1933 Photo of The Tuskegee Institute Choir, Led by William Levi Dawson (1889-1990)

[The Tuskegee Institute Choir, William Levi Dawson Collection at Emory University]

William Levi Dawson: The Collection at Emory University

The Tuskegee Institute Choir in Carnegie Hall, January 1933.

Following their successful run at the Radio City Music Hall opening, the choir sang a concert for newly-elected President Franklin D. Roosevelt in January. They appeared at Carnegie Hall in New York City in February, and were reviewed by the Wall Street Journal as “The World’s Finest.” In the review, Stirling Bowen called Dawson “partly prophet,” and reported that the choir was “probably the finest vocal ensemble in the world.” [The African American composer and choral director William Levi Dawson, who is profiled at AfriClassical.com, was born in Anniston, Alabama on September 26, 1889 and entered The Tuskegee Institute at age 13. After earning a Master's Degree in Music he returned to his beloved school in 1931, where he ran the Music Department for 25 years. Dawson is best known for his many arrangements of African American spirituals, but he also produced an exquisite symphony based on spirituals, the Negro Folk Symphony. He died in Montgomery, Alabama on May 5, 1990.]