Images(4)

Costume, Theater

Object number2016.75.14

Date1941-1962

MediumSynthetic fabric; Metal

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

DescriptionDress costume. Purple, sleeveless top section with an empire waits and a floor-length, multi-colored striped skirt with pink fringe at bottom.Dimensions59 × 20 in. (149.9 × 50.8 cm)
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 institution National Negro Opera Company

Related person Mary Cardwell Dawson

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