Lena McLin Biography Favorites Color Blue Food Turnip Greens with Hamhock Time of Year Christmastime

Musician, teacher, and composer, Reverend Lena McLin was born September 5, 1928 in Atlanta, Georgia to parents Benjamin J. Johnson and Bernice Dorsey Johnson. Her parents were close to Reverend A.D. Williams and Reverend William Holmes Borders. McLin's childhood friends included young Martin Luther King, Jr. and his sister Christine. When she was five, McLin was sent to Chicago to live with her uncle, Thomas A. Dorsey, known as the father of gospel music. She attended McCosh Elementary School and served as a young accompanist for her uncle's famed Pilgrim Baptist Church choir. After moving back to Atlanta, she graduated from Booker T. Washington High School in 1947. At Spelman College, McLin earned a bachelor of music degree in 1951. McLin also studied in Chicago at the American Conservatory of Music, Roosevelt University, and Chicago State University.

McLin started her teaching career at Julius H. Hess Upper Grade Center in 1959, moving to Hubbard High School in 1960. As a founder of the McLin Ensemble and the McLin Opera Company, she created performance opportunities for African American musicians. She taught at John Marshall Harlan High School from 1963 to 1970, leaving to teach at the new Kenwood Academy. There, as music department chair, McLin created a pilot curriculum that included all types of music from classical to popular, helping to launch the careers of singer/actor Mandy Patinkin, Metropolitan Opera star Mark Rucker, jazz singers Maggie Brown and Kim English and rhythm and blues artist Robert "R" Kelly. In 1977, McLin published a music history for youth entitled, Pulse: A History of Music.

As a founder of Trinity Congregational Church, McLin also worked as the minister of music. In 1982, she became founding pastor of Holy Vessel Baptist Church. McLin has published over 400 compositions including tributes to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Gwendolyn Brooks. Her compositions range from solo voice to full orchestrations. Sought after nationally as a speaker and workshop leader, McLin is the recipient of the Outstanding Teacher Award in 1983 and numerous other awards and honorary degrees. McLin has a son and a daughter and two grandchildren and lives in Chicago's South Shore community.

McLin was interviewed by The HistoryMakers on January 5, 2005.