Ernestine Beatrice “Sister Ernestine” Washington (1914–1983)

Ernestine Beatrice Washington, also known as Sister Ernestine or Madame Ernestine B. Washington, was a gospel singer associated with the Church of God in Christ (COGIC).

Ernestine Thomas was born in Little Rock (Pulaski County) on July 16, 1914, to James and Gertrude Thomas. Her mother was a well-known sanctified church singer. From the age of four, she sang in church services, often performing the hymn “I Come to the Garden Alone” with her mother. She graduated from high school in Little Rock, likely Gibbs High School, and later worked in domestic service before singing full time. She was reportedly a childhood friend of Sister Rosetta Tharpe, another Arkansas-born musical pioneer.

On June 6, 1934, she married Frederick Douglas Washington. The couple would have two children. The family first lived in Montclair, New Jersey, where Elder Washington founded Trinity Temple COGIC, and later moved to Brooklyn, New York, where he established what became the Washington Temple Church of God in Christ. Washington served as church soloist.

Washington combined the powerful style of sanctified gospel singer Arizona Dranes with the more restrained phrasing of Baptist gospel performer Roberta Martin. Music historian Tony Heilbut, in The Gospel Sound, described her as both popular and influential in mid-twentieth-century gospel, stating, “Her singular achievement was to wed sanctified bravura to the legato soul of her Baptist inspiration, Roberta Martin.”

Washington’s first recording was in 1943, and she later recorded with the Dixie Hummingbirds in 1944 and with jazz trumpeter Bunk Johnson’s band in 1946. Unlike Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Washington received little criticism from the gospel world for performing with jazz musicians, likely because of her role as a pastor’s wife.

Washington did not achieve major commercial success and was not a regular on gospel tours, but she was an important musical figure within COGIC, where she was called the “Songbird of the East.” She was the official denominational soloist who often sang before Presiding Bishop J. O. Patterson Sr. delivered his sermons. While her national fame was limited, she influenced later gospel singers.

Washington died in Brooklyn on July 1, 1983.

For additional information:
Heilbut, Tony. The Gospel Sound: Good News and Bad Times. Rev. ed. New York: Limelight Editions, 1997.

Smith, Chris. “Notes to Sister Ernestine Washington Recordings.” Sequel Records, 1990s CD reissues.

Jeff Waggoner
Nassau, New York