Margaret Patrick

Patrick grew up in Harlem and started playing the piano at the age of eight and immediately fell in love with it. At the age of ten, she began to accompany her sister, who played violin and by the time she was twelve, she was accompanying local singers and orchestras. In 1929, aged 16, she graduated from the Martin Smith Conservatory of Music and was awarded a gold medal for having passed her piano and theory classes with honors.Jeannie Ralston. "Ebony and Ivory: 'A miracle brought us together'", McCall's magazine (October 1986), pp. 91-92.

Patrick married in 1933 and became a piano teacher and taught for 50 years. She continued accompanying singers and orchestras. She also played the organ and conducted the choir of a Presbyterian church in the Bronx. At one point, she directed a choir that sang with Duke Ellington and his orchestra, a highpoint in her life. "I felt elated to work with him," she told McCall's magazine.Georgia Dullea. "[https://www.nytimes.com/1987/09/28/style/ebony-and-ivory-1-keyboard-2-good-hands.html Ebony and Ivory: 1 Keyboard, 2 Good Hands]". The New York Times, (September 28, 1987) p. C13. Accessed February 19, 2010. In January 1982, she had a stroke that left her disabled on her right side and unable to speak. After months in the hospital, she returned to her home in Englewood, New Jersey, able to speak a little bit, but unable to move her right hand enough to play the piano.

In late 1982, Patrick began going for therapy at Southeast Senior Center for Independent Living. In early 1983, the program director introduced her to Ruth Eisenberg, another great-grandmother who also had a stroke in 1982. She had seen Eisenberg sitting at the piano, playing with one hand and looking depressed. Patrick said, "She told us: 'You have something in common, the piano. Put your two good hands and your heads together, and see what you can come up with.' " Eisenberg added, "Immediately we got to talking about Chopin. And then we sat down at the piano and played Chopin's 'Minute Waltz'. I played the treble with my right hand; she played the bass with her left." They happily discovered they knew the same music.

They began practicing at the Senior Center and occasionally at Eisenberg's apartment. In May 1983, a senior citizen center in Teaneck, New Jersey asked them to play at a party. Their story appeared in local newspapers and they began getting invitations to play at other area hospitals and senior centers.[http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20097822,00.html "For Two New Jersey Grannies Misfortune Sets the Stage for a Musical Collaboration]" People magazine (December 14, 1987), p. 121. Accessed February 19, 2010. A local reporter dubbed them Ebony and Ivory and the name stuck.Bard Lindeman. "[https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1697&dat=19880509&id=aDoqAAAAIBAJ&sjid=lUcEAAAAIBAJ&pg=4767,3200326 Musicians and victims of strokes find a way to play some very inspiring Chopin]", Park City Daily News, Bowling Green, Kentucky (May 9, 1988) p. 7. Accessed February 19, 2010. They began to play in other senior citizen facilities, at veterans' homes and hospitals.

Their story went national after being picked up by The New York Times, which put it on its wire service.Georgia Dullea, The New York Times News Service "[https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1320&dat=19870929&id=E5MRAAAAIBAJ&sjid=BuoDAAAAIBAJ&pg=2117,3842653 Piano-playing grandmothers on the road again]" Gainesville Sun, Gainesville, Florida. September 29, 1987, p. 5B. Accessed February 19, 2010.Georgia Dullea, The New York Times News Service. "[https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2206&dat=19871005&id=O_4lAAAAIBAJ&sjid=o_MFAAAAIBAJ&pg=997,1490391 Ebony and Ivory – Piano-playing grandmothers go on the road again] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191219222942/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2206&dat=19871005&id=O_4lAAAAIBAJ&sjid=o_MFAAAAIBAJ&pg=997,1490391 |date=2019-12-19 }}" The Miami News, Miami, Florida. October 5, 1987, p. 2C, with photo. They were on television both in the US and abroad and appeared with Regis Philbin, Geraldo Rivera and David Hartman. Liberace, who was a fan of "Ebony and Ivory", made his last television appearance on the Hour Magazine with Gary Collins and made it a condition of his appearance that if they would bring Patrick and Eisenberg on the program, he would come.Hour Magazine with Gary Collins, December 8, 1986. Newsman Morry Alter won an award for his CBS News report on them.{{Citation needed|date=February 2010}} They were featured on PM Magazine, CNN and NBC Nightly News, with Tom Brokaw.Bill Schechner. "Assignment American: Ebony and Ivory". NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw, May 6, 1988 (last four minutes of program). Accessed February 19, 2010.

Patrick and Eisenberg's story was included in a book by Norman Vincent Peale{{cite book |last=Peale |first=Norman Vincent |date=1988 |title=The American Character |location=New York |publisher=Wynwood Press |isbn=0800716051}} and in More True Stories, an ESL reader in its third edition.Sandra Heyer. More True Stories: A High-Beginning Reader, Prentice-Hall (2009). {{ISBN|978-0-13-814342-8}} It is included in sermons and religious publications in the US and other countries.St Cuthbert's Parish Church, Lothian Road, Edinburgh, Scotland.Calvary Lutheran Church, Thunder Bay, Ontario.First Baptist Church, Mountlake Terrace, WA.Nadbiskupijski Center for Youth Ministry, Sarajevo.

Television

• New Jersey and You, WOR-TV (December 1983). Interview and performance
• PM Magazine (May 24, 1984). Performance
• CBS News (October 21, 1985). Interview with Morry Alter (won an award)
• Good Morning America with David Hartman, ABC (September 9, 1986). Interview
• The Morning Show with Regis Philbin, ABC (October 1986). Interview
• Hour Magazine with Gary Collins (December 8, 1986). Interview and performance (Liberace's last television appearance)
• NBC Evening News with Tom Brokaw, "Assignment American: Ebony and Ivory" reported by Bill Schechner (May 6, 1988). News feature

Radio

• The American Character with Norman Vincent Peale, WOR (February 24, 1985). Feature in a special radio narration
• Rambling with Gambling with John Gambling, WOR (October 15, 1985). Interview
• Morning Edition with Karen Michel, NPR/WNYC (March 9, 1987). Interview

{{reflist|2 }}

• [http://tvnews.vanderbilt.edu/program.pl?ID=562605 Description of archived episode of NBC Evening News] Vanderbilt Television News Archive, (May 6, 1988) Record No. 562605. Accessed Feb. 19, 2010.
• [http://tusach.tuoitre.com.vn/ArticleView.aspx?ArticleID=263521&ComponentID=1 Vietnamese online newspaper]{{dead link|date=January 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}. Accessed February 19, 2010 {{in lang|vi}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20080820182652/http://www.st-cuthberts.net/crgnl01.htm Sermon] St Cuthbert's Parish Church, Lothian Road, Edinburgh, Scotland. Accessed February 19, 2010
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20080820055750/http://www.epulpit.net/010408.htm Sermon] (April 8, 2001). Accessed February 18, 2010.
• [http://www.calvarythunderbay.ca/resources/CCFeb2010.pdf Church newsletter]{{dead link|date=January 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} (PDF) Calvary Lutheran Church, Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada (February 2010). Accessed February 19, 2010.
• [http://www.firstbaptist-mtlkterr.org/Worship/2007sermons/Sermon071111.pdf Sermon] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110726055028/http://www.firstbaptist-mtlkterr.org/Worship/2007sermons/Sermon071111.pdf |date=2011-07-26 }} (PDF) First Baptist Church, Mountlake Terrace, WA, November 11, 2007. Accessed February 19, 2010.
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20090620045008/http://mladicentar.org/node/1960 Article] Nadbiskupijski Center for Youth Ministry, Sarajevo. Accessed February 19, 2010. {{in lang|bs}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Patrick, Margaret}}

Category:1913 births

Category:1994 deaths

Category:20th-century American classical pianists

Category:African-American classical musicians

Category:African-American classical pianists

Category:Classical pianists who played with one arm

Category:American women classical pianists

Category:20th-century African-American musicians

Category:20th-century American women pianists

Category:American musicians with disabilities