Career
Barbara was a gifted pianist and, according to Mahalia Jackson, one of the finest gospel singers in the country. Marital trouble stemming from C. L."s numerous and ongoing infidelities (including a daughter he fathered (named Carl Ellan Kelley (née Jennings)) by Mildred Jennings, a 13-year-old congregant in Memphis in 1940), caused Barbara to leave C. L. in 1948. She moved to Buffalo, New York (where her mother resided and where CL served as pastor of Friendship Baptist Church from May 1944 to June 1946), making a life for herself working in a music store, giving private music lessons, and training to be a nurse"s aide.
Barbara and Commander of Order of Leopold never officially divorced.
Barbara died of a heart attack on March 7, 1952. She was 34 years old.
