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Roena Muckelroy Savage

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Rowena Muckelroy Savage
A smiling African-American woman with short hair, wearing a print dress and pearls.
Roena Muckelroy Savage, from a 1933 publication
Born
Roena Muckelroy

(1904-10-30)October 30, 1904
Henderson, Texas, U.S.
DiedOctober 29, 1991(1991-10-29) (aged 86)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Other namesRowene Muckelroy Savage
EducationUniversity of Southern California
Occupation(s)Singer, choir director, voice educator
Employer(s)Lincoln University (Missouri)
Jarvis Christian University
SpouseW. Sherman Savage

Roena Muckelroy Savage (October 30, 1904 – October 29, 1991) was an American concert soprano, voice educator, and choir director.

Early life

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Roena Eloise Muckelroy was born in Henderson, Texas, and raised in San Bernardino, California,[1] the daughter of William Wainwright Muckelroy and Mary E. Muckelroy.[2][3] After graduating from San Bernardino High School in 1922,[4][5] she graduated in 1927 from the University of Southern California,[6][7] with further voice, piano, and organ studies in Chicago and Columbus, with Richard Hageman, Moissaye Boguslawski, Marcella Craft, and other musicians.[8][9]

Career

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Savage performed as a concert soprano. In 1927, she won awards for singing at the Los Angeles District Eisteddfod, and the California Grand Finals Eisteddfod.[8][10] In Missouri, she was a soloist with the People's Symphony Orchestra in St. Louis, and she was director of music at Lincoln University,[11] where her husband was a professor of history.[6][12]

In 1939, she directed a "Yuletide pageant" of forty performers in San Bernardino, using traditional black spirituals.[13] She wrote and directed a musical play based on Spanish and Mexican folksongs in 1940.[14] In California during World War II, she organized and led a choir of war workers near San Bernardino, performing as the Legend A Cappella choir.[15] She toured the American South giving concerts in 1949.[16] In 1962, she joined the summer opera chorus of the Redlands Bowl.[17] Later in life, she was associate professor of voice and chair of the humanities department at Jarvis Christian College in Texas,[18] and wrote a musical pageant, Hearthstones.[9]

She was active in the Missouri State and Jefferson City branches of the NAACP,[19] and a charter member the Los Angeles alumnae chapter of Delta Sigma Theta.[20][21]

Personal life

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Roena Muckelroy married history professor W. Sherman Savage in 1927. They had two daughters, Eloise (born 1936) and Inez (born 1939).[22][23] She was widowed in 1981, and she died in 1991, the day before her 87th birthday, in Los Angeles.

References

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  1. ^ "Roena Savage, Lyric Soprano, Sings Tonight". The San Bernardino County Sun. 1944-09-22. p. 9. Retrieved 2020-04-27 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ "Roena Savage to Give Recital". The San Bernardino County Sun. 1948-03-02. p. 8. Retrieved 2020-04-27 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "Roena Savage to Sing at Benefit March 3". The San Bernardino County Sun. 1948-02-27. p. 10. Retrieved 2020-04-27 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "Ministerial Association Sponsors Recital Tonight". San Bernardino Sun. July 29, 1924. p. 5. Retrieved April 27, 2020 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
  5. ^ "'Who's Who in Music' Lists Roena Savage". San Bernardino Sun. April 24, 1951. p. 24. Retrieved April 27, 2020 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
  6. ^ a b "Lincoln U. Recital to be Held Tonight". Jefferson City Post-Tribune. May 19, 1933. p. 1. Retrieved April 27, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "Southern California alumni review, vol. 33, no. 8 (1952 May)". University of Southern California History Collection. p. 17. Retrieved 2020-04-28.
  8. ^ a b Who's who in music and dance in Southern California. University of California Libraries. Hollywood : Bureau of Musical Research. 1933. p. 245.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  9. ^ a b "Texas Soprano Will Spend Summer in San Bernardino". The San Bernardino County Sun. 1962-06-03. p. 49. Retrieved 2020-04-27 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ "Famous Young Singer to Present Recital Tonight". The San Bernardino County Sun. 1934-02-26. p. 3. Retrieved 2020-04-27 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ Parks, Arnold G. (2012-09-18). Lincoln University:: 1920-1970. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4396-1892-9.
  12. ^ Kremer, Gary R. (2014-12-21). Race and Meaning: The African American Experience in Missouri. University of Missouri Press. p. 160. ISBN 978-0-8262-7336-9.
  13. ^ "Negroes to Give Yuletide Pageant". San Bernardino Sun. December 9, 1939. p. 7. Retrieved April 27, 2020 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
  14. ^ "Negroes to Present Folksongs of Spain". The San Bernardino County Sun. 1940-05-02. p. 7. Retrieved 2020-04-28 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ "Negro Choir to Sing at Church Tonight". San Bernardino Sun. April 30, 1944. p. 8. Retrieved April 27, 2020 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
  16. ^ "Roena Savage on Concert Tour". Indianapolis Recorder. August 20, 1949. p. 4. Retrieved April 27, 2020 – via Hoosier State Chronicles.
  17. ^ Perlee, Charles D. (August 24, 1962). "Famous Soprano to Join Opera Chorus; Star Offers Her Tribute to Redlands Bowl". San Bernardino Sun. p. 13. Retrieved April 27, 2020 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
  18. ^ "Roena Savage Visits in Muckelroy Home". San Bernardino Sun. August 11, 1961. p. B-8. Retrieved April 27, 2020 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
  19. ^ "Along the N.A.A.C.P. Battlefront". The Crisis: 24. January 1943.
  20. ^ ""Nu" Beginnings". DSTLA. Retrieved 2020-04-27.
  21. ^ "Roena Savage Will Sing at L. A. Sorority". The San Bernardino County Sun. 1944-05-27. p. 9. Retrieved 2020-04-28 – via Newspapers.com.
  22. ^ Greene, Lorenzo J. (1981). "W. Sherman Savage". The Journal of Negro History. 66 (1): 80–84. doi:10.1086/JNHv66n1p80. ISSN 0022-2992. JSTOR 2716892. S2CID 149607641.
  23. ^ "Roena Savage in the 1940 Census". 1940 United States Federal Census. Retrieved 2020-04-27.
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