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MARY CARDWELL DAWSON
(Deceased)

Mary Cardwell Dawson, a versatile and accomplished musician, impresario, teacher, artist and conductor was a graduate of the New England Conservatory of Music, Boston, Massachusetts, Post graduate work at Chicago Musical College; Metropolitan Opera Studios, New York; and Special Dramatics and Acting with Clayton Gilbert, Boston, Massachusetts.

Mme. Dawson founded and maintained CARDWELL SCHOOL OF MUSIC in Pittsburgh with an interracial faculty which became one of the highest credited private schools of the city. She also organized and directed the CARDWELL DAWSON CHOIR of Pittsburgh which was the invited guest of the New York and Chicago World's Fairs and 1937, 1938, 1939, and 1940 was the recipient of cash prizes, awards and trophies. 
In 1941 the National Negro Opera Company was conceived and created by Mme. Dawson in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The idea was motivated by the desire to create incalculable inspiration and incentive in young artists and more importantly because of the invaluable contribution it would make to the business and cultural life of the community. The company operated as an interracial organization, engaging members of the Pittsburgh, New York Philharmonic, National, and Chicago Symphony Orchestras. She engaged conductors, soloists and stage hands from the Metropolitan Opera. Through Mme. Dawson's leadership, the Company staged performances in Pittsburgh, at the Syria Mosque; Chicago, at the Civic Opera House and Coliseum; 8th Street Theatre; New York's Metropolitan Opera House, Madison Square Garden, Carnegie Hall and Town Hall; and at Washington's Watergate, National Guard Armory and Clark Griffith Stadium. The National Negro Opera Foundation was founded in 1950 by Mme. Dawson and is incorporated under the laws of the District of Columbia. It is dedicated to the purpose of perpetuating the National Negro Opera Company. 

Through the years 1941 to 1960 Mme. Dawson managed and produced the Company in "Aida", "La Traviata", "Il Travatore", "Carmen", "Ouanga" and "Ordering of Moses". The NEW YORK TIMES, May 29, 1956, commented on "Ouanga"- **Under the energetic leadership of Mary Cardwell Dawson,***has done good work and has given the number of young singers such as ROBERT McFERRIN, the National Negro Company's leading baritone, who later became a member of the Metropolitan Opera Company, their early theatrical experience. Under the management of Mme. Dawson the National Negro Opera Company presented "Ouanga" on May 27, 1956 at the Metropolitan Opera House, New York City. No company other than its own ever performed at the Metropolitan - Standing Room Only sold. Mme Dawson was the recipient of many awards, trophies and citations. She was a member of the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, life Member and Past President of the National Association of Negro Musicians, Inc.

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