Emma Harris was a multi-talented African American cultural influencer in Europe, the Russian Empire (later the Soviet Union) as well as the Middle East. Harris was born into a poor family in Georgia on October 7, 1871. Her parents were washerwoman Sarah Green and millworker … Read MoreEmma Harris (1871-1940)
Eartha Mary Magdalene White, a prominent African American resident of Jacksonville, Florida, was widely known for her humanitarian and philanthropic endeavors in the northeastern part of that state. White was born in Jacksonville, Florida, on November 8, 1876. Her mother died shortly after childbirth, and, … Read MoreEartha M. M. White (1876-1974)
Shirley Verrett was a distinguished mezzo-soprano and soprano opera singer. Born in New Orleans on May 31, 1931, one of five children to strict Seventh Day Adventists, her father was a successful building contractor. She came from a musical family, her mother often sang in … Read MoreShirley Verrett (1931-2010)
Abbie Mitchell was an African American teacher, actress, and soprano born on the Lower East Side of New York City. Mitchell’s father was German-Jewish and her mother was an African American. Mitchell, who came from a talented musical family, was considered a child prodigy. In … Read MoreAbbie Mitchell (1884-1960)
Emma Azalia Smith Hackley was an African American singer and Denver political activist born in Murfreesboro, Tennessee in 1867. Her parents, business owners Henry and Corilla Smith, moved to Detroit where she attended Washington Normal School, graduating in 1886. Smith, a child prodigy learned to … Read MoreEmma Azalia Hackley (1867-1922)
Born to James and Kate Price on February 10, 1927, in Laurel, Mississippi, Leontyne Price became one of the world’s leading opera sopranos and among the first African Americans to gain prominence in major performance halls in that musical genre. Her parents were amateur musicians … Read MoreMary Violet Leontyne Price (1927- )
Sissieretta Jones was a world-famous soprano who in June 1892 became the first African American to perform at Carnegie Hall in New York City, New York. Touring internationally in the late 1800s and early 1900s, she sang both classical opera and performed in musical comedies … Read MoreSissieretta Jones (1869-1933)
Marian Anderson, renowned contralto and one of the most celebrated singers of the 20th century, was born on February 27, 1897, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Anderson was the daughter of John Berkley Anderson, a small business owner, and Annie Delilah Rucker Anderson, a former Virginia schoolteacher. … Read MoreMarian Anderson (1897-1993)
