Carrie R. Burton Overton (July 20, 1888 – December 1975) was an American musician and stenographer. She was the first Black woman to enroll and study at the University of Wyoming, beginning in 1903.
Carrie Burton Overton | |
|---|---|
 Carrie Burton Overton, from a 1927 publication | |
| Born | Carrie R. Burton July 20, 1888 Wyoming Territory |
| Died | December 1975 (age 87) New York, New York, U.S. |
| Occupation(s) | Pianist, stenographer |
| Known for | First Black female student at the University of Wyoming (1903-1907) |
Early life and education
editCarrie Burton was born in Wyoming Territory and raised in Laramie, the daughter of John R. Burton and Catherine Burton Price.[1] Her stepfather Thomas Price was a former Buffalo Soldier. She had an older half-brother, Benny, who drowned when Carrie was 12 years old.[2]
Carrie Burton was the first Black female student to enroll at the University of Wyoming, in 1903, when she was fifteen years old. She earned a stenography certificate and studied piano. She attended Howard University beginning in 1908, with financial help from Jane Ivinson, a white philanthropist who organized a benefit concert for Burton. She earned a music diploma at Howard in 1913, and pursued further studies at the Juilliard School, where she earned a diploma in 1941. She earned a bachelor's degree in 1947 and a master's degree in 1948, both from Columbia University.[3]
Career
editOverton worked as an administrative assistant at Howard University,[4] In 1918, with support from the NAACP, she was offered a stenographer job at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, after a similar position at the Council of National Defense was offered, then withdrawn because of her race.[5] She was a secretary who worked for Mary White Ovington of the NAACP, Julian D. Rainey at the Democratic National Committee,[6] and John Haynes Holmes, pastor of the Community Church of New York.[7] She was a member of the Business and Professional Women's Club of New York City,[8] and of the Howard University Club of New York.[9]
Overton also played piano in New York clubs. In 1927, she gave a piano recital and New York's Landay Hall. "Never has the writer heard a pianist of the Negro race offer the public a more dignified and enjoyable program," commented a reviewer in Musical Courier. "The young woman played from memory with poetic appreciation, much brilliancy and intellectual understanding."[10] In 1931, she performed at a concert organized by Alma Vessels John for the Harlem Students' Association.[7] In 1934, she played "a program of Russian music" at the Treble Clef Club in Washington, D.C.[11] She composed an original musical work, now lost, which was performed at the Juilliard School in 1940.[2]
Personal life
editCarrie Burton married a fellow Howard University alumnus, educator George W. B. Overton, in 1913. She died in 1975, at the age of 87, in New York City.[3] Overton's papers and photographs are in the Archives of Labor History at Wayne State University.[6][12]
References
edit- ^ "Catherine Price". Evening Star. 1935-10-04. p. 11. Retrieved 2024-02-19 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b Viner, Kim. "Carrie Burton Overton, First African-American Female Student at UW". WyoHistory.org. Retrieved 2024-02-19.
- ^ a b "Wyoming Women of Note: Carrie Burton Overton". Wyoming Secretary of State. October 2020. Retrieved 2024-02-19.
- ^ Howard University (1918). Catalogue. p. 20.
- ^ "Competent Colored Woman Gets Appointment". The Monitor. 1918-01-26. p. 1. Retrieved 2024-02-19 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b O'Sullivan, Judith; Gallick, Rosemary (1975). Workers and Allies: Female Participation in the American Trade Union Movement, 1824-1976 : Exhibition Organized by Judith O'Sullivan : Catalog. Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service. p. 73. ISBN 978-0-87546-130-4.
- ^ a b White, Lucien H. (June 13, 1931). "Harlem Student Nurses Present Music Artists". The New York Age. p. 7. Retrieved February 19, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Business and Professional Women's Club". The New York Age. 1930-05-24. p. 2. Retrieved 2024-02-19 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Howard University Club of N. Y. to Hold Public Meeting Sunday". The New York Age. 1929-11-16. p. 10. Retrieved 2024-02-19 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Carrie Burton Overton's Recital" Musical Courier (December 29, 1927): 30. via Internet Archive.
- ^ Durant, Richard (1934-03-24). "In the Realm of Music". The New York Age. p. 4. Retrieved 2024-02-19 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Carrie Burton Overton Photographs, Walter P. Reuther Library, Archives of Labor and Urban Affairs, Wayne State University