Elder goldwire mcclendon biography

In 1947, a teenaged Goldwire McLendon took the train alone from Jacksonville, where he was a tenor in a gospel quartet, up to Philadelphia.

There he met his wife, Ruth Byrd, a seamstress and mezzo soprano, at church. Ruth later co-founded The Savettes Choral Ensemble, a women-led singing group and savings club for home purchases and other self-reliance needs within the local spiritual community. The McLendons raised five children and traveled around the East Coast as members of The Savettes, achieving regional success as "Philadelphia's Own."

The period in America following World War II had awakened a golden age for gospel music.

Joy and Praise: The McLendon legacy | Ideastream Public Media

Urban centers became hotbeds of church activity that provided spiritual and material needs of their communities as more Black people migrated from the South. Local gospel was widespread, but the vast majority of acts like The Savettes had scant reputation beyond their own church or region. The McLendon family e Samara Joy bringing gospel and family into her jazz music PANAN