ABSTRACT
September 23, 1926 (Thursday afternoon, ca. 3:00 p.m. or 5:00 p.m.). Hamlet, North Carolina. John William Coltrane is born. The time of birth is uncertain because John's birth certificate is unclear (see Porter, 1998, p. 12, Fig. 6). The Coltranes lived in a second-floor apartment in a boarding house at 200 Hamlet Ave., on the southwest corner of Hamlet Ave. and Bridges St. For an in-depth exploration of Coltrane's ancestry and childhood, see “Hamlet: John Coltrane's Origins,” by David Tegnell, Jazz Perspectives, November 2007, pp. 167–215.
