Dorothy Maynor was an American soprano, concert singer, and the founder of the Harlem School of the Arts. She attended the Hampton Institute where she studied under R. Nathaniel Dett. 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. 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. She was the first African American to sing for the inauguration of an American president when she opened the ceremony for Dwight D. Eisenhower on January 20, 1953, with “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
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CIAA Black History Fact: Dorothy Maynor was originally published on foxync.com