.....B.B. Bratton was the first Negro CPA in Louisiana, Opportunity, 4/1925, p127
ADVICE GIVEN
.....Todd Duncan encouraged Charlotte Holloman to pursue a Masters in voice and not piano. See "Conversation with Charlotte Holloman"
.....Mme E. Azalia Hackley encouraged Florence Cole Talbert to pursue her voice and not keyboard music, Pitts C, 8/17/35 (8/1)
AERONAUTICAL ENGINEER
.....Lieut. Willim J. Powell, aeronautical engineer and teacher in the Los Angeles city schools., Pitts C, 10/12/35 (5/1). photo included
AMERICAN GUILD OF ORGANISTS
.....Honored Wilbur P. Johnson on his election to membership, Amst News, 5/25/35-picture included
AMERICAN LIBRARY IN PARIS
.....Opened with a program which dealt with modern compositions, which included Clarence C. White's String Quartet., Amst News, 11/25/31, p7
ANDERSON, MARIAN
.....Weds New York Architect, Chi Def, 10/27/43, p13
ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY
.....Catherine Boyd, 43 of DC, was buried in Arlington National Cemetery (Arlington Memorial Cemetery), one of the few colored women ever to be so honored, PItts C, 9/8/34 (4/1)
ASSOCIATED NEGRO PRESS
.....Claude Barnett was the founder of the ANP. Picture of him along with his wife Etta Moten Barnett
BAKER, JOSEPHINE
.....Irving Berlin buys Josephine Baker score, Pitts C, 11/9/29 (3/2)
.....Starred in silent film (1927) "The Siren of the Tropics", Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance, p93
.....Jo Baker, in "Siren" film, scoring at Elmore, Pitts C, 11/16/29 (8/1)
.....Josephine Baker, Idol of Paris, Pitts C, 11/16/29 (8/1)
.....Film portrays a race girl heading a cast of lighter-hued players, Pitts C, 11/16/29 (8/1)
BARBOUR, J. Berni
.....He and N. Clark Smith established the first black music publishing house in 1903. Barbour recording http://victor.library.ucsb.edu/index.php/talent/detail/61800
Operetta: Oberlin Maid, Chicago Defender, 3/2/18, 10
BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION
.....William Dawson, Pitts C, 11/24/34 (8/2)
BREAKS GIVEN
.....Noble Sissle gave Lena Horne a break when she sang in his band, Chic Def, 1/6/43
.....Jimmy East of philly introducd Natalie Hinderas to a public relations agency which helped get her on Hoagy Carmichael's coast to coast television show., jet 11/25/54, 47
BURLEY, DAN
....Jet Columnist and musician. See "Phil More -Ban (below). Jet, 12/24/53, p62
CHURCHES
.....First Negro churches of any denomination in American were organized by Baptists, Amste News, 8/31/35
CHURCH BREAKS TIES
.....Seventh Day Adventists (Harlem) severs ties with white governing body, Pitts C, 11/16/29 (3/1)
....In 1844, The Methodist Church broke up over slavery, Amst News, 8/24/35
.....Colored have been putting hundreds of thousands into hands of white conferences without any returns, Pitts C, 11/16/29 (3/1)
CLARK, F. A.
....Jack, the Giant Killer (Juvenile Operetta)
(Ad on the back of a piece of sheet music in M2193.C)
COLE-TALBERT, FLORENCE
.....Florence Cole-Talbert was concertizing on the west coast as of 9/1928.
COMMISSIONS
....."Soul of 76" by David Baker was published and commissioned by J. C. Penny Co.
CRAWFORD, MME ROBERTA DODD
.....Lyric soprano. In Paris as of 9/1928 working on her debut slated for 11/1928
DANCE
.....Mary Clemons introduced a new dance called "Top and Bottom", Pitts C, 11/9/29(3/2)
.....First negro opens with the Met opera. For the first time in its 670year history, a negro dancer appeared on the stage of New York's world famed Metropolitan Opera house when ballerina Janet Collins danced a lead role in the extravagant ballet scene in "Aida", which opened the Met's 1950-51 opera season. Appearance of Miss Collins in the cast was in accord with a policy promise made to Rudolph Bing when he took over the management of the socially elegant but financially insolvent Opera House last year. Said Bing: "I have no objections to casting Negros in grand opera roles." A chorus of 13 professional Negroe singers appeared as Negro slaves in the "Aida" production. As first Negro to appear, Dancer Collins may help perk up the Met's lagging box office. An indication of this was seen when Harlem socialite Modesta Rockmore, purchased a $30.00 dress circle seat for the opening which entitled her to sit in the gilded "Diamond Horseshoe," a section usually reserved for top bracket names in US finance and government. Mrs. Rockmore, whose husband is Pullman porter, wore a $20,000 ermine coat. Jet, 11/8/51, p54
DEDICATIONS
.....Edward Bland was orchestrator for "A Raisin in the Sun". His "Grand Slam" was dedicated to Jackie Robinson.
....."Freedom Suite" was dedicated to Lyndon B. Johnson.
.....March Triumphal of Freedom,(1922) by Fulton B. Karr (author of the "Shandon Bells" Anacostia DC. Sheet music cover, M28.K. "Respectfully dedicated to the boys of his home town of Anacostia, DC, who served their country and as a tribute to the memory of those who gave their lives in the great world war. by the author.
DEGREES CONFERRED
.....Va Union confers LL D Degree upon Courier Editor (Attorney Robert L. Vann). Pitts C, 6/19/26. Front page
DETT, ROBERT NATHANIEL
.....There's a published paragraph from Dett in the NYTs (12/27/1902, pBR15) inquiring about the author of a poem.
DIDDLEY, BO
.....On November 20, 1955, Bo Diddley was the first African-American to appear on The Ed Sullivan Show, only to infuriate him ("I did two songs and he got mad." Bo Diddley later recalls, "Ed Sullivan said that I was one of the first colored boys to ever double-cross him. Said that I wouldn't last six months."). Diddley had been asked to sing Tennessee Ernie Ford's hit "Sixteen Tons". But when he appeared on stage, he sang his #1 R&B hit "Bo Diddley." He was banned from further appearances.
DISCOVERIES
.....Henri Elkan, former dir of the Street Pier Opera Com has been credited with discovering Camilla WIlliams. Chi Def, 12/28/46, p3
.....Mary Cardwell Dawson discovered Robert McFerrin in 1938, according to P.L. Prattis, Pitts C, 2/5/55 (p14)
DOWNING, GEORGE
.....Harvard Law student wins praise in Mock Trial, Pitts C, 11/9/29 (5/1). See Also: W. Albert A. Hughes. See Also: Harvard Law Students
DRINKING GOURD
.....M1671.A (Hoyt Wayne Axton)
......Prologue. In the days immediately before the beginning for the Civil War there was a mass migration of slaves going northward to freedom... And they looked in the sky and saw the big dipper; but not knowing what to call it, they associated it with something they used in their everyday life...THE DRINKING GOURD... and they followed the river banks and the drinking gourd northward to freedom
DUEL PROFESSIONS (INCLUDING MUSIC)
.....Dr. W.W. Whitfield, well known Cleveland dentist and Baritone, Amst News, 9/12/28, 6
.....Caleb Peterson, Jr. 17 year old baritone and athlete., Amst News, 9/7/35, 20
DUNBAR HIGH SCHOOL (WASHINGTON, DC)
......The academic standards were so high, historically, until, for many years college entrance examinations were not required of graduates
DUNCAN, R. TODD
.....Sings for Secretary of the treasury and his wife at their home at 2447 Kalorama Road, Washington, DC, Pitts C, 2/16/35 (8/1)
ENCOURAGED ARTIST TO SING AND NOT PURSUE KEYBOARD INSTRUMENT
.....Todd Duncan encouraged Charlotte Holloman to pursue a Masters in voice, Seem "Conversation with Charlotte Holloman
.....Mme E. Azalia Hackley encouraged Florence Cole Talbert to pursue her voice and not keyboard music, Pitts C, 8/17/35 (8/1)
FISK JUBILEE SINGERS
.....Were initially called the Colored Christian Singers
FOLK SONGS
.....African Folk Song: Kum ba yah)
GLENN, GAYLA R.
....Student of R. Nathaniel Dett's at Hampton. Winner of 3rd place at a New York Evening Journal Festival contest, July 20, 1935). Amst News, 8/24/35
HACKLEY, E. AZALIA
.....Died in Detroit at the age of 54. Jet, 12/16/54, p8
HALL, JUANITA
.....Appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show
HAMPTON INSTITUTE
.....Choir invited to Library of Congress by Mrs. Coolidge. COOLIDGE
HANDY, W.C. (RELATED TO HIS BLINDNESS)
....Handy out of hospital; can't see his friends. On the medical staff at Harlemn hospital where Handy was, was the famed surgeon who has recovered from a long illness, Louis T. Wright, Handy's brother, Charles Handy, Chi Def, 12/25/43, p12
.....W.C. Handy Takes Bride: Blind, 80 year old W.C. Handy, composer of th e"St. Louis Blues", smiles broadly after marrying his secretary and "vision" for 16 years. Mrs. Irma L. Logan, 51, in Yonkers, NY. The ceremony was performed by Rev. Richard Koenig. Jet, 1/14/54, p33 [picture]
HARVARD LAW STUDENTS
.....Won praise from Harvard Faculty in Mock Trial. Pitts C, 11/9/29 (5/1)
.....Both men were Alpha Phi Alphas, George Downing from Virginia. Pitts C, 11/9/29 (5/1)
HEAD DUMP: WHO WENT TO WHAT COLLEGE AND DID WHAT?
.....Carol Blanton was a graduate of Spellman College and an MS from Juilliard school of music. She was also head of Dillard's Music Dept.
.....Helen Hagin was a concert pianist, died at 73, from Portsmouth, NH, born jan 1891, attended Yale, master's at Columbia
.....Janet Collins (Danseur) was born in New Orleans, mixed Black and french. Family moved to LA when she was four and she grew up there.
HENRY, PIERRE
.....First Negro patrolman, dies in B'klyn
.....First Negro cop succumbs at 83, Amst New, 8/10/35
HISTORICAL FIRSTS
.....Dr. Charles S. Johnson, Dean of the Social Sciences deprtment of Fisk, was the first colored man elected as a trustee of the Rosenwald Fund. Pitts C, 12/1/34 (2/1)
.....On November 20, 1955, Bo Diddley was the first African-American to appear on The Ed Sullivan Show, only to infuriate him ("I did two songs and he got mad." Bo Diddley later recalls, "Ed Sullivan said that I was one of the first colored boys to ever double-cross him. Said that I wouldn't last six months."). Diddley had been asked to sing Tennessee Ernie Ford's hit "Sixteen Tons". But when he appeared on stage, he sang his #1 R&B hit "Bo Diddley." He was banned from further appearances
.....Pierre Henry, first negro patrolman, Amst News, 8/10/35
.....Florence Cole Talbert, first African American "Aida", Pitts C, 8/17/35 (8/1)
.....Florence Cole Talbert, first colored organist (at age 16) of the Presbyterian Church in LA, Pitts C, 8/17/35 (8/1)
.....Geraldyn Dismond was the first African-American woman to host a regular radio show. Her show was "The Negro Achievement Hour", aired first on WABC, http://beinecke.library.yale.edu/cvvpw/gallery/dismond1.html (see also: Geraldyn Hodges Major)
.....Navy gets 1st negro Dental officer, Lieut. Thomas L. James, a meharry medical College grad assigned to the Philly naval shipyard as assistant dental officer. He's a native of pensacola, fla, enlisted in 51 and served in Japan. Jet 11/18/54, p4 (pic)
.....Mrs. Doris Dandridge harris, cousin of Dorothy Dandridge and the first negro instrumental solist to perform with Boston Pops.. Jet 11/18/54, p19
.....Lumberton, N.C. gets 1st negro policemen, Jet, 11/25/54, p14
.....Negro minister heads white church. installed as first negro pastor of new york's white Mott haven Dutch Reformed Church, west indies-born Rv. james j. Thomas gets help with his robe from Re. William C. Bennet and congratulations from Dr. Ernest R. Palen. (picture). Jet, 11/25/54, 19
.....Negro conducts Capetown, Sou Africa, orchestra. musician Dan R. Ulster conducted the Capetown Municipal Orchestra at the opening concert of the University Arts Festival in Capetown, So Africa and became the first negro to do so. jet, 11/25/54, p60
.....Concert singer Larry Winters may be the first Negro male to sing at the Met Opera House. met officials are talking with him about a role in "Othello"
.....Maryland Hospital admits 1st negro medic. Dr. Ulysses G. Bourne, jr. was admitted to the staff of the Memorial Hospital at Frederick, Md. and became the first Negro doctor ever to join the hospital's staff. Jet, 12/17/54, p17
.....Howard University was a unique educational institution in that it was a federal institution authorized specifically by act of Congress and the only one offering professional training at the time of enactment. Others came into being as a result of the Freedmen's Act and the missionary efforts of the Protestant church
.....Spelman College was American's first college for black women. Opened in 1881. Named after John D. Rockerfeller's mother, Abby Spelman.
.....The Hampton Institute Choir became the first mixed group to sing at the celebrated Salzburg Cathedral in Austria., Chi Def, 10/16/43, p22
.....Ed Bailey was the first colored musical director to ever direct a mixed choir in Hollywood. Chi Def, 10/16/43, p16
(ALSO)
7/4/25 pgs 6-7; "81 Theaters' Big Business", pg 6, col 4 - special advertising featuring the parade of stars on the bill during the summer=crowds flocking to see the shows, pg 6, col 4 (Bailey=owner of 81 Theater); Koppin Theater, T.O.B.A. ads; "By 'Gang'", pg 7, col 5 ("Gang" Jines) - "…best orchestra on Circuit" (was) Ed Bailey, who was leader, and who's orchestra included violin, coronet and drums; E. B. Dudley was considered a "knowledgeable manager (because he) accepts only what is wanted by his patrons… (7/4/25 http://www.csun.edu/~htang/chicago.html)
.....President of Musicians Local 767 and contender for more andbetter work for negro artists, held a new audition last Monday for individual singers for Warn Bros' Rhapsody in Blue., Chi Def, 10/9/43, p19
.....First African-American to lead navy's only musical training facility. Lt. Cmdr George N. Thompson. Photo at www.navyband.navy.mil/CAPTthompson.shtml
....A creole company which Al Anderson worked in was the first colored company ever booked in burlesque houses. (Pitts C, 1/16/26, p16)
.....James A. Munday produced and managed the first performance in Chicago of opera by Negro talent. Chi Def, 12/10/21, p5
.....Janet Collins was the first negro ballerina to be appointed at the Met.
....First negro opens with the Met opera. For the first time in its 670year history, a negro dancer appeared on the stage of New York's world famed Metropolitan Opera house when ballerina Janet Collins danced a lead role in the extravagant ballet scene in "Aida", which opened the Met's 1950-51 opera season. Appearance of Miss Collins in the cast was in accord with a policy promise made to Rudolph Bing when he took over the management of the socially elegant but financially insolvent Opera House last year. Said Bing: "I have no objections to casting Negros in grand opera roles." A chorus of 13 professional Negroe singers appeared as Negro slaves in the "Aida" production. As first Negro to appear, Dancer Collins may help perk up the Met's lagging box office. An indication of this was seen when Harlem socialite Modesta Rockmore, purchased a $30.00 dress circle seat for the opening which entitled her to sit in the gilded "Diamond Horseshoe," a section usually reserved for top bracket names in US finance and government. Mrs. Rockmore, whose husband is Pullman porter, wore a $20,000 ermine coat.
.....Carl Diton was the first to create pipe organ transcriptions of spirituals. his famous variation of Swing Low was composed on an organ.
.....Harry T. Burleigh was the first black editor for the G. Ricordi music publishing house in New York, one of the top music publishers of the day.
.....Winters, Lawrence. Baritone Lawrence Winters became the first Negro ever to sing a white role with a major opera company. Winters sang title role of New York City Opera Company's production of "Rigoletto". The date was Octobaer 12, 1952. Jet 9/25/52, p12
.....October 11, 1792. Antoine Blanc was born in New orleans. She founded the Sisters of the Holy Family, first Negro Catholic sisterhood in the United States. Jet, 9/25/52, p12
.....10/17/1888--The first negro bank in the US, Capital Savings Bank, was organized in DC.
.....Lucille Dixon was the first female bassist to perform with a name band when she joined Earl Hines' orchestra and has made television appearances with Euubie Blake, Frank Sinatra
.....Michigan swears its first negro woman senator. Cora M. Brown (Detroit). Jet, 1/29/53, p9
.....First NY State Sentator elected last November as the first negro state senatory in NY history. Harlem Democrat Julius A. Archibald (pic) Jet 1/22/53, p9
.....1/16/1937. Father Aloysius Nummik became the first african native to be ordained as a Roman Catholic priest in South Africa. Jet 1/22/53, p12
.....1/20/1900. The first anti-lynching bill was introduced into congress by negro congressman George H. White of North Carolina, Jet 1/22/53, p12
.....In 1945, Camilla Williams became the first African American female to appear with a major opera company (The New York City Opera Company). Todd Duncan became the first African American male to appear at the New York City Opera.
HUGHES, W. ALBERT A
.....Harvard Law Student wins praise in Mock Trial, Pitts C, 11/9-29 (5/1). See: Harvard Law Students. See Also: George Downing
HYMN WRITER
.....Eugene hunter, writer and former manager of Handy Brothers Music Co, of NY is now serving as W.C. handy's Southern rep. he has composed a national bypu march and anthem, which sells at 15c Pitts C, 1/5/35 (5/1)
JAZZ
.....Inventor Hudson Maxom made an appeal to the courts to put an end to the nuissance (sound) made by white jazz musicians. He said: these white bands make me tired. Pitts C. 4/1923
.....Stan Kenton attacked for slur on Negro Jazz. Jet, 12/24/53, p60-61. Stan K always controversial jazz figure, found himself the center of one of the hottest squabbles in the usic field because of a remark he made about Negro Jazz. Kenton told a reporter that his recenteuropean tour was a success because we ha taken Negro jazz and put it in European terms. He added "the harmonic structure of Negro jazz was not enough to satisffy Europeans. Their ears are accustomed to more complsx harmony and melody. Many musicians took issue with Kenton. One of the most vocal, pianist Teddy Wilson, queried: how would he (kenton) explain Louis Armstrong's phenomincal accepteace in Europe. I don't think European audiences believe complexity is neccesarily a virtue in itself. COmparing the Stan Kenton band with the DE Band, Wilson added: the most successful major work I've ever heard a jazz band play -using advanced techniques within the jazz frame work is Duke's Harlem Suite. Kenton retored, "I don't know what to say about that, except that we've played music more advanced in harmonic and melodic content that Dukes's. Henton recently was accused by Ellington of walking out on a planned Ellington Kenton concert tour.
JUBILEE SINGERS
.....The first company of jubilee singers to be organized in the state of Illinois was called the Jinglers (Chicago Defender, 6/5/37, 12)
MAJOR, GERALDYN HODGES
.....First African American woman to host a regular radio show, The Negro Achievement Hour", aired first on WABC, http://beinecke.library.yale.edu/cvvpw/gallery/dismon1.html. See: Historical Firsts
MCGINTY, DORIS E.
OXFORD Ph.D.
....Negro will be Oxford's 1st woman Ph.D. from US. Jet, 12/31/53, p16. Miss Doris V. Evans of the Howard University Music School faculty will receive a doctor's degree in philosophy from Oxford U this spring and become the first American woman to receive the degree. A 1951 fullbright felllow, Miss Evans worked under wold famed musicologist Dr. John Westrobe and Dr. Egan Wellesz at Oxford. A Howard graduate, she received a masters in music from Radcliffe College.
METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE
.....Concert singer Larry Winters may be the first Negro male to sing at the Metropolitan. Met officials are talking with him about a role in "Othello" Jet, 12/2/54, p63
.....Met signs 2nd negro singer.
Baritone Robert mcFerrin was signed by NY's Metropolitan Opera, and became the second Negro slated by the met to sing leading roles. Winner of the 1953 met opera Auditions of the Air, mcferrin will debut sometime after contralto Marian Anderson makes her 1/7//55 debut as Ulrica in Verdi's Masked Ball. McFerrin's role has not yet been announced. photo.
....Noted Carriage Caller at Opera Dies of Grief. Pitts C, 11/23/29 (front page)
"Black Carl", for over 25 years head carriage man at the Metropolitan Opera House and known by that name to dozens of stars and opera patrons died at the home of relatives in Kansas City, Kansas, Sunday. (He died because he was disappointed over being fired. His name was Edward Johnson. He had a nervous break down before that and had to retire, but didn't want to).
MEXICAN (THIS ISN'T BLACK. I JUST INCLUDED IT BECAUSE I SAW IT ON SHEET MUSIC!)
.....V.D. (Danny) Nirella: Chief Musician 1st Pa. F.A. Band, N.G.U.S.
.....Source: Chihuahua (by V.D. Nirella). M1645.N (no picture)
MOORE, PHIL
.....Ban Phil Moore Disc in Cleveland, Pensacola. Jet, 12/24/53.p, 62. [pic of Phil Moore and Dan Burley]. Phil MOore's recording of "Chinchy Old Scrooge, a jive-bop marrative of CHarles Dickens famous Christmas story was banned by Cleveland radio stations after the city's board of ed charged that it was a hrmful influence for children. Meanwhile, in london, the british broadcasting company receivd protests from listeners who said americans should not be allowed to parody an English legend. the reverse side of the record "Blink Before Christmas" which was writtten by Jet Columnist Dan Burley, was banned form the air in Pensacola Fla. Raeason: redio officials thought the jive lyrics were naughty.
MUSIC-CONCERT BAND
.....Lovie Austin's "Mother's Plea" (arr. W.M. P. Wadley) is in the collections at the Library of Congress.
MUSIC DIVISION (LOC) HAS SOMETHING!!!!
.....Hare, Maud Cuney. pianist and author, born in Galveston, TX and is the daughter of the late Norris Wright Cuney of Galveston. One of the foremost leaders in American politics. Her maternal grandparents came from Miss just across the line from parish of West Feliciana, LA, while the family of Cuney's coming from Switzerland, migrated to Rapids Parirish, Louisian and settled in Texas. A lecturere-recital on the subj of "Afro-American and Creole Folk Music" was givein during the season 1918-19 in the Boston Public Libary Lecture Course in which she was assisted by William H. Richardson, baritone. CHi Def, 2/28/20, p12
---That something, I believe, are letters from Maude Cuney Hare, asking for an opportunity of presenting this same program in the Coolidge Auditorium. While, I'm not sure that it happened, I've seen a program of Hare/Richardson, maybe in the Music Division.
......Mary Cardwell Dawson's NNOC invited Marian Anderson to be the guest of honor at a reception held on 2/19/61 (right before Mary died). We have the program and some pictures in the NNOC collection. The program is in one of the NNOC boxes with handwriting on the box
----In Recorded Sound, there's a transcript of interviews wwith Marian Anderson and James DePriest VOA Tapes Box 15 (Recorded Sound: James Depriest); VOA (Tapes: Box 4:
Marian Anderson)
MUSICIANS
----Harold W. McCoo (becomes Bethune's director of Music Department) replacing D.C. Green.
ORCHESTRATIONS
......Edward Bland orchestrated "A Raisin in the Sun"
ORDINARY PEOPLE DOING EXTRAORDINARY THINGS
.....William L. Dawson (the musician), was born in Anniston, Al, 9/25/1839. shinging shoes and tending a grocery store. he ran away from home when he had saved enough to pay his fare to tuskegee. Pitts C, 11/24/34 (8/2)
.....William L. Dawson worked seven years as a barefoot lad on Tuskegee's 2500 acre farm Pitts C, 11/24/34
NAACP
.....First black President. Dr. W. Monague Cobb
.....People's Voice, 8/26/44, p27 Dr. Alain Locke in a talk at Hampton, urged that the NAACP change its name to "The National Association for the Advancement of American Democracy"
NATIONAL MEDICAL ASSOCIATION
.....Dr. Frank B. Hargrave, physician and surgeon of Orange, NJ was elected to the NJ legislature, Pitts C, 11/16/29 (5/1)
NEGRO CITY (ALABAMA)
.....Negro city in Alabama called Hobson City (Afro American, 2/3/06, 1)
.....Negro city in Mississippi called Mound Bayou (Afro American, 2/3/06, 1)
NEGRO ILLITERACY
.....Persuading adult illiterates to attend school is a huge problem in New Orleans, Pitts C, 11/16/29 (front page)
.....6,000 illiterate whites and 13,000 black in new orleans, Pitts C, 11/16/29 (front page)
NEGRO SLAVE SONGS
.....Follow the Drinkin gourd (the words conceal the subversive directives to Negroes escaping from the slavery of the south. The drinking gourd refs to the star constellation, the bigg dipper. The old man a-waiting" was a peg-legged sailor who incited the slaves to run away and helped them to find the trail that would lead them North to freedom. The location of the trail was designated as "where the great big river meets the little river and the river ends between the hills". In reality this beautiful song hides within itself a minor document of Americna history)
NEGRO SPIRITUALIST HYMNAL
.....Silas W. Brister, Sr. (Brister, M1630.B) is black. His picture is on a sheet music cover. Also, he is the author -according to the cover- of the Negro Spiritualist Hymnal. I've yet to find something called that.
NICKNAMES
.....Lester Young called Billie Holiday "Lady Day"
.....Billy Strayhorn's nick name was "Sweet Pea"
.....Henrietta Williams is known as the "Singing Nightingale", Pitts C, 11/9/29 (3/2)
OPERA
.....James A. Mundy produced and managed the first performance in Chicago of opera by Negro talent. Chi Def, 12/10/21, p5
OXFORD Ph.D.
....Negro will be Oxford's 1st woman Ph.D. from US. Jet, 12/31/53, p16. Miss Doris V. Evans of the Howard University Music School faculty will receive a doctor's degree in philosophy from Oxford U this spring and become the first American woman to receive the degree. A 1951 fullbright felllow, Miss Evans worked under wold famed musicologist Dr. John Westrobe and Dr. Egan Wellesz at Oxford. A Howard graduate, she received a masters in music from Radcliffe College. [pic]
PASSING (WHITE FOR NEGRO)
.....Mezz Mezzrow, the white jazz musician who passed for Negro is living well off of the royalties of his autobiography, "Really the Blues" a best seller in France. Jet, 12/31/53, p64
PERFORMS WITH...
.....Louia Vaughn Jones. "Plays with Symphony". Louia V. Jones, head of the violin dept in the school of music at Howard last week became the first negro to play as a member of a major symphony orchestra here in the national's capital. The violinist distinguished himself during the recent opera season of the negro opera company headed by mary cardwell dawson. though jones had appeared as violin soloist with the national symphony, this was the first time he played as a member of the group. People's Voice, 9/2/44, 22
POWELL, ADAM CLAYTON III
.....Adam Powell III is composing original music and is getting instructions from his mother, famed pianist Hazel Scott. Jet, 1/7/54, p64 [pic]
PRINCE OF WALES
.....Autographed a banjo for S.S. Weeks, Amst News, 8/10/35
PRIZE-NOMINATIONS/AWARDS
.....David Baker's "Levels" was nominated for a Pulitzer in 1973
PRONUNCIATION OF "JORDAN" AS "JERDAN"
......Harry Burleigh said In a recital that the word "Jordan" (in the spiritual "I Stood by the River of Jordan") should be pronounced as "Jerdan" due to the the origin of the spritual in Virginia. Pitts C, 5/15/26, p7
PROPHECIES
.....Leslie Grigham, contemporary of Florence Cole Talbert and (both students of Mme Gloria Mayme) prophecies that Talbert would be a diva, Pitts C, 8/17/35 (8/1)
RELATIONSHIPS/REVELATIONS
.....Rosanne D. Charlton wrote for the Pitts C. She was James Miller's wife.
.....William Grant Still was a contender for the job of Dean of Howard University's Music Department during the time that Warner Lawson applied
.....Charlotte Enty, a pianist and music educator in Pittsburgh, was Billy Strayhorn's early teacher in Pittsburgh. There is one National Assocation of Negro Music program that lists Billy Strayhorn's name in it. The NANM had a convention in the 30s, perhaps, 1934 in Pittsburgh, and, one night of the convention, they had pupils participating in a recital. The program listed William Strayhorn, pupil of Charlotte D. Enty. The program is in the National Negro Opera Company Collection at the Library of Congress.
.....Mary Cardwell Dawson was Ahmad Jamal's early piano teacher. When she and her husband moved away from Pittsburgh, James Miller became his teacher.
.....Undine Smith Moore was Billy Taylor's teacher.
Georgia Douglass Johnson ran a column in the Pittsburgh Courier called "homely philosophy'. Douglass cowrote some songs with Lillian Evanti.
PUBLICATIONS
.....Heebie Jeebies is an African American magazine published in Chicago. It was devoted to calling vulgarity on the negro stage. It's rare, and the only copy I know of is at Yale.
ROBINSON, JACKIE
.....Edward Bland (orchestrator of "A Raisin in the Sun") dedicated his composition entitled "Grand Slam" to Jackie Robinson.0
ROCKERFELLER FOUNDATION
.....Donates hospital to Prairie View, Pitts C, 11/16/29 (2/1)
SAVAGE, AUGUSTA.
.....Dec, 16, 1937, Augusta Savage, sculptress, was commissioned by the NY World's Fair Committee to do a piece which would symbolize the contributions of Negroes to the field of Music,. It was the first such commission ever given to a Negro. Jet. 12/17/53, p10 [pic]
SCHOOLS
.....Dr. Margaret Butcher, member of the DC School Board, speaking on integration of schools: Segregation as a way of life exerts as great a pressure on the one who segregates as it does upon the one segregated. Jet, 12/24/53, p53
SLAVE-PREACHER
.....The Bapt Assoc of Alabama once owned a slave name Caesar Blackwell, african converted while serving in bondage in Lowndes Co, Ala, Amst News, 8/31/35
SPIRITUALS
.....Carl Diton was the first to create pipe organ transcriptions of spirituals. his famous variation of Swing Low was composed on an organ
TALBERT, FLORENCE COLE
.....First African American to sing role of Aida, Pitts C, 8/17/35 (8/1)
.....Toured with Fisk Jubilee Singers, the Orpheus Concert Company and with her mother making recitals on concert stage, Pitts C, 8/17/35 (8/1)
.....Accompanied Mme E. Azalia Hackley, Pitts C, 8/17/35 *8/1)
.....Composed her senior high school song and won a diamond medal. McKinley Junior High School, Pitts C, 8/17/35 (8/1)
.....Famous for her rendition of "Jesus Walked this Lonesome Valley" and "Balm in Gilead" , Pitts C, 8/17/35 (8/1)
TAP DANCERS
....Teddy Hale, Jet 2/21/54, p 63
TEACHERS/PUPILS
.....Ed Boatner taught Josephine Baker, Libby Holman, George Shirley and Clifton Webb.
.....Mme Gloria Mayne taught Florence Cole Talbert, Pitts C, 8/17/35 (8/1)
.....Mme Gloria Mayme taught Gary Cooper and Leslie Grigham; Gary Cooper made his Italian debut at the same time as Florence Cole Tablert, Pitts C, 8/17/35 (8/1)
.....Wilson Lamb is Bessie Trent's teacher, NYT, 11/19/35, p26
.....R. Nathaniel Dett's students: Gayla Glenn, Burke M. Matthis (Boley, OK: tenor), Aubrey W. Pankey (Pittsburgh, Baritone) and Gerald E. Wilson (Salem, Va: pianist), Pitts C, 4/7/23, Woman's Page
.....William Bowers, baritone and former member of the Hall Jonhson choir was a pupil of Mme Edith Gaudenzi, noted voice teacher. Awarded Rosenwald fellowship
.....Elizabeth Harp and Edith McColes are students of Grace D. Mahoney, Pitts C, 6/5/26, woman's page (picture)
.....Thelma Hayes, organ pupil of James Miller. Ms Hayes was also organist of Wesley Center Church, the position formerly held by James Miller. Also Virginia Carter was a student of James Miller, Pitts C, 7/21/34 (7/1)
.....Mary Cardwell Dawson taught Peggy Pierce Freeman, Errol Garner and Ahmad Jamal according to a newspaper article announcing her death. (Her body lay in state at her home for two days, too!). Mary C. Dawson and Maudelena Johnson both taught Alice Anderson.
.....Samuel Coleridge Taylor's pupil, Clarence Cameron White. Coleridge-Taylor was a musical peer of Ralph Vaughn Williams; both were students in the same school.
TOP AND BOTTOM (DANCE)
.....Introduced by Mary Clemons, Pitts C, 11/9/29 (3/2)
UNUSUAL ARTISTRY
.....Female barytone Mme Holland, Amst News, 5/16/36, p9
UNTRAINED PROFESSIONALS
.....Garland Anderson (http://www.blackpast.org/?q=aah/anderson-garland-1886-1939)
VENDETTA
.....Mexican opera with mexican scenes
WEEKS, S.S.
.....Composer, entertainment contractor, orchestra leader, and former president of the famous clef club, Amst New, 8/10/35
.....Edward, Prince of Wales, liked his music and autographed a banjo head for him, Amst News, 8/10/35
WHITE, CLARENCE CAMERON
.....Featured on a program given by the American Library in Paris. String Quartet featured, . Performed twice there by the Sinsheimer Quartet, with Marieta Alfonso, an American operatic singer, Amst News, 11/25/31, p7
WILLIAMS, CAMILLA
.....Marian Anderson award bestowed on her. , Chi Def, 10/30/43, p22. Second Quote: (Alaine Locke). People's Voice, 8/26/44, p27/ Dr. Alaine Locke in a talk at Hampton, urged that the NAACP change its name to "The National Association for the Advancement of American Democracy"
YOUTH SERVICES COUNCIL (DC), Volunteer youth who help retarded children, Wash Afro, 5/1/71, 16
No comments:
Post a Comment