Oberlin, Ohio
Dedication This book is also in loving memory of Lilly. I chose to write a book about Diana Ross because I love
her music and the Supremes'. My mom first introduced Motown
music to me indirectly when I turned on her cd player and
the Temptations sang "My Girl". For my project I used books
and the internet. I spent a couple of months working on my
book. This book tells about Diana Ross from birth to about
current times. I hope you enjoy my book. Chapter 1 - Parents Diana Ross's mother, Ernestine Moten, was born on January
27, 1916 in Allenville, Alabama. Her father was a pastor at
a church in town so their family was quite religious.
Ernestine's family also owned a small produce farm.
Ernestine liked school work and was intelligent. She enjoyed
singing but never considered it as a career. Diana Ross's father, Fred Ross, was born on Independence
Day, 1920 in Bluefield, West Virginia. His parents were well
educated and smart. Fred's mother died when he was just two
years old. He graduated from Cass Technical High school and
became a boxer. Fred and Ernestine met and later got married in March,
1941. Fred stopped boxing and started working for the
American Brass Factory. Then they had their first child ,
Barbara Ross. Ernestine stayed at home with Barbara. Diane Ernestine Ross was born on March 26, 1944 in
Detroit, Michigan. "Diana Ernestine Ross" was the name put
on the birth certificate. But her parents intended to put
"Diane" on it. From then on close friends and family called
her "Diane". Other people just called her "Diana". This is
what her parents wanted. When Diana was born her father was in the army. He did
not meet her until she was two years old when he returned
from the army. Diana's elementary school had a pool. It was the only
elementary school in the city to have one. She loved to
swim, it made her proud. Diana was better at it than
Barbara, her older sister. Both of Diana's parents sang in the choir at Olivet
Baptist Church. Diana loved to sing too. Often times if
guests were over she would sing for them. William "Smokey"
Robinson lived right near Diana's house. Smokey later became
very popular in a singing group called "The Miracles". Even as a kid Diana was not a wuss. At school she was not
afraid to get in a fight. Often times, she defended younger
siblings. Diana's family had to split up when her mother got sick
with tuberculosis. Ernestine went to a special hospital to
heal. Diana went with her five other siblings to Bessemer,
Alabama to live with her grandparents. Her grandfather was a
pastor at Bessemer Baptist Church. Many things were racist in Alabama during the time Diana
spent there with her grandparents. It was the mid - 1950s
and a lot of the time there was segregation. There were
separate drinking fountains for African Americans and
whites. At bus stations, waiting rooms were separate. On
buses, the African Americans had to pay at the front of the
bus and walk around to the back to get on. They had to sit
at the back of the bus. If white seats got filled up,
African Americans had to stand up so that white people could
sit. African Americans had to go to the back door to get
into many restaurants and stores. They were not allowed to
try on shoes unless they bought them. Some restaurants would
not even serve African Americans. During the time with her
grandparents Diana went to an all African American school
and church. Her neighborhood was all African American
too. After about a year Ernestine was well enough to return
home. The Ross family got back together. Diana's family lived in a small apartment in Detroit,
Michigan. All six children slept in the same room! In summer
they were very hot and there were a lot of bugs. But in
winter it was cold and they were grateful for each others
warmth. They lived in a poor neighborhood that most people
would call the "ghetto". To Diana it was her home. When Diana was fourteen and had finished middle school
her family moved from their small apartment into a larger
one. The bigger apartment was in the Brewster Projects.
Diana made two new friends in the Brewster Projects, Mary
Wilson and Florence Ballard, "Flo" for short. Mary and Diana designed and made clothes with a sewing
machine. They wore their new clothes during high school. One
of Diana's senior teachers said that the clothes had "lots
of flare". Mary, Diana, and Florence all had a love for
singing. Diana had a B+ grade average in junior high. This allowed
her to go to Cass Technical High School, which had a good
reputation, instead of a regular high school. She took
classes on dress design, cosmetology, sewing, and costume
illustration. During high school Diana took charm school at
Hudson's department store. Diana worked at Hudson's too.
There she bussed tables in one of their restaurants. She was
said to be the first African American employee there to work
outside of the kitchen. Diana graduated from Cass Tech in January, 1962. She
graduated after the rest of her class because she had to
complete another semester. Diana's friend Florence had founded a singing group
called the Primettes. Two of the Primettes members were
Florence Ballard and Mary Wilson, Diana's friends. Diana
wanted to be a Primette too. Then she got her chance. A
member of the group had quit. Diana had to audition to get
in the Primettes. Mary and Florence accepted her as a member
of the group. Now the Primettes were composed of Mary
Wilson, Florence Ballard, and Diana Ross. Diana designed clothes for the Primettes. They sang at
small gatherings and parties. The Primettes wanted more
fame. So they went to a new recording company called
Motown. The president of Motown, Berry Gordy, listened to them.
He said that they were good. Berry Gordy did not give them a
contract because they were still in high school. He did let
them sing backup for Motown's other singers. The Primettes
did backup for singers like Marvin Gaye. They got paid $2.50
for each song. That money covered transportation only. After all of the Primettes finished high school they
signed a contract with Motown. Berry Gordy changed the
Primettes name to the Supremes. This is just what he did to
their brother group who changed from the Primes to the
Temptations. Diana also became the lead singer instead of
Florence. The Supremes did not have huge success instantly. Their
first two records did reach the top one hundred on some
charts. In 1964 "Where Did Our Love Go" was released. The
Holland-Dozier-Holland song writing team had wrote it for
the Supremes. It turned out to be their first #1 hit in the
United States. Later, the Supremes were the first singing
group to have six hit records in one year. These six hit
records include "Where Did Our Love Go", "Baby Love", "Come
See About Me", "Stop In The Name Of Love", and "Back In My
Arms Again". In 1965 Mary, Florence, and Diana all turned twenty-one.
They were able to control the moneys that Motown had saved
for them. This meant that they were now wealthy, they made a
lot of money during 1964. With part of their money each young women bought a house
for their family. They all gave money to their parents.
Diana tried to give money at least, her father did not
accept it. The Supremes first tour was with Dick Clark. It was also
their first mixed race tour. Tours were hard work. You rode
in a bus all night. Some nights you would play several
shows, not just one. In 1966 Mary and Florence started moving far apart from
Diana. Mary asked if she could sing lead and she got to. But
Florence seemed to give up. She started missing recording
sessions. Sometimes Florence did not even show up for
concerts. She also started drinking heavily. Berry Gordy
wanted to fire Florence but Diana and Mary would not accept
that. After Florence's problems began the Supremes still had a
great sound. They got gold records for songs like "Love
Child" and "You Keep Me Hanging On". You receive a gold
record when a record sells more than a half million
copies. In 1967, Florence Ballard quit the Supremes. Cindy
Birdsong took her place. After Florence left the Supremes
she went on welfare. In that same year Florence Ballard died
of alcoholism. After she died the "Supremes" was changed to
"Diana Ross and The Supremes". In 1969, Diana Ross left her singing group to become a
soloist. Jean Terrell joined the group to replace Diana. The
Supremes then consisted of Mary Wilson, Cindy Birdsong, and
Jean Terrell. Motown music was originally listened to by African
Americans . But partially because of the Supremes, whites
started listening to Motown music. In a way they brought
troubled races together. In 1969, Diana told Mary and Cindy that she was becoming
a soloist. Diana felt that she could not do all the things
she wanted to do alone with the Supremes. Diana Ross and the
Supremes gave their farewell concert at the Frontier Hotel
in Las Vegas on January 14, 1970. At the end of the concert
they were all crying. Mary and Diana had been together for
fourteen years. Diana's first solo album was called "Diana Ross". It and
future solo albums were hits. Diana was named "Top Female
Singer of 1970" by Billboard magazine. One of Diana's first
albums without the Supremes was with the Jackson Five. They
were a family of boys under contract with Motown. Diana met
them in Gary, Indiana where they performed at the same
event. In 1971 Diana met Robert Silberstien in a clothing store
in Hollywood. She held a shirt up to him to measure how big
it was. They immediately were laughing and talking. Robert,
"Bob", was white, but this did not matter to either of them.
They dated for a year and then decided to get married. When Robert and Diana made the public announcement that
they were getting married the public reaction shocked them.
Both whites and blacks did not agree with the mixed race
marriage. Diana and Robert were in love and ignored the
people against them. Diana and Robert later had three
children, Rhonda, Tracee, and Chudney. In 1977 Diana and Robert decided to get a divorce. They
both still loved each other. But both were unhappy with
being married. Diana Ross received custody of Rhonda,
Tracee, and Chudney but their father visited them often. Diana met Arne Naess while on vacation with her
daughters. They later got married in 1986. Diana had two
children with him, Ross and Evan. In 1999 Arne and Diana
split up. In 1982, Diana Ross received a star on the "Hollywood
Walk of Fame". Two years later, in 1984, Diana experienced a
great loss. Ernestine Ross, Diana's mother, died in October, 1984 of
breast cancer. Ernestine did not tell anyone about her
discomfort until it was to late. The disease had gone too
far. In Diana Ross's autobiography "Secrets Of A Sparrow",
she says that she loves her mother more than anyone else.
Her death hurt Diana a lot. album - A cd or record with a series of songs on it. alcoholism - A huge need for alcohol. autobiography - The story of a person's life written by
that person. contract - A written agreement that can be enforced by
law. farewell concert - The last concert of a group or
singer. ghetto - Part of a city where any particular nationality
lives. gold record - An award received every time a record sells
more than a half million copies. moneys - The plural for money. Motown - A music recording business created by Berry
Gordy Jr. racism - The belief that human beings can be divided by
their race. Usually a racist person believes that their race
is superior and thinks other races are inferior to them.
People who think this or believe this are called
racists. record - To copy music on a magnetic tape. singer/vocalist - A person that sings. soloist - A person who sings solos. Supremes - A group of singers. The group started out as
the Primettes. The original group of the Supremes was
composed of Diana Ross, Mary Wilson, and Florence Ballard.
They had several very popular hits and a lot of fans. Motown
was their first recording company. tour - A period of time when you give several
performances a day in different cities and travel all
night. wealth - To have a lot of money. Aronson, Virginia. (2001). The History Of Motown.
Philadelphia. Cox, Ted. (1997). The Temptations.
Philadelphia. Estell, Kenneth. (1994). Diana Ross. Reference Library Of
Black America. Volume V, pp. 1146 - 1147. Haskins, James. (1985). Diana Ross Star Supreme.
New York. Ross, Diana. (1993). Secrets Of A Sparrow. New
York. Taraborrelli, J. Randy. (1989). Call Her Miss
Ross. New York. Unknown Author. Diana Ross. [Online] Available
http://www.rockonthenet.com/artist-r/dianaross.htm. Wyeth, John. (1996). Diana Ross. New York. My name is Anne. I was born on March 8, 1993 in Oberlin,
Ohio. I am now twelve years old. I like Motown music. I have
two boxer dogs, Sid and Sadie. My favorite foods are
broccoli with cheese and French fries. I am on a softball
team, I like to swim, and I like to run in races. I play the
viola. I have now been a vegetarian for about three months.
I chose to do Diana Ross for my Independent Study Project
because I like the Supremes music. I enjoyed studying Diana
Ross. .
Chapter 2 - Early Life
Chapter 3 - Childhood
Chapter 4 - Teenage Years
Chapter 5 - The Primettes
Chapter 6 - The Supremes
Chapter 7 - Coming To An End
Chapter 8 - Solo
Chapter 9 - Marriage & Children
Chapter 10 - Mother's Death
Glossary
Bibliography
About the Author
Click here to go back to the top of this page
Click here to go to the list of reports
Click here to go to Prospect School's website
Click here to go to Langston School's website
Click here to go to the Oberlin City School District's website
Click below to email the teacher
Kim Koos at kkoos @
oberlin.k12.oh.us
or John Memmott at
jmemmott @
oberlin.k12.oh.us
All Contents Copyrighted © 2005 Oberlin City School District - - - - All Rights Reserved