found: African American National Biography, accessed March 8, 2015, via Oxford African American Studies Center database:(Preer, Evelyn; Evelyn Jarvis; Evelyn Thompson; actress, jazz singer; born 16 July 1896 in Vicksburg, Mississippi, United States; met African American filmmaker Oscar Micheaux and began playing in his movies; joined the Harlem-based Lafayette Players (1920); performed and recorded with Duke Ellington; played in stage musical, Rang Tang, (1927); had a lead role in first sound film, Georgia Rose (1930); appeared in two Paramount Company films: Ladies of the Big House (1931) and Blonde Venus (1932); died 17 November 1932 in Los Angeles, California, United States)