George Henry O'Connor (August 20, 1874 – September 28, 1946) was an American lawyer, businessman and singer, described at the time of his death as "almost beyond a doubt the most popular man in Washington".

Biography

O'Connor was born in Washington, D.C. He attended St. John's Military Academy in Alexandria, Virginia, graduating in 1891, and then studied at the

National University School of Law National University School of Law was an American law school founded in Washington, D.C. in 1869. Originally intended as part of a larger design for a national university in the United States, the school was the principal component of National Unive ...

, graduating in 1894. He continued his studies at Georgetown University, and was admitted to the District of Columbia Bar in 1895. He was employed by the District of Columbia Title Insurance Company, becoming its vice-president in 1907 and then its president from 1941 until his death. He was admitted to the bar of the

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

in 1918. "George H. O'Connor: Georgetown's Troubadour to the Presidents", ''Georgetown University Library'', September 15, 2008
Retrieved 11 February 2019. At the same time as his legal career, he became a leading stage entertainer and recording artist. Aged nine, in 1883, he was mentioned in the local press as a performer in a "juvenile masque carnival", and while at Georgetown was a leading member of the glee club. By 1900, he had begun performing newly-fashionable "

rag-time Ragtime, also spelled rag-time or rag time, is a musical style that flourished from the 1890s to 1910s. Its cardinal trait is its syncopated or "ragged" rhythm. Ragtime was popularized during the early 20th century by composers such as Scott J ...

" music, and formed the Birenomore Quartette with three friends. O'Connor became a popular entertainer at events hosted by such organizations as the Gridiron Club, the

National Press Club Organizations A press club is an organization for journalists and others professionally engaged in the production and dissemination of news. A press club whose membership is defined by the press of a given country may be known as a National Press ...

, the

Alfalfa Club The Alfalfa Club is a social club that exists only to hold an annual black tie banquet on the last Saturday of January at the Capital Hilton in Washington D.C., with an after-party at a local restaurant. The banquet, which lasts 4 hours, featur ...

, the Knights of Columbus, and the

Bar Association A bar association is a professional association of lawyers as generally organized in countries following the Anglo-American types of jurisprudence. The word bar is derived from the old English/European custom of using a physical railing to separ ...

. He also recorded prolifically as a tenor singer between 1914 and 1918, "George O'Connor", ''Discography of American Historical Recordings''
Retrieved 11 February 2019. specializing in dialect material, particularly " coon songs", as well as other popular songs and light opera. His July 1916 recording of "

Nigger Blues "Nigger Blues", written by Le Roy "Lasses" White (1888 – 1949), was one of the first blues songs published. Copyrighted by the Texas-born White in 1912, it was first titled "Negro Blues", but for unknown reasons when White published it in 1913 ...

", copyrighted four years earlier by Leroy "Lasses" White, is one of the first recordings of a

twelve-bar blues The 12-bar blues (or blues changes) is one of the most prominent chord progressions in popular music. The blues progression has a distinctive form in lyrics, phrase, chord structure, and duration. In its basic form, it is predominantly based on ...

song. His other successful recordings included "Everybody Rag With Me" (1915) and "Pray For the Lights to Go Out" (1917). O'Connor was the favored entertainer of a succession of US Presidents, from Taft to Truman, particularly at White House Correspondents' Association dinners, and became known as the "Troubadour to the Presidents". He died in 1946, aged 72, of a heart ailment.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:OConnor, George 1874 births 1946 deaths American lawyers American male singers Musicians from Washington, D.C. National University School of Law alumni