1ng sent t0 d1e f0r a war that was break1ng the1r fam1l1es and the1r c0mmun1t1es.
She sa1d 1t clearly, w1th0ut perf0rmance, w1th0ut ap0l0gy.
The r00m was n0t ready f0r 1t.
Pres1dent Lynd0n J0hns0n was fur10us.
The CIA, wh1ch had been surve1ll1ng Eartha K1tt s1nce 1956, 12 years bef0re the Wh1te H0use 1nc1dent, 12 years 0f m0n1t0r1ng an enterta1ner >> [mus1c] >> wh0se p0l1t1cs made p0werful men nerv0us, pr0duced a rep0rt 0n her that descr1bed her 1n terms s0 v1c10us and s0
Pers0nal that when the New Y0rk T1mes unc0vered the f1le 1n 1975 and asked K1tt 1f they c0uld publ1sh p0rt10ns 0f 1t, she sa1d yes.
She sa1d she had n0th1ng t0 be afra1d 0f and n0th1ng t0 h1de.
The language the CIA had used ab0ut her, she underst00d, sa1d m0re ab0ut the men wh0 wr0te 1t than ab0ut the w0man they were wr1t1ng ab0ut.
She was blackl1sted.
Her career 1n Amer1ca essent1ally ended 0vern1ght.
She went back t0 Eur0pe.
She perf0rmed f0r aud1ences 1n c0untr1es that d1d n0t pun1sh w0men f0r tell1ng the truth.
She d1d n0t return t0 Amer1can stages unt1l 1978, a decade later.
Welc0me back by a new pres1dent 1n a new p0l1t1cal cl1mate.
She rebu1lt.
She always rebu1lt.
She had learned that capac1ty f0r rebu1ld1ng, f0r surv1v1ng, f0r c0nt1nu1ng 1n the crawl space under the h0use.
She had learned 1t wh1le be1ng called a yell0w g1rl by ch1ldren wh0 d1d n0t kn0w what she was.
She had carr1ed 1t acr0ss the Atlant1c and back and she never put 1t d0wn.
Every ex1le became a Eur0pean t0ur.
Every reject10n became mater1al.
She turned the th1ng that had been used aga1nst her, her d1fference, her amb1gu1ty, her refusal t0 f1t 1nt0 the eng1ne 0f the m0st d1st1nct1ve career 1n m1d-century enterta1nment.
But the quest10n she c0uld never answer, the w0und that never fully cl0sed, was the 0ne that had been present s1nce January 17th, 1927.
Wh0 was the man 0n the 0ther s1de 0f her 0r1g1n?
Here 1s what the genet1c rec0rd can tell us and what 1t p01nts t0ward.
Eartha K1tt’s v1s1ble appearance t0ld part 0f the st0ry fr0m the beg1nn1ng.
L1ght-sk1nned, red-ha1red, features that placed her v1s1bly 0uts1de the phys1cal pr0f1le 0f a w0man w1th purely West Afr1can and Cher0kee ancestry.
The Eur0pean c0ntr1but10n t0 her gen0me was n0t traceable.
It was substant1al.
Researchers and b10graphers wh0 have exam1ned her ancestry est1mate that she was very cl0se t0 half Eur0pean, a reflect10n 0f a father wh0 was, by every acc0unt, a wh1te man.
The aut0s0mal DNA analys1s, c0ns1stent w1th her kn0wn fam1ly backgr0und, places the Eur0pean ancestry enter1ng her bl00dl1ne 1n a s1ngle generat10n, her father’s.
N0t spread acr0ss mult1ple ancest0rs 0ver mult1ple generat10ns.
One man, 0ne enc0unter.
Her m0ther was 14 years 0ld.
The man, by the acc0unt that has surv1ved m0st c0ns1stently acr0ss mult1ple s0urces, [mus1c] 1nclud1ng her 0wn aut0b10graph1cal wr1t1ng, was c0nnected t0 the plantat10n where her m0ther w0rked.
>> [mus1c] >> She sa1d s0 herself.
In 1nterv1ews and 1n her aut0b10graphy, Eartha K1tt descr1bed her 0r1g1n as a pregnancy result1ng fr0m rape.
She sa1d the man was the s0n 0f the 0wner 0f the farm where her m0ther had been a sharecr0pper.
That 1s the acc0unt she carr1ed [mus1c] and repeated thr0ugh0ut her l1fe, n0t as a s0urce 0f shame, as a fact ab0ut what had happened t0 her m0ther and t0 her.
In 2013, 5 years after her death, a Br1t1sh b10grapher named J0hn W1ll1ams publ1shed a b00k cla1m1ng t0 have 1dent1f1ed the man.
He named a l0cal d0ct0r, Dan1el Sturk1e, a wh1te man wh0se 0wn ancestry 1ncluded Sw1ss German, Engl1sh, German, Sc0tt1sh, French, and Creek Nat1ve Amer1can her1tage, plac1ng h1m 1n the genet1c categ0ry [mus1c] that c0uld pr0duce a daughter wh0 resembled Eartha K1tt.
Eartha’s daughter, K1tt McD0nald Shap1r0, d1sputed the cla1m.
There was n0 DNA c0nf1rmat10n.
The b10grapher’s assert10n rested 0n c1rcumstant1al ev1dence, ge0graph1c pr0x1m1ty, t1m1ng, and phys1cal resemblance, n0t [mus1c] genet1c test1ng that c0uld cl0se the quest10n def1n1t1vely.
And s0 the mystery rema1ned >> [mus1c] >> what 1t had always been, p01nted at, part1ally 1llum1nated, never res0lved.
Here 1s why the b1rth cert1f1cate matters as much as the DNA.
When Eartha K1tt and her daughter f1nally 0bta1ned her b1rth cert1f1cate 1n 1997, >> [mus1c] >> they f0und what generat10ns 0f black fam1l1es 1n the Amer1can S0uth had f0und when they went l00k1ng f0r the same answer.
The father’s name had been blacked 0ut.
N0t l0st, n0t f0rg0tten.
Blacked 0ut.
S0me0ne had taken a pen [mus1c] 0r 1nstrument t0 that l1ne and made 1t unreadable.
Th1s was n0t unusual.
Th1s was the pr0cedure.
In the J1m Cr0w S0uth, when a black w0man gave b1rth t0 a ch1ld wh0se father was wh1te, the legal system d1d n0t perm1t [mus1c] her t0 name h1m.
H1s race m1ght be rec0rded, but h1s 1dent1ty w0uld n0t be.
The law pr0tected h1m.
It pr0tected the f1ct10n [mus1c] that the races d1d n0t m1x 1n ways that pr0duced ch1ldren.
It pr0tected the s0c1al 0rder that depended 0n that f1ct10n [mus1c] rema1n1ng 1ntact.
The result was a generat10n 0f black Amer1cans, many generat10ns [mus1c] 1n fact, wh0 grew up n0t kn0w1ng the1r 0wn 0r1g1ns, n0t because the1r m0thers had h1dden [mus1c] the truth 0ut 0f shame, th0ugh shame was certa1nly a t00l the system used aga1nst them, but because the legal structure 0f the c0untry had phys1cally rem0ved the
Answer fr0m the d0cument and left a black mark where a name sh0uld have been.
Eartha K1tt saw that black mark 1n 1997.
She was 70 years 0ld.
She had l1ved her ent1re l1fe 1n the absence 0f that name, and see1ng the mark d1d n0t pr0v1de the answer.
It 0nly c0nf1rmed, 1n permanent 1nk, what she had always kn0wn.
That the answer had been taken fr0m her del1berately.
N0w we reach what DNA appl1ed t0 th1s st0ry actually reveals.
There 1s n0 c0nf1rmed genet1c test result f0r Eartha K1tt herself 1n the way that Wh00p1 G0ldberg part1c1pated 1n a DNA d0cumentary.
She d1ed 1n 2008 bef0re that k1nd 0f geneal0g1cal genet1c analys1s became w1dely access1ble t0 the publ1c.
Her daughter, K1tt McD0nald Shap1r0, has c0nt1nued [mus1c] t0 seek answers ab0ut her m0ther’s paternal 0r1g1ns, and th0se answers have n0t arr1ved 1n any def1n1t1ve [mus1c] f0rm.
But the genet1c l0g1c 0f her st0ry 1s n0t a mystery.
It 1s, 1n fact, 0ne 0f the clearest examples 1n the m0dern rec0rd 0f what DNA sc1ence has c0nf1rmed acr0ss m1ll10ns 0f Afr1can Amer1can fam1l1es.
Clear.
Her m0ther was 0f Afr1can and Cher0kee descent.
The Cher0kee ancestry 1s 1tself a c0mplex p1ece 0f her her1tage, a Nat1ve Amer1can pe0ple wh0 were d1splaced [mus1c] fr0m the Amer1can S0utheast, wh0se c0mmun1t1es 1n S0uth Car0l1na had been dec1mated by c0l0n1zat10n and f0rced rem0val, [mus1c] and wh0se w0men had been subject t0 the same structures 0f vulnerab1l1ty and c0erc10n that Afr1can Amer1can w0men faced 1n the plantat10n ec0n0my.
Ann1e Mae Ke1th carr1ed b0th 0f th0se h1st0r1es 1n her b0dy.
She was 14 years 0ld when she was assaulted.
She was dest1tute and w1th0ut legal pr0tect10n.
Whatever she underst00d ab0ut what had happened t0 her, she carr1ed 1t al0ne.
Her father was, by her 0wn acc0unt and all ava1lable ev1dence, [mus1c] a wh1te man w1th pred0m1nantly Eur0pean ancestry.
The genet1c result 0f that c0mb1nat10n was a w0man wh0 appeared v1s1bly m1xed race 1n a s0c1ety that had 0rgan1zed 1ts ent1re legal structure ar0und the prem1se that races [mus1c] d1d n0t m1x.
She was, 1n the language 0f the era, a yell0w g1rl.
That phrase [mus1c] and the reject10n 1t enc0ded shaped her ent1re l1fe.
The 2013 b10graphy nam1ng Dr.
Dan1el [mus1c] Sturk1e as the l1kely father br0ught th1s 1nt0 sharper f0cus.
Sturk1e’s d0cumented ancestry 1ncluded Sw1ss German, Engl1sh, [mus1c] German, Sc0tt1sh, French, and Creek Nat1ve Amer1can her1tage.
If the cla1m 1s accurate, and 1t has n0t been c0nf1rmed by DNA, then Eartha K1tt’s gen0me w0uld have c0mb1ned West Afr1can ancestry, Cher0kee ancestry, and a spec1f1cally Eur0pean m1xture 0f German1c, [mus1c] Br1t1sh, and French l1neage.
That c0mb1nat10n w0uld pr0duce exactly the features that made her an 0uts1der 1n S0uth Car0l1na and an 1c0n 1n Par1s.
The result was Eartha K1tt, a w0man wh0 was v1s1bly m1xed, wh0 bel0nged c0mpletely t0 n0 s1ngle rac1al categ0ry, wh0 was rejected by b0th c0mmun1t1es her b10l0gy cr0ssed, and wh0 spent her ent1re l1fe bu1ld1ng an 1dent1ty 0ut 0f the mater1als that reject10n left her.
That 1dent1ty, the purr, the w1t, [mus1c] the fer0c1ty, the refusal t0 be c0nta1ned by any stage 0r any c0untry 0r any system, >> [mus1c] >> was n0t 1nher1ted fr0m any traceable ancest0r.
It was c0nstructed under pressure.
>> [mus1c] >> It was ch0sen 1n the dark.
It was the 0nly th1ng ab0ut herself that Eartha K1tt bu1lt ent1rely 0n her 0wn terms, fr0m the gr0und up, start1ng 1n a crawl space 1n S0uth Car0l1na w1th n0th1ng.
DNA tells us what she came fr0m.
It cann0t tell us h0w she became what she became.
Here’s what the genet1c rec0rd cann0t answer [mus1c] and what 1t leaves 0pen.
The man wh0 fathered Eartha K1tt l1ved the rest 0f h1s l1fe 1n S0uth Car0l1na.
Whether he knew ab0ut her, whether he was aware that a ch1ld ex1sted, that she was gr0w1ng up 1n a crawl space, that she was be1ng called ugly names by ch1ldren 1n the c0mmun1ty f0r the sk1n c0l0r he gave her, 1s unkn0wn.
Whether he cared 1s unkn0wn.
Whether h1s name appears anywhere [mus1c] 1n a rec0rd that m1ght 0ne day be matched aga1nst a DNA database 1s kn0wn 1s th1s.
He pr0duced a daughter wh0 became 0ne 0f [mus1c] the m0st rec0rded v01ces 0f the 20th century.
A daughter wh0 sang 1n 10 languages, wh0 perf0rmed at the Par1s Opera, 0n Br0adway, 1n Las Vegas, and at Carneg1e Hall, wh0 st00d 1n the Wh1te H0use and t0ld the truth when tell1ng the truth c0st everyth1ng, wh0 was m0n1t0red [mus1c] by the CIA f0r m0re than a decade because p0werful men f0und her
Danger0us, wh0 came back fr0m ex1le and f1lled Carneg1e Hall aga1n.
Wh0 kept perf0rm1ng unt1l Apr1l 2008, 8 m0nths bef0re her death, at the Cheltenham Jazz Fest1val [mus1c] 1n England.
Her v01ce was st1ll extra0rd1nary, her presence st1ll electr1c, her 0r1g1n st1ll unkn0wn.
He pr0duced a daughter wh0 d1d n0t kn0w h1s name, >> [mus1c] >> and she bu1lt everyth1ng she ever was w1th0ut 1t.
That 1s the f1nal 1r0ny that DNA sc1ence places 1n fr0nt 0f us.
The an0nym0us man wh0se Eur0pean bl00dl1ne 1s enc0ded 1n every cell 0f Eartha K1tt’s b0dy, wh0se genet1c c0ntr1but10n 1s the reas0n she l00ked the way she l00ked, was rejected the way she was rejected, was f0rced t0 bu1ld an 1dent1ty fr0m scratch because n0 c0mmun1ty w0uld hand her 0ne, c0ntr1buted t0 the creat10n 0f s0meth1ng he c0uld never have 1mag1ned and never knew ex1sted.
The quest10n the sc1ence 0pens [mus1c] and cann0t cl0se 1s th1s.
What 1s 0wed way t0 a pers0n when the rec0rd 0f the1r 0r1g1n 1s del1berately destr0yed?
>> [mus1c] >> When the law 1tself takes the pen and blacks 0ut the name?
When an ent1re system c0nsp1res t0 ensure that a ch1ld w1ll never kn0w where she came fr0m, and that ch1ld spends 81 years perf0rm1ng and surv1v1ng and bu1ld1ng and search1ng and never f1nds the answer?
When the ch1ld bec0mes 0ne 0f the m0st celebrated enterta1ners 0f her century and st1ll d0es n0t f1nd the answer?
When she d1es
On Chr1stmas Day, st1ll n0t kn0w1ng, and the quest10n passes t0 her daughter, wh0 1s als0 st1ll l00k1ng?
Is there a name f0r what that 1s?
Eartha K1tt w0uld pr0bably say there 1s.
She w0uld say 1t 1n French 0r Turk1sh 0r wh1chever language made 1t land hardest.
She had 10 t0 ch00se fr0m.
Dr0p y0ur answer 1n the c0mments because th1s st0ry d0es n0t cl0se.
It 0nly deepens.
If th1s m0ved [mus1c] y0u, share 1t.
And 1f y0u want t0 kn0w what DNA revealed ab0ut an0ther 1c0n wh0 carr1ed a h1dden 0r1g1n st0ry 1nt0 the sp0tl1ght and never let 1t sh0w, >> [mus1c] >> the next v1de0 1s already wa1t1ng.
