Hazel Scott

Hazel Scott played a significant role in standing up for the justice of African Americans and furthering their progress in justice in America. She was a talented jazz pianist and singer and became a popular performer in America. One of her most remarkable achievements was becoming the first African American woman to host her own TV show. 

She was born in Trinidad on June 11, 1920, and showed early signs of natural talent by three years old, when she could play the piano by ear. Her mom was also a talented pianist and saxophonist who played in all-women bands for a career. Scott and her mother grew very close, and her mother’s connections allowed her to learn from very prominent musicians. Scott was soon accepted into the Juilliard School of Music at 8 years old. This is where her career took off and she began performing professionally. She joined her mom’s jazz band when she was 13 years old and performed on stage as an individual at the Roseland Ballroom at age 15. In 1938, she hosted her own radio show and went on Broadway in a musical. 

In 1939, her career was on a new high. She began to perform at Café Society, New York’s first unsegregated nightclub. Audiences admired Scott’s unique integration of jazz into classical music. Later on, she signed up with a prominent movie studio, RKO. However, she refused to be a singing maid and instead, appeared as herself in five films. Additionally, she demanded the same pay as white people were receiving. Taking a stand against the studio’s racist ideals caused her contract with the studio to eventually dissolve.

However, this did not stop Scott from standing up to discrimination. She was one of the first performers to refuse to play in audiences that were segregated. By 1950, she became the first African-American woman to host her own TV show that aired for 15 minutes, three times per week in New York and eventually expanded nationally. 

However, this was also short-lived. A few months later, Scott was named on Red Channels, where she was accused of supporting Communists and performing for organizations affiliated with Communists during the era of McCarthyism. She decided to testify in front of the House Un-American Activities Committee, however, she was overridden, and “The Hazel Scott Show” was canceled. Shortly after, to escape the political fallout, she moved to Paris in 1957 and began performing in Europe where she appeared in a few French films such as Le Désordre et la Nuit. Later she returned back to the United States and continued to perform in nightclubs from time to time and took part in some television, leading up to her death. She continued to display to the public that she was against McCarthyism and racism. 

Although Scott’s career did not end on the highest note, she was still deemed monumental in the movement of blacks in society. Her short-lived television show developed “a glimmer of hope for African American viewers” during a time of intense racism. She enhanced the representation of African Americans in film and was one who stood up for what she believed in, despite setbacks created by those who did not support her ideals.