Mahalia Jackson was born on October 26, 1911. Jackson was a gospel singer, a towering presence in the genre whose popularity extended to mainstream audiences. In the 1950s and 1960s, she devoted much of her time to civil rights activism.

Jackson was born in New Orleans, where she was raised from the age of four by an aunt, after her mother's death. She began singing in her local Baptist church as a child. At the age of 16, Jackson moved to Chicago, where she was invited to join the Johnson Gospel Singers, one of the first professional gospel groups.

In 1929, Jackson first met Thomas A. Dorsey, a gospel composer who became known as the "Father of Gospel Music;" he was so important in the field that for a time, new gospel songs were generically known as "dorseys." For much of the 1930s and 1940s, Jackson and Dorsey toured together, and she introduced many of his new songs in church performances and at conventions. His "Take My Hand, Precious Lord" became one of Jackson's signature songs.

During this period, Jackson made occasional recordings, with relatively little commercial success. She was often pressured to sing secular music by record companies who were certain that her voice and talent would sell well with a general audience, but she refused to do so. In 1941, Jackson's first marriage ended in divorce after five years, in part because of her husband's constant pressure on her to become a secular artist.

When Jackson finally did connect with the record-buying public, it was in a big way. Her 1948 record "Move On Up a Little Higher" sold eight million copies, and record stores couldn't get copies fast enough to meet the demand. The record was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1998; it was eventually joined in the Hall by Jackson's 1956 recording of " Take My Hand, Precious Lord " and her 1958 version of "His Eye Is On the Sparrow."

In 1950, Jackson was the first gospel singer to perform at Carnegie Hall. She made her first tour of Europe in 1952, playing to sold-out audiences. By 1955, when she released her first album for Columbia Records, there weren't many who would disagree with its title: The World's Greatest Gospel Singer.

Jackson's involvement in the civil rights movement began in 1956, when she met Ralph Abernathy and Martin Luther King, Jr. at the National Baptist Convention. They asked her to come to Montgomery, Alabama, to perform at a rally in support of the bus boycott, which had been going on for almost a year; they thought that she might inspire people who were beginning to feel discouraged by the effort. Jackson would continue to appear at King's speeches and at civil rights fundraising events.

She performed at the 1963 March on Washington, where King made the "I have a dream" speech, for which she was partly responsible. King had begun to include similar ideas in other recent speeches, and Jackson had been present at some of them. As he neared the end of his speech at the March on Washington, Jackson shouted to him, "Tell them about the dream, Martin," and King departed from his prepared text into what is now the most remembered part of the speech.

Jackson's dedication to helping others extended beyond the civil rights movement. She established a college scholarship fund, and offered advice and mentorship to several younger singers, most notably Della Reese and Aretha Franklin.

Jackson's final album, What the World Needs Now, was released in 1969. It included the biggest departures she ever made from her lifelong commitment to perform sacred music; the title song and "Put a Little Love in Your Heart" were pop songs, but their shared message of love and community were in keeping with the philosophy her music had always held to.

Mahalia Jackson died on January 27, 1972, of heart failure and complications from diabetes. Large funerals were held in both Chicago and New Orleans, with thousands in attendance at each, and even larger crowds lining the streets to pay their respects. Jackson was inducted into the Gospel Hall of Fame in 1978, and into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as an "early influence" in 1997.

In addition to the songs and albums linked above, much more of Jackson's music is available for streaming or download at Freegal.