Cornella Lampton | |
---|---|
Born | Cornella Derrick Lampton |
Died | August 9, 1928 Chicago |
Nationality | American |
Other names | Cornelia Lampton, Cornelia Lampton Forrest, Cornelia Lampton Dawson |
Occupation | Musician |
Spouse | William Levi Dawson (m. 1927) |
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.
Cornella Derrick Lampton was from Greenville, Mississippi,[1] the youngest daughter of clergyman Edward Wilkinson Lampton and Lula M. Lampton.[2][3] The family moved to Chicago 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.[4]
She was the first woman to earn a bachelor's degree at Howard University's Conservatory of Music,[5][6] graduating in 1914.[7][8] She attended the Chicago Musical College, where she studied piano with Alexander Raab[9][10] and Percy Grainger,[11] and from 1925 to 1927[12] pursued further studies in piano with James Friskin, on a scholarship at the Juilliard Musical Foundation.[13][14]
Cornella Lampton performed as a pianist in recitals and on radio programs,[15] and taught piano. She was also music editor of the Chicago Whip. She was a member of the National Association of Negro Musicians, and the Chicago Music Association.[16] In 1927, she spoke and played at the 137th Street YWCA in New York, giving a program on "song and folk song."[17]
Cornella Lampton married composer and musician William Levi Dawson in May 1927.[18][19] She died in August 1928, aged 32, in Chicago.[16] Reports ascribed her death to complications after an appendectomy.[20][21] Her remains were buried in Greenville.[12] One of her students, Vivienne Shurland, established the Cornelia Lampton Scholarship Fund in her memory, for music students at Howard University.[6][22]