Childhood in New Orleans [ ripped from the pages of  About  Education]

Louis Armstrong was born in New Orleans, Louisiana to sixteen-year-old Mayann Albert and her boyfriend Willie Armstrong. Only weeks after Louis' birth, Willie left Mayann and Louis was placed in the care of his grandmother, Josephine Armstrong.Josephine brought in some money doing laundry for white families, but struggled to keep food on the table. Young Louis Armstrong had no toys, very few clothes, and went barefoot most of the time. Despite their hardships, Josephine made sure that her grandson attended school and church.
While Louis was living with his grandmother, his mother briefly reunited with Willie Armstrong and gave birth to a second child, Beatrice, in 1903. While Beatrice was still very young, Willie once again left Mayann.
Four years later, when Armstrong was six years old, he moved back in with his mother, who was then living in a tough neighborhood called Storyville. It became Louis’ job to look after his sister.

Working on the Streets

By the age of seven, Armstrong was looking for work wherever he could find it. He sold newspapers and vegetables and made a little money singing on the street with a group of friends. Each group member had a nickname; Louis Armstrong's was "Satchelmouth" (later shortened to "Satchmo"), a reference to his wide grin. Armstrong saved up enough money to buy a used cornet (a brass musical instrument similar to a trumpet), which he taught himself to play. He quit school at age eleven to concentrate on earning money for his family.While performing on the street, Armstrong and his friends came into contact with local musicians, many of whom played in Storyville honky-tonks (bars with working-class patrons, often found in the South). Armstrong was befriended by one of the city's best known trumpeters, Bunk Johnson, who taught him songs and new techniques and allowed Louis to sit in with him during performances in the honky-tonks.
Armstrong managed to stay out of trouble until an incident on New Year's Eve 1912 changed the course of his life.

The Colored Waif's Home

During a New Year's Eve street celebration at the end of 1912, eleven-year-old Louis fired a pistol into the air. He was hauled off to the police station and spent the night in a cell. The next morning, a judge sentenced him to the Colored Waif's Home for an unspecified period of time.The home, a reformatory for troubled black youths, was run by a former soldier, Captain Jones. Jones provided discipline as well as regular meals and daily classes, all of which had a positive effect on Armstrong. Eager to participate in the home's brass band, Armstrong was disappointed that he was not allowed to join right away. The band director surmised that a boy from Storyville who had fired a gun did not belong in his band.
Armstrong proved the director wrong as he worked his way up the ranks. He first sang in the choir and later was assigned to play various instruments, eventually taking over the cornet. Having demonstrated his willingness to work hard and act responsibly, young Louis Armstrong was made leader of the band. He reveled in this role.
In 1914, after eighteen months at the Colored Waif's Home, it was time for Armstrong to return home to his mother.

Becoming a Musician

Back home again, Armstrong worked delivering coal during the day and spent his nights in local dance halls listening to music. He became friends with Joe "King" Oliver, a leading cornet player, and ran errands for him in return for cornet lessons. Armstrong learned quickly and began to develop his own style. He filled in for Oliver at gigs and gained further experience playing in parades and funeral marches.When the U.S. entered World War I in 1917, Armstrong was too young to participate, but the war did indirectly affect him. When several sailors stationed in New Orleans became victims of violent crime in the Storyville district, the secretary of the Navy shut the district down, including brothels and clubs. While a large number of New Orleans' musicians moved north, many relocating to Chicago, Armstrong stayed and soon found himself in demand as a cornet player.
By 1918, Armstrong had become well-known on the New Orleans music circuit, playing at numerous venues. That year, he met and married Daisy Parker, a prostitute who worked in one of the clubs he played in.