Editing Shirley Childress Saxton

{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}}
{{Infobox musical artist <!-- For individuals; see Wikipedia:WikiProject_Musicians -->
| name                = Shirley Childress Johnson Saxton
| image                 = 
| alt             =
| caption            = Childress (front, right) with Sweet Honey in the Rock c.1985
| image_size            =
| background          = non_vocal_instrumentalist
| birth_name          = Shirley Childress Johnson
| birth_date          = 1947
| death_date          = March 6, 2017 (aged 69)
| origin              = [[Washington, D.C.]]
| instrument          =
| genre               =
| occupation          =
| years_active        = 1980–2017
| label               =
| associated_acts     = [[Sweet Honey in the Rock]]
| website                 =
}}

'''Shirley Childress Johnson Saxton''' (1947–2017)<ref>Washington City Paper week beginning Thursday March 24, 2017(WCP published every Thursday) article: "Her Sign From Above" by Alona Wartofsky</ref> was an [[African-American]] sign language instructor and interpreter. She performed with [[Sweet Honey in the Rock]] from 1980–2017.<ref>{{cite news |first=Katti |last=Gray |title=Sweet Honey in the Rock delivers protests, ballads |work=Chicago Tribune |date=2005-11-06 |page=6 (Tempo) |quote=Shirley Childress Johnson Saxton, who translates the singing into American Sign Language, came aboard in 1980. }}</ref>

==Biography==

===Early life and education===
Shirley Childress Johnson was born and reared in [[Washington, D.C.]] to [[deaf]] parents, Herbert Johnson, and Thomasina Childress, making [[ASL|American Sign Language]] her first language. She had two sisters, Maxine Childress Brown and Dr. Khaula Murtadha Watts.<ref name="souls">{{cite book |editor1-first=Dawn Marie |editor1-last=Daniels |editor2-first=Candace |editor2-last=Sandy |title=Souls of my Sisters: Black women break their silence, tell their stories, and heal their spirits |year=2000 |publisher=Dafina Books |location= |isbn=1-57566-653-7 |chapter=I Stretch My Hands to Thee |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/soulsofmysisters00dawn }}</ref> Saxton earned a bachelor's degree in Deaf Education from the [[University of Massachusetts Amherst]] and did graduate work at the [[University of the District of Columbia]].

===Career===
She began her practice of interpreting for the deaf at Shiloh Baptist Church in Washington, D.C.. She was a certified interpreter and was a member of [[Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf]]. She taught introductory ASL classes and master workshops on interpreting music across the country. She joined Sweet Honey in the Rock in 1980. [http://sweethoneyintherock.org/art-and-shirley/]

===Marriage and children===
Shirley Childress Johnson was married to Pablo Saxton, and add her husband's last name into her name. She had two sons, Reginald and Deon.<ref name="souls"/>

===Death===
Shirley Childress Johnson Saxton died on March 6, 2017 at the age of 69. Of complications from West Nile virus.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Notes==
*[http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/arts/music/blog/20855924/shirley-childress-obituary Washington City Paper link, Shirley Childress obituary]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saxton, Shirley Childress}}
[[Category:1947 births]]
[[Category:2017 deaths]]
[[Category:21st-century African-American educators]]
[[Category:21st-century American educators]]
[[Category:Educators of the deaf]]
[[Category:Musicians from Washington, D.C.]]
[[Category:University of Massachusetts Amherst College of Education alumni]]
[[Category:University of the District of Columbia alumni]]
[[Category:Sweet Honey in the Rock members]]
[[Category:American Sign Language interpreters]]
[[Category:20th-century American translators]]
[[Category:20th-century African-American women]]
[[Category:21st-century African-American women]]
[[Category:20th-century African-American educators]]
[[Category:20th-century American educators]]
[[Category:21st-century American women educators]]
[[Category:20th-century American women educators]]