when she was working in the Cotton Club.

"She was absolutely beautiful and a wonderful singer, and she did good work -- she was struggling for justice in the best sort of way," Horne said.

For The Record Los Angeles Times Tuesday January 06, 2004 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 1 inches; 33 words Type of Material: Correction Barnett obituary -- The obituary of Etta Moten Barnett in Monday's California section contained an incorrect song title. The name of the song is "Remember My Forgotten Man," not "Remember the Forgotten Man."

Barnett, the daughter of a Methodist minister in Texas, was not a likely candidate for a career in stage and films. She married young, bore three children and left her marriage -- all before shewas 30.

After her divorce, she returned to school, earning a bachelor's degree in voice and drama and a teacher's credential from the University of Kansas, where she was one of only 150 African Americans among a student body of 6,000.

Her senior recital in 1931, which was attended by 1,000 people, resulted in an invitation to perform solo for the highly respected Eva Jessye Choir in New York City. Leaving her children in the care of her parents, she headed for New York, stopping in Chicago.

It was there she met Claude Barnett, founder of the Associated Negro Press, a wire service for the nation's black newspapers. Barnett, a protege of Booker T. Washington, had a wide circle of friends who could help the young singer in New York. He