Editing Fredi Washington (section)

==Early life==
Fredi Washington was born in 1903 in [[Savannah, Georgia]], to Robert T. Washington, a postal worker, and Harriet "Hattie" Walker Ward, a dancer. Both were of African American and European ancestry.<ref name="breakground">{{cite news|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=950DEED9153CF933A05755C0A962958260 |first=Sheila |last=Rule|title=Fredi Washington, 90, Actress; Broke Ground for Black Artists|newspaper=The New York Times|date=June 30, 1994|access-date= December 14, 2008}}</ref> Washington was the second of their five children. Her mother died when Fredi was 11 years old.<ref name=":0">Nzinga Cotton. "Fredi Washington: Active Promoter of Rights for Black Entertainers", ''New Nation'' (London, UK), June 16, 2008, p. 21.</ref> As the oldest girl in her family, she helped raise her younger siblings, Isabel, Rosebud, and Robert, with the help of their grandmother.{{Citation needed |date=July 2024}} 

After their mother's death, Washington and her sister Isabel were sent to the [[St. Elizabeth's Convent]] School for Colored Girls in [[Cornwells Heights, Pennsylvania|Cornwells Heights]], near [[Philadelphia, Pennsylvania]].<ref name="Frank William Johnson 1994">Johnson, Frank William . "Acclaimed Actress Fredi Washington, 90, Has Passed Away", ''[[Philadelphia Tribune]]'', August 12, 1994, p. 4D.</ref> 

While Washington was still in school in Philadelphia, her family moved north from Georgia to [[Harlem, New York]]. Washington graduated from [[Julia Richman Education Complex|Julia Richman High School]] in New York City.<ref name="bourne">[[Stephen Bourne (writer)|Bourne, Stephen]]. [https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-fredi-washington-1411510.html "Obituary: Fredi Washington"], ''The Independent'' (London, UK), July 4, 1994.</ref>