Converted to EAD3 : Encoded Archival Description (EAD), Version 3 : Release: 1.1.1 : Release Date: 2019-12-16. Validating against latest version of schema.
Contact information: https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/perform.contact
Catalog Record: https://lccn.loc.gov/2006568166
Collection material in English
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the LC Catalog. They are grouped by name of person or organization, by subject or location, and by occupation and listed alphabetically.
Gift, Barbara Edwards Lee (former corresponding secretary of the National Negro Opera Company (NNOC) and niece of the founder and director of the company, Mary Cardwell Dawson), 1971. Documents related to the career of singer La Julia Rhea, who performed the title role in the NNOC's first operatic production of
No further accruals are expected.
The National Negro Opera Company Collection was processed by Kate Rourke, Rodney Todd, Joel Sorensen, Greg Pierce, and Robert Saladini, in August 1993. The collection was further processed and coded for EAD format by George Kipper in December 2012.
The costumes have been transferred to the Senator John Heinz History Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Materials from the National Negro Opera Company Collection are governed by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, U.S.C.) and other applicable international copyright laws.
The National Negro Opera Company Collection is open to research. Researchers are advised to contact the Music Division prior to visiting in order to determine whether the desired materials will be available at that time.
Certain restrictions to use or copying of materials may apply.
Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: [item, date, container number], National Negro Opera Company Collection, Music Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
The National Negro Opera Company, the first African-American opera company in the United States, was founded in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1941, by Mary Cardwell Dawson (born February 14, 1894, in Madison, North Carolina; died March 19, 1962). Ms. Dawson graduated from the New England Conservatory of Music in June 1925, then did post-graduate work at the Chicago Musical College, and in New York and Boston. She began her professional career giving private voice lessons at the Cardwell School of Music, in Homestead, Pennsylvania, which she founded in 1927. She staged and directed the opera
Ms. Dawson launched the National Negro Opera Company (hereafter referred to as the NNOC) at the NANM annual convention, in August 1941. The NNOC was incorporated in the state of Illinois in 1942 with the stated purpose of "affording for the Negro the opportunity for the fullest expression in cultural development." The first operatic production was a performance of Verdi's
The NNOC was active between 1941 and 1962 (the year of Dawson's death), producing operas in several cities, such as Washington, D.C., New York City and Chicago, in addition to productions staged in Pittsburgh. In the early 1940s, Ms. Dawson moved to Washington, D.C., which then became the center of the NNOC's activities. Active Opera Guilds (city chapters) were established in Baltimore, Chicago, Cleveland, New York, Pittsburgh, Red Bank, New Jersey and Washington, D.C. The National Negro Opera Foundation (hereafter NNOF) was incorporated in Washington, D.C. on March 31, 1950 to help raise funds to sustain the NNOC. Ms. Dawson served as director and general manager of the company from the founding of the company until her death on March 19, 1962.
The NNOC's repertoire during the years 1941-1960 consisted mainly of six operas and one oratorio (
The company reached its peak with performances of Clarence Cameron White's opera
The NNOC remained active through 1960, but the number of events gradually diminished, ceasing with Ms. Dawson's death in 1962.
The following section presents a chronological list of selected musical events and productions by the National Negro Opera Company and earlier events performed by ensembles in which Mary Cardwell Dawson was involved.
The National Negro Opera Company was the first African-American opera company in the United States. The collection spans the years 1879-1997, with the bulk of the material dated 1930-1962. The collection documents not only the activities of the company, but also the life and career of its founder Mary Cardwell Dawson.
The Correspondence series includes business and personal correspondence to and from many prominent musical figures of the period, such as Marian Anderson, Muriel Rahn, Robert McFerrin, and Todd Duncan. It also includes items from political and community leaders, including Eleanor Roosevelt, P. L. Prattis, and Mary MacLeod Bethune. Of particular interest is correspondence with Clarence Cameron White, composer of
Most of the photographs in the Photographs series feature individuals and groups involved in the activities of the National Negro Opera Company, the Cardwell Dawson Chorus, the NNOC's various membership guilds, and other affiliated groups. There are many inscribed photographs in the collection that are indicated as such in the finding aid. The series is primarily comprised of publicity stills of performers, but there is also a significant amount of production photographs of casts (in and out of costume), rehearsals, and performances. In addition, there are photographs of various city guild administrative boards and committees. Personal photographs of Dawson family members are also included. Although every attempt has been made to identify individuals found in the photographs, many images of individual and groups remain unidentified. As a result, the series is subdivided into two subseries: photographs that are identified and ones that have been unable to be identified.
The Programs and Promotional Materials series contains a substantial number of programs and related promotional materials, including posters, flyers, press releases, funding solicitation letters, letters announcing events, tickets, and invitations.
Both the Administrative and Financial Papers series provide a record of the National Negro Opera Company's business activities. Included among these materials are charters, by-laws, lists of officers and board members, planning information, minutes of meetings, and other documents relating to the company, to the National Negro Opera Foundation, and to other organizations and committees.
Datable and identifiable budgets and financial reports are arranged in chronological order, with undated reports filed separately. Several income and expense reports from productions are included. Bank statements and related materials are arranged in alphabetical order by institution. Contracts are filed alphabetically by contractee or subject. The majority of the contracts are arranged by performer, with other types of contracts filed within.
Materials relating to ticket sales retain any pre-existing groupings, but, due to incomplete labelling, no further attempt was made to arrange these materials. Similar treatment has been given to the bills and receipts and handwritten notes. Appointment books and calendars have been arranged chronologically. Miscellaneous administrative papers, including advertising, insurance, and other materials complete the Administrative Papers series.
The Clippings series contains items from the 1930s that chronicle Mrs. Dawson's activities prior to the founding of the National Negro Opera Company. It also contains reviews of performances from the 1940s and 1950s. The majority of these articles are drawn from major African-American newspapers, such as the
The Scrapbooks series includes pasted clippings dating from the 1940s and 1950s from a disassembled scrapbook. There are also paste-up pages containing items clipped from National Negro Opera Company programs. A scrapbook labeled "National Negro Opera Foundation, Inc." contains small advertising posters, clippings, and copies of early photographs cut from National Negro Opera Company publications.
The Address Lists and Address Books series includes a large number of address lists containing information that is sometimes partially identified and in various stages of completion. Longer, identified lists have been housed separately. The remaining lists have been separated according to those with designations and those without. In addition to loose-leaf address lists, the collection contains over forty bound address books, each of which has been assigned a number and filed in numerical order.
The Notebooks series (both disassembled and intact) contains financial and budget materials, secretarial and stenographer notes, telephone logs, and other items that highlight the daily office operations of the National Negro Opera Company and related organizations in which Mary Cardwell Dawson was involved.
Music in the collection is arranged alphabetically by composer. This series contains such items as songs by Lillian Evanti (a singer in NNOC's first operatic production), a manuscript arrangement by NNOC singer Roy O'Loughlin of
The Books series contains various items, including six musical textbooks, a 1951 National Council of Negro Women yearbook and
The Realia series includes 275 metal printing plates, the majority of which contain reverse photographic images of individuals and groups. These images were reproduced in publications, newspaper articles, programs, brochures and other publicity materials. Most plates/blocks appear to be reverse images taken from original photographs found in the collection.
The La Julia Rhea Gift contains materials given to the Library of Congress Music Division by the family of Ms. Rhea, who was the first black artist to star with a major opera company. These materials document her career and her struggles in overcoming discrimination within the operatic profession. She appeared in the title role in the National Negro Opera Company's first production of Verdi's
The Walter M. Dawson Papers series contains materials relating to Mary Cardwell Dawson's husband who was personally and financially supportive of his wife's musical endeavors. He served as the company's public relations director, publicity director, and comptroller during the National Negro Opera Company's active years. The National Negro Opera Company Collection as a whole contains materials relating to Walter M. Dawson's involvement with the company. The Walter M. Dawson Papers series, on the other hand, contains materials relating to Mr. Dawson's career as a master electrician with the General Services Administration. While this material does not directly relate to the National Negro Opera Company, it is of cultural and historical interest for drawing attention to Mr. Dawson's role in challenging discrimination in the federal government and electricians' unions. Having been denied membership in the AFL-CIO, he co-founded the Association of Electricians, Metropolitan Washington, D.C. Area, in 1958.
The National Negro Opera Company Collection is organized in fourteen series:
Catalog Record: https://lccn.loc.gov/2006568166
Correspondence with individuals, companies, and organizations that document the National Negro Opera Company's efforts and difficulties in producing operas during the 1940s and into the early 1960s. A folder containing correspondence of Jeanna Edwards was removed from the collection by Barbara Edwards Lee, on April 12, 1996. Correspondence of Etta Moten was missing from the collection at the time the finding aid was coded.
Arranged alphabetically by name of individual or company and chronologically therein.
Identified and unidentified photographic images of individuals and groups related to the National Negro Opera Company, its member guilds, committees and other affiliated African American groups and organizations. As many of the photographs in this collection were used for various programs and publicity purposes, several images will be found cut to the needs of the National Negro Opera Company. Some post-1962 photographs document various honors awarded to Mary Cardwell Dawson after her death.
Identified photographs arranged alphabetically by name.
17 photographs (several taken from publications).
James A. Cardwell was the father of Mary Cardwell Dawson.
Two different photographs.
Seven photographs: One photograph from a live performance and six photographic images from illustrations taken from the opera.
Includes programs, press releases, advertising, posters, draft copies of advertising and press releases, tickets, and newspaper reviews for concerts, musical performances, benefits, and other related events. The series is divided into two subseries: the first contains materials produced or sponsored by the National Negro Opera Company and its immediate predecessors, the National Negro Opera Foundation, and the various city-based National Negro Opera Company-affiliated opera guilds. In addition, it contains materials from concerts given by prominant stars of the National Negro Opera Company such as benefits and fundraising events for future operatic productions. The second subseries contains materials from concerts and events that are not directly related to the National Negro Opera Company, but which Mrs. Dawson attended. These document the African-American concert scene from the 1930s to the early 1960s.
Arranged chronologically.
Records of the National Negro Opera Company's business activities. Included among these materials are charters, by-laws, contracts, lists of officers and board members, planning information, and meeting minutes. Includes records from the National Negro Opera Foundation, early records from the National Association of Negro Musicians (Pittsburgh branch), and other related organizations and committees. Minutes of meetings from these organizations are arranged in chronological order. Diplomas and other early public school and college certificates belonging to Mary Cardwell Dawson are also included in this series and are found in the Miscellany subseries.
Arranged by type of material. Minutes are further arranged chronologically.
Includes budgets and financial reports, bank statements, cancelled checks, withdrawal slips, ticket sales receipts, and various membership and organizational lists.
Arranged by type of item, and chronologically therein.
Newspaper and magazine articles that document the activities of the National Negro Opera Company and related organizations in which Mary Cardwell Dawson was involved. Includes interviews and descriptions of events that honor Dawson and the National Negro Opera Company. Originals and photocopies are included.
Arranged chronologically.
Contains one large scrapbook and several loose pages which were formerly part of a scrapbook.
Includes membership lists, committee lists, contact lists, mailing lists, miscellaneous lists, and lists of organizations producing operas in the United States.
Arranged by type of item.
Notebooks (disassembled and intact) containing specific subject content, secretarial and stenographer notes, or other general notes that highlight the daily office operations of the National Negro Opera Company and related organizations in which Mary Cardwell Dawson was involved.
Arranged alphabetically by type of material.
Includes manuscripts, printed music, script fragments and synopses.
Arranged alphabetically by composer.
Song written for the NNOC Foundation's 1953 drive for public support. Song was donated to this cause by the composer.
Two copies.
Words and music by Eva Jessye.
Song written for the National Association of Colored Women's Clubs, Inc. Song was introduced at the biennial session, New York Convention, 1960 by Dr. Rosa L. Gragg, National President.
Seven copies.
Music by Orlando di Lasso; English version by Alfred Marlhom.
Arranged by Gerald Wilfring Gore.
Inscribed to Mary Cardwell Dawson by the composer, September 20, 1942.
Includes books, a serial and a yearbook.
Arranged alphabetically by author.
275 metal print plates and blocks. The metal printing plates are arranged into two subseries: the first contains 19 plates that lack backing and the second contains 256 plates with wood blocks attached as backing. The majority of the plates contain reverse photographic images of vocalists, ensembles, and operatic choruses, and were used for newspaper articles, reviews, concert programs, brochures, printed publications, and other publicity purposes. The rest of the plates contain reverse images used for box advertisments from sponsors that were published in National Negro Opera Company concert programs and brochures.
Includes autobiographical and biographical material, a large clippings page, scrapbooks containing clippings documenting Rhea's vocal career, and a 1943 Town Hall concert program.
Arranged by type of item.
Walter M. Dawson was Mary Cardwell Dawson's husband. These materials primarily relate to his career as a master electrician from around 1930 to 1968. Walter Dawson was the NNOC's publicity chairman, and later served as the organization's comptroller. Items include address books, diplomas, awards, certificates, clippings, correspondence, contract forms, his obituary, publications related to the electrical trade, including a copy of the proposed 1963 Washington, D.C. Electrical Code, realia such as 1950s-1960s metal buttons and name badges, and a 1941-1943 Timeshift record book.
Arranged by type of item or subject.