Billie Holiday before she was famous

She scrubbed steps. Then she sang Harlem clubs.

The nobody years

1915 Born Eleanora Fagan
In 1915, a baby named Eleanora Fagan is born in Philadelphia to unmarried teenage parents. Her mother takes work on the railroads, so relatives in Baltimore raise the girl instead. The name Billie Holiday doesn't exist yet.
Was born Eleanora Fagan in Philadelphia to unmarried teenage parents, and was largely raised in Baltimore by relatives after her mother took railroad transportation jobs. Source
1925 Reform school at nine
At nine years old, she's brought before a truancy court. The ruling sends her to the House of the Good Shepherd, a Catholic reform school. She is a child, and the city has decided where she'll sleep.
Was sent to the House of the Good Shepherd, a Catholic reform school, after truancy court appearances at age nine. Source
1926 Restaurant work, age eleven
Around eleven, she walks away from school for good. Her mother has opened a restaurant, and the girl works it — long hours, hot kitchen, no childhood left over.
Dropped out of school around age eleven and worked long hours at the restaurant her mother opened. Source
December 1926 Held as protective witness
In December 1926 she survives a sexual assault by a neighbor. The court returns her to the reform school — not for anything she did, but as a witness held in protective custody. The system keeps the child and calls it safety.
After surviving a sexual assault by a neighbor, was returned to reform school as a protective-custody witness rather than for any wrongdoing of her own. Source
February 1927 Scrubbing floors, running errands
She's released in February 1927, not yet twelve. She runs errands in a brothel and scrubs steps and floors in neighborhood homes for coins. On the house Victrola she hears Louis Armstrong and Bessie Smith — the first music that ever sounded like instruction.
On release at not yet twelve, found work running errands in a brothel and scrubbing steps and floors in neighborhood homes, where she first heard Louis Armstrong and Bessie Smith records on the house Victrola. Source
1929 Singing Harlem clubs for tips
In early 1929 she joins her mother in Harlem. She starts singing in nightclubs for whatever the tables will tip — no lessons, no training, no sheet music. Just a voice and a room full of strangers.
Joined her mother in Harlem and began singing in nightclubs for tips, with no formal training. Source