William Grant Still

1895-1899

1895

William Grant Still born 11 May in Woodville, Mississippi to parents William Grant Still Sr. (1871-1895) and Carrie Fambro Still (1872-1927).

Will Marion Cook (1869-1944) makes his solo debut as a violinist at Carnegie Hall, New York City. Cook later enjoyed a career as a composer of Vaudeville and Broadway musicals.

Gussie Lord Davis, Tin Pan Alley composer, wins prize as second most popular songwriter in the nation in a competition sponsored by the New York World

1896

Organizing of Black Patti's Troubadours.

Poet/lyricist Paul Laurence Dunbar gains recognition with Lyrics of a Lowly Life

1897

Tap dancer Willie Covan (1897-1989) born. In 1921, Covan performed in the first of the Shuffle Along musicals.

1898

First musicals written and produced by blacks play on Broadway: Robert "Bob" Cole (1868-1911) and Billy Johnson's (c. 1858-1916) A Trip to Coontown and Will Marion Cook and Paul Laurence Dunbar's Clorindy; or, The Origin of the Cakewalk

Thomas "Blind Tom" Bethune (1849-1908) retires as concert pianist.

1899

"Maple Leaf Rag" by Scott Joplin helps popularize the ragtime style.

"Duke" (Edward Kennedy) Ellington born in Washington, D.C.

First American performance of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor's (1875-1912) Hiawatha's Wedding Feast, Op. 30, at the Brooklyn Baptist Temple.

---

Return to Start

A project of The Digital Scriptorium, Special Collections Library, Duke University. September 1995
http://scriptorium.lib.duke.edu/sgo/