Editing Mahalia Jackson (section)

== Later years (1964–1972) ==

Jackson toured Europe again in 1964, mobbed in several cities and proclaiming, "I thought I was the Beatles!" in Utrecht.<ref>Goreau, p. 379.</ref> She appeared in the film ''[[The Best Man (1964 film)|The Best Man]]'' (1964), and attended a ceremony acknowledging [[First inauguration of Lyndon B. Johnson|Lyndon Johnson's inauguration]] at the White House, becoming friends with [[Lady Bird Johnson|Lady Bird]]. When at home, she attempted to remain approachable and maintain her characteristic sincerity. Mostly in secret, Jackson had paid for the education of several young people as she felt poignant regret that her own schooling was cut short.<ref>Burford 2020, pp. 408–409.</ref><ref>Goreau, p. 365.</ref> Stories of her gifts and generosity spread. Her phone number continued to be listed in the Chicago public telephone book, and she received calls nonstop from friends, family, business associates, and strangers asking for money, advice on how to break into the music industry, or general life decisions they should make. Her house had a steady flow of traffic that she welcomed. Jackson had thoroughly enjoyed cooking since childhood, and took great pleasure in feeding all of her visitors, some of them staying days or weeks on her request.<ref>Goreau, pp. 264–270, 347–353.</ref>{{efn|Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington praised Jackson's cooking. (Goreau, pp. 83–96, 189.)}}

Through friends, Jackson met Sigmond Galloway, a former musician in the construction business living in [[Gary, Indiana]]. Despite Jackson's hectic schedule and the constant companions she had in her entourage of musicians, friends, and family, she expressed loneliness and began courting Galloway when she had free time. As a complete surprise to her closest friends and associates, Jackson married him in her living room in 1964. Only a few weeks later, while driving home from a concert in St. Louis, she found herself unable to stop coughing. She checked herself into a hospital in Chicago. Since the cancellation of her tour to Europe in 1952, Jackson experienced occasional bouts of fatigue and shortness of breath. As her schedule became fuller and more demands were placed on her, these episodes became more frequent. This time, the publicly disclosed diagnosis was heart strain and exhaustion, but in private Jackson's doctors told her that she had had a heart attack and sarcoidosis was now in her heart.<ref>Goreau, 379–395.</ref>

Jackson's recovery took a full year during which she was unable to tour or record, ultimately losing {{convert|50|lb|kg}}. From this point on she was plagued with near-constant fatigue, bouts of [[tachycardia]], and [[Hypertension|high blood pressure]] as her condition advanced. Jackson was often depressed and frustrated at her own fragility, but she took the time to send Lyndon Johnson a telegram urging him to protect marchers in [[Selma, Alabama]], when she saw news coverage of [[Selma to Montgomery marches|Bloody Sunday]]. Galloway proved to be unreliable, leaving for long periods during Jackson's convalescence, then upon his return insisting she was imagining her symptoms. He tried taking over managerial duties from agents and promoters despite being inept. They argued over money; Galloway attempted to strike Jackson on two different occasions, the second one thwarted when Jackson ducked and he broke his hand hitting a piece of furniture behind her. The marriage dissolved and she announced her intention to divorce. He responded by requesting a jury trial, rare for divorces, in an attempt to embarrass her by publicizing the details of their marital problems. When Galloway's infidelities were proven in testimony, the judge declined to award him any of Jackson's assets or properties.<ref>Goreau, pp. 395–453.</ref>

Her doctors cleared her to work and Jackson began recording and performing again, pushing her limitations by giving two- and three-hour concerts. She performed exceptionally well belying her personal woes and ongoing health problems. When not on tour, she concentrated her efforts on building two philanthropies: the Mahalia Jackson Foundation which eventually paid tuition for 50 college students, and the culmination of a dream she had for ten years: a nondenominational temple for young people in Chicago to learn gospel music. As she organized two large benefit concerts for these causes, she was once more heartbroken upon learning of the [[assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.]] She attended [[Funeral of Martin Luther King Jr.|the funeral in Atlanta]] where she gave one of her most memorable performances of "[[Take My Hand, Precious Lord]]". With this, Jackson retired from political work and personal endorsements.<ref>Goreau, pp. 469–489.</ref><ref name="heilbut31">Heilbut, p. 31.</ref>

Branching out into business, Jackson partnered with comedian [[Minnie Pearl]] in a chain of restaurants called Mahalia Jackson's Chicken Dinners and lent her name to a line of canned foods.<ref>Burford 2020, pp. 420–426.</ref> She purchased a lavish condominium in Chicago overlooking [[Lake Michigan]] and set up room for Galloway, whom she was considering remarrying. At 58 years old, she returned to New Orleans, finally allowed to stay as a guest in the upscale [[Omni Royal Orleans|Royal Orleans]] hotel, receiving [[red carpet]] treatment. She embarked on a tour of Europe in 1968, which she cut short for health reasons, but she returned in 1969 to adoring audiences. Now experiencing inflammation in her eyes and painful cramps in her legs and hands, she undertook successful tours of the [[Caribbean]], still counting the house to ensure she was being paid fairly, and [[Liberia]] in West Africa. In 1971, Jackson made television appearances with [[Johnny Cash]] and [[Flip Wilson]]. For three weeks she toured Japan, becoming the first Western singer since the end of World War II to give a private concert for the [[Imperial House of Japan|Imperial Family]]. The [[U.S. State Department]] sponsored a visit to India, where she played Kolkata, New Delhi, Madras, and Mumbai, all of them sold out within two hours. In New Delhi, she had an unexpected audience with Prime Minister [[Indira Gandhi]] who declared, "I will never hear a greater voice; I will never know a greater person."<ref>Goreau, p. 575.</ref><ref>Burford 2020, p. 109.</ref> While touring Europe months later, Jackson became ill in Germany and flew home to Chicago where she was hospitalized. In January 1972, she received surgery to remove a [[bowel obstruction]] and died in recovery.<ref name="ebony obit"/><ref>Goreau, pp. 485–610.</ref>

Although news outlets had reported on her health problems and concert postponements for years, her death came as a shock to many of her fans. She received a funeral service at Greater Salem Baptist Church in Chicago where she was still a member. Fifty thousand people paid their respects, many of them lining up in the snow the night before, and her peers in gospel singing performed in her memory the next morning. The day after, Mayor Richard Daley and other politicians and celebrities gave their eulogies at the [[Arie Crown Theater]] with 6,000 in attendance. Her body was returned to New Orleans where she [[Lying in state|lay in state]] at Rivergate Auditorium under a military and police guard, and 60,000 people viewed her casket. On the way to Providence Memorial Park in [[Metairie, Louisiana]], the funeral procession passed Mount Moriah Baptist Church, where her music was played over loudspeakers.<ref>Marovich, pp. 319–320.</ref><ref name="wapo obit">Price, Richard, "Mahalia Jackson Dies: Jackson: Praise for Her God", ''[[The Washington Post]]'' (January 28, 1972); p. A1.</ref><ref name="globe obit">"Mahalia Jackson dead at 60", ''[[The Boston Globe]]'' (January 28, 1972); p. 1.</ref><ref name="nyt obit">Whitman, Alden, "[https://www.nytimes.com/1972/01/28/archives/mahalia-jackson-gospel-singer-and-a-civil-rights-symbol-dies.html Mahalia Jackson, Gospel Singer And a Civil Rights Symbol, Dies]", ''[[The New York Times]]'' (January 28, 1972), p. 1. Retrieved February 2025.</ref>