Editing Grace Moore (section)

==Early life==
Moore was born Mary Willie Grace Moore, the daughter of Tessa Jane ([[née]] Stokely) and Richard Lawson Moore. She was born in the community of Slabtown (now considered part of [[Del Rio, Tennessee|Del Rio]]) in [[Cocke County, Tennessee]].  By the time she was two years old, her family had relocated to [[Knoxville, Tennessee|Knoxville]], a move Moore later described as traumatic.  She found urban life distasteful at the time.<ref name=neely>Jack Neely, "Grace Under Pressure."  ''From the Shadow Side'' (Oak Ridge, Tenn.: Tellico Books, 2003), pp.  167–174.</ref>  After several years in Knoxville, the family again relocated to [[Jellico, Tennessee]], where Moore spent her adolescence. After public high school in Jellico, she studied briefly at [[Ward-Belmont College]] in [[Nashville, Tennessee|Nashville]]<ref name=Zepp>Zepp, George. [http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051026/COLUMNIST0102/105030047/-1/SPECIAL0902 Opera star trained at Ward-Belmont] ''The Tennessean'', April 26, 2006.</ref> before moving to [[Washington, D.C.|Washington]], D.C., where she studied at Wilson-Greens School of Music in [[Chevy Chase, Maryland]].<ref name=Zepp/><ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=2025-01-22 |title=Grace Moore {{!}} Opera Singer, Movie Star & Philanthropist {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Grace-Moore |access-date=2025-03-10 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref> She relocated to New York in 1919 to pursue her singing career and performed there in nightclubs to help pay for singing classes.<ref>{{cite web |date=24 April 2024 |title=Grace Moore |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Grace-Moore}}</ref> Moore's first professional singing performance was at The Black Cat Café in [[Greenwich Village]].<ref name=neely />