Ednorah Nahar

Ednorah Nahar
Born Ednorah E. Nahar
Boston, Massachusetts
Nationality American
Other names Ednora
Occupation dramatic speaker
Years active 1886-1916

Ednorah Nahar was an African American elocutionist from Boston who flourished between the late 1880s and early 1900s giving dramatic recitations throughout the United States, as well as abroad.

Early life

Ednorah Nahar was born in 1873[Notes 1] in Boston to Amelia (née St. Pierre) and Edwin H. Nahar.[2] She came from a well-known family of Boston and was a cousin to Joan Imogen Howard.[3] Her father was of foreign birth[4][Notes 2] and she was sometimes described as a light-skinned Spaniard or Indian.[8][9] By 1879, she was enrolled in the Bowdoin School for girls[10] and after completing her grammar school, enrolled in Fort Edward Collegiate Institute in Fort Edward, New York. Her aptitude for elocution was acclaimed and she was assigned a group of younger children to teach, while she continued her own studies. In addition, she took acting courses at the Madison Dramatic School of Dion Boucicault in New York City.[3][11][12]

Career

Nahar had her stage debut on November 16, 1886. Within a year, she had given readings at the Chickering Hall, becoming only the second black woman to perform there. On November 17, 1890, she appeared before a crowd of 5,000 accompanied by the United States Marine Band at the Academy of Music in Philadelphia. Nahar traveled widely, performing in ten of the British West Indies colonies and thirty-one US states. By 1893, she had performed over 800 concerts, acting as her own manager[13] and in February of that year, she began to manage for other performers, such as Sissieretta Jones.[14] She appeared with Jones in her 1893 concert tour at Carnegie Hall.[15] Nahar was often mentioned as one of the best elocutionists of the day, along with Hallie Q. Brown and Henrietta Vinton Davis and was praised for her management of concert tours.[16][17][18]

In 1896, she planned a trip to Europe including venues in London and Paris[11] and in 1899, Nahar made a trip to London, under the patronage of the Consuelo Vanderbilt, Duchess of Marlborough.[19] She continued performing in the United States through the 1900s performing dramas and also singing.[20][9][21][22] On February 28, 1916 Nahar married William F. X. Dierkes in Boone, Iowa,[2] and soon after ended her career, after an automobile accident.[23]

Notes

  1. ↑ There was a "colored" female child born to Edwin H. and Amelia Narr on November 28, 1862. The occupation of Narr was given as barber and the couple's address was 73 Southac.[1]
  2. ↑ There is an Edwin Nahar listed a mulatto and who had immigrated from Mexico as a nine-year-old child with the merchant J. P. Nahar.[5] When Nahar's father married, he stated that his father was John P. and mother Amelia M., that he was a barber and was born in Massachusetts.[6] The 1860 census shows a mulatto, Edwin H. Nahar, who was a barber, living with John W. Bolling and Amanda M. Bolling.[7]

References

Citations

Bibliography

  • Abbott, Lynn; Seroff, Doug (2002). Out of Sight: The Rise of African American Popular Music, 1889-1895. Jackson, Mississippi: University Press of Mississippi. ISBN 978-1-60473-039-5.
  • Brawley, Benjamin (1910). The Negro in literature and art. Atlanta, Georgia: Benjamin Griffith Brawley. OCLC 23524396.
  • Majors, Monroe A. (1893). Noted Negro women, their triumphs and activities (Reprint 1971 by Freeport, New York: Books for Libraries Press ed.). Chicago, Illinois: Donohue and Henneberry. ISBN 978-0-8369-8733-1.
  • Northrop, Henry Davenport (1969). The college of life or, Practical self-educator, a manual of self-improvement for the colored race, forming an educational emancipator and a guide to success, giving examples and achievements of successful men and women of the race as an incentive and inspiration to the rising generation, including Afro-American progress illustrated, the whole embracing, business, social, domestic, historical, and religious education (Reprint of the 1895 Chicago, Illinois: Chicago Publication and Lithograph Company ed.). Miami, Florida: Mnemosyne Publishing Inc. OCLC 770818018.
  • Scruggs, Lawson Andrew (1893). Women of Distinction: Remarkable in Works and Invincible in Character. Raleigh, North Carolina: L. A. Scruggs. OCLC 4255360.
  • Wood, Norman Barton (1897). The white side of a black subject: enlarged and brought down to date: a vindication of the Afro-American race: from the landing of slaves at St. Augustine, Florida, in 1565, to the present time. Chicago, Illinois: American Publishing House. OCLC 619919443.
  • "1860 U. S. Census, Chelsea, Suffolk County, Massachusetts". FamilySearch. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration. June 21, 1860. NARA microfilm publication M653, Roll #526. Retrieved 24 February 2017.
  • "Baltimore Passenger Lists, 1820-1948". FamilySearch. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration. September 19, 1846. NARA microfilm publication M255, Roll #5. Retrieved 24 February 2017.
  • "Boston Vital and Town Records 1626-2001". FamilySearch. Boston, Massachusetts: Town Clerk Offices. June 24, 1862. FHL microfilm 817613, Image #398. Retrieved 24 February 2017.
  • Documents of the City of Boston (Report). 2. Boston, Massachusetts: Boston City Council, Printing Section. 1879. OCLC 607826365. Retrieved 24 February 2017.
  • "An Excellent Entertainment". Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: The Times. February 19, 1890. Retrieved 24 February 2017 – via Newspaperarchive.com.
  • "Ednorah Nahar at Home". Davenport, Iowa: The Davenport Daily Republican. January 26, 1896. Retrieved 24 February 2017 – via Newspaperarchive.com.
  • "Hungry Club's Dinner". Brooklyn, New York: The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. May 12, 1908. Retrieved 24 February 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
  • "Iowa Marriages, 1809-1992". FamilySearch. Boone, Iowa: Boone County Iowa Recorder. February 28, 1916. FHL microfilm 1532003, Reference #2:3QP9K50. Retrieved 24 February 2017.
  • "Lake Pleasant". Greenfield, Massachusetts: The Gazette and Courier. July 16, 1904. Retrieved 24 February 2017 – via Newspaperarchive.com.
  • "Boston, Massachusetts Births, 1841-1915". Boston, Massachusetts: Massachusetts Archives. 1862. GS Film #1420998, Image #524. Retrieved 24 February 2017.
  • "Noted Reader Asks Damages". Des Moines, Iowa: The Des Moines Register. April 19, 1916. Retrieved 24 February 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
  • "Plays and the Public". New York City, New York: The New York Tribune. May 22, 1900. Retrieved 24 February 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
  • "(untitled)". Cincinnati, Ohio: The Cincinnati Enquirer. April 9, 1899. Retrieved 24 February 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
  • "(untitled)". Detroit, Michigan: The Detroit Free Press. March 15, 1903. Retrieved 24 February 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
  • "Who Said it is Miss Ednorah Nahar?" (1). Cleveland, Ohio: The Cleveland Gazette. 8 August 1896. p. 2. Archived from the original on 24 February 2017. Retrieved 24 February 2017.
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