Jessie was born in the Bronx, NY. Her mother Eda was a secretary and her father Velvel was a cutter of ladies dresses. She lived most of her earliest years sharing small railroad flats on Crotona Park North with her parents, grandmother, and later her younger brother Saul, who she adored and looked after like a tiger raises its cub. In fact, Jessie was known as quite the bad-ass among the children in her neighborhood — one mother confided in Eda that her child was afraid to play in the street when Jessie was around. Jessie described her parental home as very poor in those early days, where the food was stretched to feed the family and friends who dropped in often for singing, card games, schnapps, lots of joking and always discussions of the politics of the day.
Though poor in many ways, as a child and later as a teenager, Jessie always had beautiful and fashionable clothes thanks to the samples brought home by her father. With her slim physique and long legs she rocked those samples. Jessie’s first foray beyond the Bronx occurred when she ventured to Washington Irving High School near the village.
She soaked up the style and music of the day, along with an education later attending CCNY where she met her first husband Michael or “Mickey” as he was known then. They married after graduation.
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