On this date in 1941, opera singer Mary Cardwell Dawson founded the National Negro Opera Company.
Based in Pittsburgh, the Opera Company remained in the steel city until 1960 and lasted outright until 1962.
The African American Atlas
Black History & Culture: an Illustrated Reference
by Molefi K. Asanta and Mark T. Mattson
Macmillan USA, Simon & Schuster, New York
ISBN 0-02-864984-2