Thomas Bowers (singer)
| Ein sex anaa gender | male  |
|---|---|
| Ein country of citizenship | United States |
| Name wey dem give am | Thomas |
| Family name | Bowers |
| Ein date of birth | 1823 |
| Place dem born am | Philadelphia |
| Date wey edie | 3 October 1885 |
| Sibling | John C. Bowers |
| Ein occupation | musician |
| Start of work period | 1854 |
| Ethnic group | African Americans |
Thomas J. Bowers (c. 1823–October 3, 1885),[1] dem sanso know am as "The Colored Mario",[2] na he be an American concert artist. Na he study voice plus African-American concert artist Elizabeth Taylor Greenfield wey na he tour plus ein troupe for a few years before he embark on ein own successful solo career. Na he be de bro of professional singer Sarah Sedgwick Bowers, dem know as "the Colored Nightingale", den John C. Bowers, a Philadelphia entrepreneur den church organist.
Na a fictionalized version of Thomas Bowers ein life be depicted by actor William Marshall insyd a 1964 episode of Bonanza dem title "Enter Thomas Bowers".
Early life
[edit | edit source]Na dem born Thomas Bowers insyd 1836 insyd Philadelphia. Na ein poppie, John C. Bowers Sr. (1773–1844), be a secondhand clothing dealer, a vestryman den school trustee at St. Thomas African Episcopal Church, den one of de founders of de Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society.[3] Na ein mommie ein name be Henrietta.[4]As a youngster, na Thomas show a desire to learn music wey na dem teach am piano den organ by ein older bro John.[1] At de age of 18, na he succeed ein bro as organist of St. Thomas African Episcopal Church.[5] Na he den ein bro be trained as tailors wey na dem operate a "fashionable merchant tailor shop" wey dey cater to upper class gentlemen den businessmen insyd Philadelphia.[6]
Concert artist
[edit | edit source]Despite ein natural aptitude for music den enjoyment of singing, na Bowers defer go eim parents dema wishes make he no perform outsyd de church. Na be decline offers make he sing plus de famous Frank Johnson's Band of Philadelphia, among odas.[5] Buh as chaw people cam be acquainted plus ein singing, na dem persuade am make he appear at a Philadelphia recital insyd 1854 plus African American concert artist Elizabeth Taylor Greenfield, wey na he cam be ein student insyd voice. Na dat 1854 appearance meet plus popular den critical success; na de critics begin dey call am "The Colored Mario" den "The American Mario" for de similarity of ein voice to Italian opera tenor Giovanni Mario.[1] Na Bowers personally dislike de sobriquet,[7] buh na he agree make dem bill am as "Mareo". Na he proceed to tour plus Greenfield's troupe insyd Philadelphia, de Midwestern United States, New York, den Canada,[8] den afterwards he embark on a successful solo career.
Na Bowers specialise insyd "romantic ballads den popular arias from well-known operas".[7] Na dem describe ein voice as e have a "wonderful power den beauty"[8] den "extraordinary power, mellowness, den sweetness". Na ein range nearly be two octaves.[5] Na dem say he be "handsome" wey he get a strong stage presence.[9]
Na Bowers find de stage an ideal platform from wich to espouse ein opposition to racial inequality. Na he purportedly be reluctant make he launch a public singing career til na he realise: "What induced me more than any thing else to appear in public was to give the lie to 'negro serenaders' (minstrels), and to show to the world that coloured men and women could sing classical music as well as the members of the other race by whom they had been so terribly vilified".[10] He cam be famous for he refuse make he perform before segregated anaa white- audiences per.[8][9] For an 1855 performance insyd Hamilton, Ontario, wer na de theatre manager refuse to seat six black patrons wey na dem purchase reserved first-class seats, na Bowers refuse make he perform.[1][2]
Na Trotter dey wrep: "Mr. Bowers, during his career, has sung in most of the Eastern and Middle States; and at one time he even invaded the slavery-cursed regions of Maryland. He sang in Baltimore, the papers of which city were forced to accord to him high merit as a vocalist."[5]
Na Bowers sanso appear at benefit concerts make he raise funds for de recruitment of black soldiers to de Union Army training camp at Camp William Penn.[11]
Oda activities
[edit | edit source]Togeda plus oda members of ein family, na Bowers be a national organiser of "black opposition to to fugitive slave laws of de 1850s den a state representative of de Equal Rights Convention.[12] Insyd October 1864 na he be a delegate wey komot Philadelphia to de National Convention of Coloured Men insyd Syracuse, New York.[13]
Personal
[edit | edit source]Na Bowers marry Lucretia Turpin, a native of New York, sam time before 1850.[12][14] Na dem get one daughter, Adelia.[12]
At de time of ein death insyd 1885, na he possess "nearly $10,000 insyd real estate, Pennsylvania Railroad stock, household furnishings den cash insyd de Farmers and Mechanics Bank".[12]
Bonanza episode
[edit | edit source]Insyd a 1964 episode of Bonanza dem title "Enter Thomas Bowers", na Thomas be portrayed as de African American opera singer by actor William Marshall.[1]
References
[edit | edit source]- 1 2 3 4 5 Nettles, Darryl Glenn (2003). African American concert singers before 1950. Jefferson, NC: McFarland. ISBN 0786414677.
- 1 2 Washington, Linn; Lawrence, Bette Davis (8 February 1988). "Philadelphia's Black Elite In The Shadows Of History 1840-1940". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Archived from the original on January 31, 2011. Retrieved 3 May 2014.
- ↑ Foner, Philip Sheldon (1983). History of Black Americans: From the emergence of the cotton kingdom to the eve of the compromise of 1850. Greenwood Press. p. 310. ISBN 0837175291.
- ↑ Winch, Julie (2000). The Elite of Our People: Joseph Willson's Sketches of Black Upper-Class Life in Antebellum Philadelphia. Pennsylvania State University. ISBN 0271020202.
- 1 2 3 4 Trotter, James Monroe (1881). "Thomas J. Bowers, Tenor-Vocalist; Often styled the "American Mario"". Music and Some Highly Musical People. Johnson reprint. Retrieved 3 May 2014.
- ↑ Delany, Martin Robison (2012). The Condition, Elevation, Emigration, and Destiny of the Colored People of the United States. Tredition. ISBN 978-3847207979.
- 1 2 Price, III, Emmett G.; Kernodle, Tammy; Maxille, Horace (2010). Encyclopedia of African American Music. ABC-CLIO. p. 244. ISBN 978-0313341991.
- 1 2 3 Appiah, Kwame Anthony; Gates, Henry Louis Jr. (2005). Africana: The Encyclopedia of the African and African American Experience. Oxford University Press. p. 598. ISBN 0195170555.
- 1 2 Brawley, Benjamin Griffith (1966). The Negro Genius: A New Appraisal of the Achievement of the American Negro in Literature and the Fine Arts. Biblo & Tannen Publishers. p. 99. ISBN 9780819601841.
- ↑ Schenbeck, Lawrence (2012). Racial Uplift and American Music, 1878-1943. University Press of Mississippi. p. 50. ISBN 978-1617032301.
- ↑ Scott, Donald Sr. (2008). Camp William Penn. Arcadia Publishing. p. 39. ISBN 9780738557359.
- 1 2 3 4 Lapsansky, Emma Jones (January 1984). "Friends, Wives, and Strivings: Networks and Community Values Among Nineteenth-Century Philadelphia Afroamerican Elites". The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography: 20–21.
- ↑ Matthews, Harry Bradshaw (2008). African American Freedom Journey in New York and Related Sites, 1823-1870: Freedom Knows No Colour. Africana Homestead Legacy Pb. pp. 213–215. ISBN 9780979953743.
- ↑ Autobiography of Dr. William Henry Johnson. Haskell House Publishers Ltd. 1900. p. 116.
Read further
[edit | edit source]- Cheatham, Wallace (1997). Dialogues on Opera and the African-American Experience. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 0810831473.
- Southern, Eileen (1997). The Music of Black Americans: A History. W.W. Norton. ISBN 0393038432.
- Trotter, James M. (1881). Music and Some Highly Musical People. ISBN 9780841100886.
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