Billie Holiday's story began in Philadelphia
Watch The United States vs. Billie Holiday now on Hulu
PHILADELPHIA -- Billie Holiday aka Lady Day may have left a mark on the New York City music scene, but she was born in West Philadelphia.
And while she is legendary for her singing, she was also a civil rights activist and the victim of a decades-long campaign by the federal government to silence her. Her story is ready to be told in two new features.
WATCH: Sandy Kenyon interviews Lee Daniels and Audra Day
A new movie by Lee Daniels, The United States vs. Billie Holiday, now on Hulu.
WABC's sister-station, WPVI-TV in Philadelphia, will also be releasing a companion documentary, Looking for Lady Day, on our family of streaming apps.
The documentary will take you to the places she stayed and sang, meet a Philadelphia musician who played with her and show you where she was born, arrested and tried.
Philadelphia was the center of it all and so was Billie Holiday's song, Strange Fruit.
* Special thanks to The Clef Club, Harriett's Bookshop and the Charles L Blockson Afro American collection at Temple University Libraries.
