[PAR] [TLE] Laura Duncan (American singer) [SEP] Laura Duncan was an African-American singer, whose performance of the song "Strange Fruit" at Madison Square Garden in New York City in 1938 helped bring the song to the notice of singer Billie Holiday, who later performed a powerful rendition of the song. [PAR] [TLE] Strange Fruit [SEP] "Strange Fruit" is a song performed most famously by Billie Holiday, who first sang and recorded it in 1939.  Written by teacher Abel Meeropol as a poem and published in 1937, it protested American racism, particularly the lynching of African Americans.  Such lynchings had reached a peak in the South at the turn of the century, but continued there and in other regions of the United States.  According to the Tuskegee Institute, 1,953 Americans were murdered by lynching, about three quarters of them black.  The lyrics are an extended metaphor linking a tree’s fruit with lynching victims.  Meeropol set it to music and, with his wife and the singer Laura Duncan, performed it as a protest song in New York City venues in the late 1930s, including Madison Square Garden.
[PAR] [TLE] Laura Duncan ( American singer ) [ SEP ] Laura Duncan was an African - American singer , whose performance of the song " Strange Fruit " at Madison Square Garden in New York City in 1938 helped bring the song to the notice of singer Billie Holiday , who later performed a powerful rendition of the song . [PAR] [TLE] Strange Fruit [ SEP ] " Strange Fruit " is a song performed most famously by Billie Holiday , who first sang and recorded it in 1939 . Written by teacher Abel Meeropol as a poem and published in 1937 , it protested American racism , particularly the lynching of African Americans . Such lynchings had reached a peak in the South at the turn of the century , but continued there and in other regions of the United States . According to the Tuskegee Institute , 1,953 Americans were murdered by lynching , about three quarters of them black . The lyrics are an extended metaphor linking a tree ’s fruit with lynching victims . Meeropol set it to music and , with his wife and the singer Laura Duncan , performed it as a protest song in New York City venues in the late 1930s , including Madison Square Garden .
Laura Duncan famously performed a song at Madison Square Garden in New York City in 1938 that was adapted from a poem by whom?
Laura Duncan famously performed a song at Madison Square Garden in New York City in 1938 that was adapted from a poem by whom ?
Abel Meeropol
Abel Meeropol