Image Ownership: Public Domain Hazel Harrison, pianist, was born on May 12, 1883 in La Porte, Indiana to parents Hiram and Olive Harrison. Hiram was the co-owner of a barber shop and Olive was a hairdresser and manicurist. Hazel Harrison began playing the piano at the age of four, and by age eight she was earning extra money for the family by playing at local parties and dances. Harrison graduated from La Porte High School in 1902. She was married to beauty product salesman Walter Bainter Anderson from 1919 to the late 1920s, and to Alabama businessman Allen Moton in the late 1950s. Both marriages ended in divorce. Upon graduating high school, Harrison continued to earn money playing concerts and dances in La Porte and Chicago. In 1904 she was asked to play with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, making her the first American to play with a European orchestra whose entire education had taken place in America. After she came back to the United States Harrison performed a recital at Kimball Hall in Chicago in 1910. A music critic issued a plea to the music community to sponsor her to go to Germany to continue her education, and she received … Continue reading Hazel Lucile Harrison (1883-1969)