Images(5)

Costume, Theater

Object number2016.75.2 a,b

Date1941-1962

MediumSynthetic fabric; Cotton; Metal; Paper; Ink

Credit LineTransfer from Library of Congress, Gift of Barbara Edwards Lee

DescriptionRobe costume. Light blue fabric with orange fabric around arm holes and above bottom. Floor-length. Sleeveless. Pleats along shoulders. Open down front. Paper note safety-pinned to inside of proper left front panel with handwritten text in blue ink "Mr. F. Taylor". The back of the note has printed black text with National Negro Opera Company staff names.Dimensions32.2499 x 56.4999 in. (81.9 x 143.5 cm)
Inscriptions(b) Paper note safety-pinned to inside of proper left front panel with handwritten text in blue ink "Mr. F. Taylor". The back of the note has printed black text with National Negro Opera Company staff names.
Historical NotesPart of a collection of costumes from the National Negro Opera Company. The company was founded by Mary Caldwell Dawson in 1941 and was active until 1962. This costume was used in a production of Dett's The Ordering of Moses. Born in North Carolina, Mary Cardwell moved to Pittsburgh with her family in 1901, and first learned to sing in her church choir. She graduated from the New England Conservatory of Music with degrees in voice and piano in 1925 and aspired to a career in the opera. But she found few opportunities. She returned and settled in Pittsburgh after she got married, opening the Cardwell Dawson School of Music, from which she taught many fine vocalists. Seeking to create opportunities for her students, she first formed the nationally celebrated Cardwell Dawson Choir and toured the country in the 1930s. But convinced that African American singers needed the greater opportunities that an Opera Company could provide, she founded the National Negro Opera Company in 1941.

Related person F. Taylor

Related institution National Negro Opera Company

Related person Mary Cardwell Dawson

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