Editing Ma Rainey (section)

==Early life==
There is uncertainty about the birth date of Gertrude Pridgett. Some sources indicate that she was born in 1882, while most sources assert that she was born on April 26, 1886.<ref name="auto2"/> Pridgett claimed to have been born on April 26, 1886 (beginning with the 1910 census, taken April 25, 1910), in [[Columbus, Georgia]].<ref name=Lieb2/> However, the 1900 census indicates that she was born in September 1882 in [[Alabama]], and researchers Bob Eagle and Eric LeBlanc suggest that her birthplace was in [[Russell County, Alabama]].<ref name="bare">{{cite book| first1= Bob| last1= Eagle| first2= Eric S.| last2= LeBlanc| year= 2013| title= Blues: A Regional Experience| publisher= Praeger Publishers| location= Santa Barbara, California| pages=87 | isbn= 978-0313344237}}</ref><ref name=1900Census/>  She was the second of five children of Thomas and Ella (née Allen) Pridgett, from Alabama. She had at least two brothers and a sister, Malissa Pridgett Nix.<ref name=Lieb2/>

In February 1904, Ma Rainey married William "Pa" Rainey.<ref name="auto">[https://www.encyclopedia.com/women/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/rainey-ma-1886-1939 "Ma Rainey"]. ''Women in World History: A Biographical Encyclopedia''. Encyclopedia.com. Updated 2020. Retrieved November 22, 2020.</ref> She took on the stage name "Ma Rainey", which was "a play on her husband's nickname, 'Pa{{'"}}.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thejaxsonmag.com/article/ma-rainey-the-mother-of-the-blues/|title=Ma Rainey: The Mother of the Blues|first=The|last=Jaxson|website=www.thejaxsonmag.com}}</ref>