Geneva Southall was born in New Orleans, the daughter of a United Methodist minister. She graduated from Dillard University in 1945 as a music major. At the age of 27, a young widow with a six year old daughter, she began work on a master’s degree at the American Conservatory of Music. In 1966 she became the first woman to receive a PhD in music literature and piano performance from the University of Iowa. She began her researches into the life and work of Thomas Greene Wiggins, known as Blind Tom (1849-1906). She became a professor at the University of Minnesota in 1970.