Debby Moore

Born in Lincolnville in 1928 as Emmaline Maultsby, Debbie attended Excelsior School and sang in the choir at Trinity Methodist Church, in St. Augustine. She went to New York as a teenager to seek her fame and fortune as a singer and at the suggestion of Louis Armstrong, she adopted the stage name, Debby Moore. In the course of her international career, she sang with Earl "Fatha" Hines, toured Asia representing the United States, made movies in Japan, and wrote songs. Some of her songs were recorded by Woody Herman and Louis Prima; others she sang herself on her 1959 record My Kind of Blues.

When she returned to Saint Augustine in the 1970's there were no opportunities for a Black jazz performer and she found work as a waitress and later at the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind. Now retired, she is known as Debbie McDade. Debbie is listed in the Encyclopedia of Jazz. She has been active in many community efforts, serving as a board member of Excelsior Museum and Cultural Center, and the Foot Soldiers Memorial Project.

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