 | PRESENTINGKay Francis Barksdale "Cincinnati's Gospel Jewel" |
| PRESENTINGKay Francis Barksdale "Cincinnati's Gospel Jewel" |
| Ms. Kay Francis Barksdale, "Cincinnati's
Gospel Jewel" has been a resident of Cincinnati,
Ohio, the Queen City of the West, since 1951.
She is well-known, locally, nationally, and
internationally as a Gospel singer whose ringing
soprano voice and sincere testimony have
inspired audiences coast to coast and border to
border. She has performed on center stage at
Cincinnati's famed Music Hall and in small, store
front and rural churches. A native of Danville,
Virginia, Kay Francis Barksdale came to
Cincinnati for a visit and stayed. A former "Miss Cincinnati," Kay was the First "Ms. Black Cincinnati" and was chosen the Mardi Gras Queen in 1961. In 1911, she won the "Miss Los Angeles" and "Miss California" titles. Kay's devotion to the ministry and her inspiration did not come quickly or painlessly. A former nightclub and rhythm and blues singer who could have known fame and fortune, she was present at Northern Kentucky's Beverly Hills Supper Club in 1911, when a raging fire killed 167 persons. Kay was standing near the spot where the fire originated and could have lost her life. But, in sworn testimony given to investigators, she said that a chef led her to a room in the club which she described in precise detail. This act kept her safe from harm. According to the investigators, there was no chef matching Kay's description of him employed at the club, nor was there any such room in the club as that which she had described. An Angel of the Lord saved Kay's life on that occasion. Although her life was saved, Kay lost her voice for two months as a result of the fire. Unable to speak or to sing, Kay prayed to her God, telling Jehovah Almighty that if he would but return her voice, she would never again sing the rhythm and blues which had made her so popular. Kay has kept her promise and so did the Lord! She has, since that time, devoted herself to telling the story of salvation. An active member of the First Baptist Church of Walnut Hills, Ms. Barksdale has appeared on national television, and is the first person to appear twice on the CBS national morning news program. She has appeared in concert nationwide, and was honored by fellow Cincinnatians on May 14, 1995 at "Kay's Day in Cincinnati" when the Memorial Hall was packed with her friends and admirers. Nor is she a stranger to political events, having performed for Presidents, First Ladies, and members of Cincinnati City Council. Kay has honored friends, through use of her beautiful soprano voice to congratulate, to cheer, and to soften adversity, at weddings, receptions, celebrations, and paid tribute to them at funerals. Ms. Barksdale was the soloist at the swearing in-ceremony for James Cissel, Hamilton County Clerk of Courts, and simultaneously received Proclamations from The Honorable Roxanne Quails, Mayor, City of Cincinnati and Mr. Cissell, the first person to be so honored.
On January 13, 1997 Kay was invited to sing the National Anthem | at the swearing in ceremony for Ms. Rebeccah
Grope as Recorder of Hamilton County, Ohio. Ms. Barksdale has been featured in three films:
A Communications Specialist at Cincinnati's flagship Scripps-Howard television station, WCPO-TV/S for the past twenty-three years, Kay is employed as the switchboard operator and receptionist. She is "one in a million" who can operate the complicated switchboard with the cover off. Kay is a trained L.P.N. She has sung locally and nationally, and performs at Jewish, German, Roman Catholic, and many other festivals. Her love of the Lord knows no boundaries and she is neither prone nor likely to say "No" when asked to perform, provided the event or occasion meets her standards of "ministering for the Lord" and will fit her heavy, already-difficult schedule. Time is her only constraint, since she operates at "full throttle" every day of her life. A recent event marked a "first" for Kay, when she was asked to give a concert at the quarterly "friends Sunday" at Cincinnati's suburban Lincoln Park Baptist Church. She said it was the fust time ever that she had been asked to provide the motivational message at a morning worship service. To say that church "praised the Lord" on that Sunday would be an understatement. In 1991, Ms. Barksdale won an Award from the National Federation of Music. She was also nominated to sing at the 25th Anniversary Gospel Academy Awards at Cincinnati's Convention Center on November 16, 1996, where, with her solo rendition of We Shall Behold Him, Kay won a "Gospel Academy Award of Excellence," one of only three soloists so honored. In early 1991, Kay has been invited to give a concert at Cincinnati's St. Stephen A.M.E. Church in Cincinnati. This marks the fifteenth consecutive year that Kay has performed and ministered at this leading Cincinnati church. 1997 also marks the ninth consecutive year she has been invited to sing at Cincinnati's Greater New Light Baptist Church. Kay has the ability and the poise to enter a roomful of strangers and depart with everyone her friend. She has known fame, but if you were to ask her who she is, she would reply, simply and honestly: "I am a Child of God."
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Ms. Kay Francis Barksdale |
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