Born in 1876, Eartha was the 13th child of two former slaves. She was adopted by Clara White, a woman who lived her life by helping others. In fact, Clara's favorite motto was,"Do all the good you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, for all the people you can, while you can." Eartha embraced her mother's motto in her own life. She is pictured in the photo (standing) alongside her mother Clara.
In 1893, Eartha moved to New York City to avoid a yellow fever outbreak. There, she attended the National Conservatory of Music, which led to a job with the Oriental American Opera Company, which is known as the first black opera company in the country. Eartha sang soprano under the direction of J. Rosamond Johnson (brother of James Weldon Johnson), and traveled extensively with the company throughout the U.S. and Europe.
When she returned to her hometown of Jacksonville, Eartha, inspired by her mother's motto, began a life of philanthropy that continues today, well after her death in 1974.
She gave back to her community in many ways, as a teacher for 16 years and as an entrepreneur. She owned a taxi cab service, a steam laundry business, an employment and housekeeping bureau, and became the first woman employed at the Afro-American Life Insurance company in Jacksonville. It is estimated that from her various entrepreneurial endeavors, she amassed a net worth in excess of $1 million dollars, most of it used to fund her philanthropic efforts.
Those efforts include the establishment of an orphanage for African-American children, a home for unwed mothers, a nursery for children of working mothers, a tuberculosis rest home, the Boys' Improvement Club (1904) that worked to prevent delinquency, and helping to establish Oak Park, the first pub
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