Frances Walker-Slocum
(Oberlin Archives)
4/11/19
Herb Boyd
Nothing pleases a writer, reporter or historian more than
recognition by his or her peers. And you can understand how overwhelming
it was for me to learn that three of my comrades—John Williams, Trust
Graham and Ahmed Abdullah—follow this classroom column, two of them avid
collectors.
To that end, and hoping they add this one to their growing
collection, this week we feature pianist/composer Frances Walker-Slocum.
When I taught at Oberlin Conservatory in the early ’70s, there was some
mention of the African-American women who graced the school’s corridors
such as Mary Church Terrell and Anna Julia Cooper, but it was a time of
turbulence and turmoil, particularly for students and instructors more
concerned with securing Black studies in the academy.
Francis Walker, who attended Oberlin as a student in the 1940s,
returned again in 1976 where she was hired after an impressive
performance. Ultimately, she became the first Black woman to be granted
tenure at the college, thereby paving the way for other African-American
men and women at the school.
She was born March 6, 1924, in Washington, to Dr. George Walker, an
immigrant from Jamaica, and her mother, a singer who worked for the
Government Printing Office. She had only begun to take piano lessons at
five years of age when she was playing with matches and her dress caught
fire.
For several days she was in a coma and her right arm was severely
burned. She was hospitalized for a year and underwent several
operations, particularly on her injured arm. In her memoir, “A
Miraculous Journey” (2006), she wrote how “sorry I felt for myself and
at the same time guilty for the trouble I had caused. I was constantly
in fear of dying.”
That self-pity and guilt soon passed and while attending Dunbar High
School, she began private piano lessons, which put her on the path to a
possible career as a concert pianist. Her studies continued when she
enrolled in Howard University’s music department. But Oberlin was the
only institution where a Black woman could earn an undergraduate degree
in music, which she did by 1945.
From her prestigious platform at Oberlin—and later she would chair
the piano department—Walker not only solidified her position but made
sure such notable but often ignored African-American classical musicians
as William Grant Still, Samuel Coleridge Taylor and Scott Joplin were
included in the curriculum. She was also relentless in her campaign for
gender equality and equal pay among the faculty.
Margaret Bonds was the only Black woman featured in her programs, and
she chose not to include white female classical composers as she was
often excluded. In her memoir she touched on this issue, noting, “I
tried to get the women together to protest the inequality of salaries
[at Oberlin]—it was my idea, yet they called a meeting and made their
decision without even inviting me or informing me of the meeting.”
In 1959, she had her debut concert at the Carnegie Recital Hall where
she performed the works of Rachmaninoff, Chopin and, her favorite,
Liszt. “Miss Walker’s playing has sweep and impetuosity,” said Times
reporter John Briggs. She received a master’s degree from Teachers
College, Columbia University, and a professional diploma for completing
the credits for a doctorate.
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