Edna Alexander (singer)

Not to be confused with the composer and singer from Iowa, Edna Alexander.

Photo from a 1902 article and interview in The Colored American

Edna Alexander was a Canadian-born soprano based in the United States and later Europe. She sang with various theater companies in the United States, including the Afro-American Opera Company, Cole & Johnson, and Williams and Walker Co.

Biography

Alexander was born in Woodstock, Ontario, Canada, the daughter of George Alexander. When she was young, her family moved to Toledo, Ohio and then Chicago, Illinois. She started out singing as a child in the Quinn Chapel choir in Chicago, and later sang in the choir at Bethel Church.[1][2]

In 1895 she moved to the East Coast, where she performed as a singer. In 1896 she was part of the Afro-American Opera Company.[3] She was the lead soprano in Cole & Johnson's "A Trip to Coontown", and also performed for the Williams & Walker Company.[4][5] In 1905, she traveled to Europe as part of a performance, and continued to live there until the end of her life. While abroad, she married "Billy" Farrell who worked in variety shows.[4]

Alexander died from tuberculosis in August 1913 in Vienna, Austria.[4]

Theater

• Sons of Ham[6]
• A Trip to Coontown[7]

References

1. "Here and There". The Colored American Magazine. Vol. 3, no. 2. June 1901. pp. 140–145.
2. "Actress Refused By Church". Chicago Tribune. May 6, 1899. p. 6. Retrieved February 22, 2022.
3. McAllister, Marvin (December 5, 2011). Whiting up: Whiteface Minstrels and Stage Europeans in African American Performance. Univ of North Carolina Press. p. 88. ISBN 9780807869062.
4. "Edna Alexander Dead". The New York Age. August 14, 1913. p. 6. Retrieved February 22, 2022.
5. Abbott, Lynn (2007). Ragged But Right. University Press of Mississippi. p. 71. ISBN 978-1-57806-901-9. Retrieved February 22, 2022.
6. "Week's Attractions". The Butte Miner. May 11, 1902. p. 38.
7. "The Play: Published Weekly in the Interests of the Theatre and Amusement-going Public". 1901.