Cornella Derrick Lampton (1896 – August 9, 1928), later Cornella Lampton Dawson, was an American pianist and music educator. She was the first woman to earn a bachelor's degree in music at

Howard University Howard University (Howard) is a private, federally chartered historically black research university in Washington, D.C. It is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity" and accredited by the Middle States Commissi ...

Early life and education

Cornella Derrick Lampton was from

Greenville, Mississippi Greenville is a city in and the county seat of Washington County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 34,400 at the 2010 census. It is located in the area of historic cotton plantations and culture known as the Mississippi Delta. Hi ...

, the youngest daughter of clergyman Edward Wilkinson Lampton and Lula M. Lampton. The family moved to

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

after one of her sisters demanded to be addressed as "Miss Lampton" by the phone company, and the argument escalated to threats against the family. She was the first woman to earn a bachelor's degree at

's Conservatory of Music, graduating in 1914. She attended the

Chicago Musical College Chicago Musical College is a division of the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University. History Founding Dr. Florenz Ziegfeld Sr (1841–1923), founded the college in 1867 as the Chicago Academy of Music. The institution h ...

, where she studied piano with Alexander Raab and

Percy Grainger Percy Aldridge Grainger (born George Percy Grainger; 8 July 188220 February 1961) was an Australian-born composer, arranger and pianist who lived in the United States from 1914 and became an American citizen in 1918. In the course of a long an ...

, and from 1925 to 1927 pursued further studies in piano with

James Friskin James Friskin (3 March 1886, in Glasgow – 16 March 1967, in New York City) was a Scottish-born pianist, composer and music teacher who relocated to the United States in 1914. Biography Friskin studied in Glasgow with local organist Alfred ...

, on a scholarship at the Juilliard Musical Foundation.

Career

Cornella Lampton performed as a pianist in recitals and on radio programs, and taught piano. She was also music editor of the ''Chicago Whip''. She was a member of the

National Association of Negro Musicians The National Association of Negro Musicians, Inc. is one of the oldest organizations in the United States dedicated to the preservation, encouragement, and advocacy of all genres of the music of African-Americans. NANM had its beginning on May 3, ...

, and the Chicago Music Association. In 1927, she spoke and played at the 137th Street YWCA in New York, giving a program on "song and folk song."

Personal life and legacy

Cornella Lampton married composer and musician William Levi Dawson in May 1927. She died in August 1928, aged 32, in Chicago. Reports ascribed her death to complications after an

appendectomy An appendectomy, also termed appendicectomy, is a Surgery, surgical operation in which the vermiform appendix (a portion of the intestine) is removed. Appendectomy is normally performed as an urgent or emergency procedure to treat complicated acu ...

. Her remains were buried in Greenville. One of her students, Vivienne Shurland, established the Cornelia Lampton Scholarship Fund in her memory, for music students at Howard University.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lampton, Cornelil 1896 births 1928 deaths People from Greenville, Mississippi 20th-century American pianists Howard University alumni Juilliard School alumni 20th-century American women pianists Musicians from Mississippi Chicago Musical College alumni