Ednorah Nahar

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.

Ednorah Nahar
Born
Ednorah E. Nahar

Boston, Massachusetts
NationalityAmerican
Other namesEdnora
OccupationDramatic speaker
Years active1886–1916

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
  1. Massachusetts Births 1862, p. 95.
  2. Boone County, Iowa Marriages 1916.
  3. Majors 1893, p. 244.
  4. Scruggs 1893, p. 182.
  5. Baltimore Passenger Lists 1846, p. 302.
  6. Boston Vital and Town Records 1862, p. 858.
  7. U. S. Census 1860, p. 127.
  8. The Cleveland Gazette 1896, p. 2.
  9. The Detroit Free Press 1903, p. 45.
  10. Documents of Boston 1879, p. 62.
  11. The Davenport Daily Republican 1896, p. 2.
  12. The Times 1890, p. 2.
  13. Majors 1893, p. 245.
  14. Majors 1893, p. 246.
  15. Abbott & Seroff 2002, p. 280.
  16. Northrop 1969, p. 105.
  17. Brawley 1910, p. 42.
  18. Wood 1897, p. 368.
  19. The Cincinnati Enquirer 1899, p. 36.
  20. The New York Tribune 1900, p. 7.
  21. The Gazette and Courier 1904, p. 7.
  22. The Brooklyn Daily Eagle 1908, p. 6.
  23. The Des Moines Register 1916, p. 3.

Bibliography
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