Charlotte Holloman - Soprano

"We're still fighting to get in there, but new strides are being made"

Charlotte Holloman was an African American Soprano from Washington D.C. and attended Dunbar High School, one of two schools for African American students at the time during segregation. She was a few years ahead of my mother at Dunbar High School, which had a superior reputation for "educating the best and brightest." Anytime I was home for a break in college, my mom made it a point to take me to Howard University (where Holloman taught voice) to attend her master class', recitals of her students, and symposiums of Alpha Kappa Alpha women (if you know, you know :)

Ms. Holloman graduated from Howard University in 1941 and Columbia University in 1943, where she received a master's in voice and music education. She made her professional debut in 1950 and her operatic recital debut in 1954, and her career was catapulted into stardom after receiving rave reviews from that recital.

Later in her career, she returned to Washington DC to teach at Howard University until her death in 2015 at the age of 93.

In her own words: