Add N.C. native Mary Cardwell Dawson ’s name to the list of “hidden figures” of Black history who are hidden no more.
Dawson, who grew up in the midst of Jim Crow, founded the first Black opera company in the U.S. — the National Negro Opera Company . She launched it in Pittsburgh in 1941, and it served as a nurturing springboard for hundreds of Black artists. Dawson also organized opera guilds in several major cities and was a fierce proponent of the arts, music, education and culture for all people.
And one of the main people responsible for elevating Dawson’s life and work is opera star Denyce Graves , through her Denyce Graves Foundation . That journey takes Graves to Charlotte now, where she will perform the title role in “ The Passion of Mary Cardwell Dawson ” with Opera Carolina Feb. 15-17.
The play by Sandra Seaton, with music by Carlos Simon, tells Dawson’s story and her founding of the opera company that operated until 1962, when Dawson died. An exhibit opening next month at the Charlotte Museum of History also will shine a spotlight on Dawson; Graves and her foundation has a role in that too.