[Dixielandjazz] Louis Armstrong's birthday

[Håkan Forsberg]

After sending the question regarding Louis Armstrong’s birthday date in the
application for Social Security to my friend Ricky Riccardi I promptly
received this answer:

“

..

And thanks for passing along the Dixieland Digest thread about Louis's
birthday. I had never heard about a Social Security application before. But
I'm at the Armstrong Archives right now and decided to look into it...and we
have it! I can't believe I never noticed it before. It's very interesting.
Louis gives his birthday as July 4....1901! Isn't that interesting? It says
"Age at Last Birthday" and the form says 35. So Rae Ann is wrong in that
Louis never thought he was born August 4, he always gave July 4, whether it
was the draft registration card or now the social security card in 1937.
However, you have to wonder about the 1900. Could it have been a mistake?
All the answers are typed; Louis only signed it so he probably just gave his
answers. If the person doing the typing heard "1901," that would explain the
mistake. Unless it's not a mistake and Louis--this one time only--came clean
that he was born in 1901. I'm still not sure about that...

 

I just looked up Louis's death record from the Social Security Death Index
and they have his Social Security Card being issued in California and giving
Louis's birthday as July 4, 1900. This social security application gives
Louis's employer as Paramount Pictures in Hollywood so maybe that is when he
filled out this form and where he was issued the card. Perhaps he realized
the mistake and had it changed to 1900 later. 

 

Again, this is all speculation. I've always believed that Louis truly
thought he was born on July 4, 1900 because that's what his mother told him
(she might not have remembered the actual date since Louis spent his first
few years with his grandmother). I still stand with the draft card being an
important document because Louis was so young and wasn't famous and why
would he lie about his age? Anyway, draw your own conclusions. I've attached
it to this e-mail....feel free to share it with the Dixieland Digest.





” 

 

Our thanks go to Ricky! See the attached document for details.

 

Håkan Forsberg