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DOROTHY MAYNOR singer & founder Harlem School of the Arts PHOTO African American
DOROTHY MAYNOR singer & founder Harlem School of the Arts PHOTO African American

DOROTHY MAYNOR singer & founder Harlem School of the Arts PHOTO African American

$ 39.57

Availability: 100 in stock
  • Restocking Fee: No
  • Condition: Very nice condition 8x10 inch vintage original double weight photograph with a satin finish. There is a tiny spot in the lower right corner that looks like a small scuff that someone filled in with pencil or ink. There is slight rippling at the sides.
  • All returns accepted: Returns Accepted
  • Item must be returned within: 30 Days
  • Return shipping will be paid by: Seller
  • Original/Reproduction: Original
  • Refund will be given as: Money Back

    Description

    This is a wonderful 8x10 inch
    vintage original
    double weight photograph of Dorothy Maynor (1910 –  1996), an American soprano, concert singer, and the founder of the Harlem School of the Arts.
    Dorothy attended Hampton Institute where she studied under R. Nathaniel Dett. After her graduation from the Institute in 1933 she received a four-year scholarship to the Westminster Choir School in Princeton, New Jersey.
    In 1939, she performed at the Berkshire Festival where she was noticed by Sergei Koussevitzky, conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Impressed by her singing, he arranged her debut at The Town Hall in New York City on 9 December 1939. She received the Town Hall Endowment Series Award for 1940 as a result of this performance. Despite the fact that racism precluded her from performing in opera houses, Maynor toured extensively throughout the USA, Europe, and Latin America, performing in concert halls and frequently on the radio.
    She is noted as the first African American to sing at a presidential inauguration, performing at President Harry S. Truman's inaugural gala in 1949, and at President Dwight D. Eisenhower's 1953 presidential inauguration at Constitution Hall, where the Daughters of the American Revolution famously refused to let Marian Anderson sing in 1939.
    In 1964, she founded the Harlem School of the Arts
    which was designed to give music education at a reduced rate to the children of Harlem. Under Maynor's directorship the school grew from 20 students to 1,000 by the time of her retirement in 1979. She received honorary degrees from several universities including Westminster Choir College, Oberlin College, The Hartt School of Music (University of Hartford), and two degrees from Howard University. In 1975, she became the first African-American on the Board of Directors of the Metropolitan Opera.
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