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Exhibit Honoring Pioneering Black Musician, Actress with Coffeyville Ties

 

An exhibit opening this week at Pittsburg State's Bicknell Family Center tells the story of pioneering Black musician, conductor, actress, and author Eva Jessye, who spent time at Pittsburg State University as an artist in residence and whose personal collection of documents is archived. The exhibit includes photographs taken from PSU Special Collections and three works of art that capture her likeness.

 

Born Jan. 20th, 1895, in Coffeyville, Jessye was inspired by an aunt who sung spirituals to her. By age 12, she had organized her first choral group, a girls’ quartet. At age 13, she attended Western University in Kansas City, to study music, followed by Langston University in Oklahoma, where she earned her certificate in teaching. She would go on to become the head of the music department at Morgan College in Baltimore in 1919. Martin Luther King chose her choir that she organized in 1927 for the March on Washington in 1963. Jessye also acted in movies in the 60s and returned to teaching in the 1970s.

 

The exhibit will run through May 14th.

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