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Robert Nathaniel Dett is awarded the Bowdoin Prize by Harvard University for his essay, The Emancipation of Negro Music.
1920 (Jan 15)
Robert Nathaniel Dett, a Black composer, arranger, and conductor, was awarded the Bowdoin Prize by Harvard University for an essay titled, The Emancipation of Negro Music. Dett was born in 1882, in the community of Drummondville, Quebec, which had been established by enslaved fugitives before the Civil War. Inspired as a child by Black spirituals, Dett studied music at the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago, Columbia University, Harvard University, the Oberlin Conservatory, the Oliver Willis Halstead Conservatory in Lockport, New York, and at the University of Pennsylvania. During his early career, Dett performed as a concert pianist while teaching and engaging in further study. Dett taught at Lane College in Texas (1908-1911), Lincoln University in Missouri (1911-1913), Hampton Institute in Virginia (1913-1931), Sam Houston College in Texas (1935-1937), and at Bennett College in North Carolina (1937). Under the leadership of Dett, the Hampton Institute choir became internationally known, performing at the Library of Congress, New York's Carnegie Hall, and Boston's Symphony Hall. In 1930, the choir toured seven European nations. Meanwhile, Dett took some time off to study with Arthur Foote in Boston and Nadia Boulanger at the American Conservatory at Fontainebleau. Among Dett's notable compositions are "Magnolia" (1912), "Music in the Mine" (1916), "The Chariot Jubilee" (1921), "Enchantment" (1922), and "The Ordering of Moses" (1937). In addition to the Bowdoin Prize, Dett received the Francis Boot Prize for composition, the Palm and Ribbon Award of the Royal Belgian Band, the Harmon Foundation Award, and honorary degrees from Oberlin's Eastman School of Music and Harvard University. Dett died in 1943.
References:
- • Hornsby, Alton. Chronology of African-American History: Significant Events and People from 1619 to the Present. Detroit: Gale Research, 1995.