February 15, 2007
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Profile America for the 15th day of Black History Month. Jazz singer Betty Carter showed her talent early on and was singing with Charlie Parker at the age of 16. She later performed with Dizzy Gillespie and Miles Davis, and toured with Lionel Hampton, who gave her the nickname "Betty Bebop" for her scat singing ability. Carter recorded a hit version of "Baby, It's Cold Outside" with Ray Charles, and sang at the Newport Festival and the White House. Her album "Look What I Got!" won an Emmy, and her recording of "Open the Door" was featured in the soundtrack of the Academy Award winning movie "American Beauty." In 1997, she was awarded the National Medal of Arts by President Clinton. There are nearly 180,000 musicians and singers across the U.S., about 9 percent of them African-American. This special Profile America for Black History Month is a public service of the U.S. Census Bureau.