Soprano Tillie Jones Thomas and mezzo-soprano Deseria Plato were the first two black women to perform at Carnegie Hall on May 16, 1892 at 8:15 p.m. in the 300-seat Chamber Music Hall, known today as Weill Recital Hall. The University Singers of New Orleans was a group of jubilee singers. They toured on to raise funds for the La Teche Seminary and Colored Orphans' Home in Louisiana, under the management of Reverend Dr. and Mrs. William Davis Godman, a White clergyman who was ex-president of New Orleans University. Members of the group were: Tillie Jones and Lizzie Parker, sopranos; Cora Smith and Sarah Merritt, altos; Alexander Brown and Joseph Dupuy, bass; and Charles Ardis and George Dardis/Benn, tenor; and Sarah Merritt. In 1882 a group of the singers struck out on their own to sing independently, and the Godmans resigned from jubilee management. Studio group portrait of the University Singers of New Orleans, an ensemble of four men and five women. Joseph Dupuy was an opera singer and musician who was a founder of the Los Angeles Symphonic Orchestra. He is likely the same person as Joseph Dupuy who sang with the University Singers of New Orleans. In 1995 a group of USC architecture students set out to preserve his 1902 home located at 2301 W. 24th St. in the West Adams neighborhood -- a blending of Colonial Revival, Queen Anne, Medieval and Asian influences structure nicknamed "South Seas House." Written on back of photo: Collection of Miriam Mathews. Photographer's stamp: Bogardus, Artist and photographer, No. 349 Sixth Avenue Bet 21st and 22nd Sts., New York
Type
image
Identifier
uclalsc_1889_b16_f01_010a.tif ark:/21198/z1d5251m
Subject
African American gospel singers Jubilee singers Dupuy, Joseph P., 1865-1922 Parker, Lizzie Thomas, Tillie Jones Merritt, Sarah Smith, Cora Brown, Alexander Ardis, Charles
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