Blondell Harris Hill was born in Marianna, Arkansas on February 9, 1904. At the age of 19 she was recruited to attend Earlham College and moved to Richmond, Indiana. At Earlham she completed two years of study, including music, piano, and other required course work. She then married Roy Hill, whose mother owned the Mary E. Hill Nursing Home in Richmond, Indiana. Blondell Hill was active as a church musician and played for the Sunday School and the Senior Choir at the Bethel A.M.E. church in Richmond. She passed her love of music on to her daughter, Rochelle, who sang in the children's and junior choirs.

Hill also worked for the Leeds family in Richmond as a cook. They spent the summers of 1952-1956 in the resort town of Petoskey, Michigan, where Hill performed with a local gospel choir. Originally formed by a seasonal household employee from Dayton, Ohio, the choir was comprised of African Americans in the Petoskey area who came from Michigan, Indiana, Wisconsin, and Kentucky to work in the resort town. Since there was no African American church in Petoskey and most of the household employees had been accustomed to singing in gospel choirs, the employers in the area made sure their help became familiar with the other Black household employees and directed them to a church that was preferred by the seasonal workers. Hill and her daughter both performed in the Petoskey Gospel Volunteer Choir and are pictured in the photograph included in the collection.

Blondell Hill passed away at the age of 101 on August 26, 2005, and is buried in Earlham Cemetery, Richmond, Indiana. Rochelle Hill Tinsley attended Indiana University, graduating with a BS in 1976 and an MS in 1978.