Eva Jessye collection

1963-1992 [bulk 1973-1992]

Eva Jessye, African Amercian choral director, composer, arranger and music historian was born in Coffeyville, Kansas in 1895. In 1914, she graduated from Western University of Kansas City with a degree in music and then went on to Langston University in Oklahoma. She moved to New York in 1926 and by 1930, Jessye had formed and directed a professional choir. She was the first musical director for the original production of George Gershwin's "Porgy and Bess." Acknowledged as the first African-American woman to win international distinction as a director of a professional choir, Jessye was the recipient of numerous awards and honorary doctoral degrees throughout her life. She died at 97 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The Eva Jessye Collection contains clippings, citations, correspondence and programs that document Jessye's professional career and recognition in her field.