Early Life of Dora Dean

 

 

Born Dora  Babbige in Covington, Kentucky in 1872. Little is known about her upbringing due to the scarcity of records during her childhood and adolescent part of her life.  Those who researched her are almost positive that her mother was in fact a slave, and they were also able to find out that she had a brother named Clarence Babbige. Dora was not the only well-known member of her family because her brother Clarence went on to be Kentucky’s first African American judge. However, it is said that her beauty was always legendary. She is described many times as voluptuous, shapely, and overall a show stopper. Her beauty is mentioned often in articles and reviews written about her. However, before she was on stage Dora Babbige worked as a nursemaid in a hospital in Cincinnati before 1889, so it can be concluded that she received some sort of schooling or training. After her stint as a nurse she decided to take her talents elsewhere and join the Jack T Creole Show in 1889.