Portia white family

PortiaMayWhite

Daughter of William Andrew White Hon. D.D. and Izie Dora White

Sister of Helena Isabella (White) Oliver, James Romney White, Nettie Jean White, William Andrew White OC, Mildred Elizabeth White and John Edgar White

[spouse(s) unknown]

[children unknown]

Profile last modified | Created 13 May 2019

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Biography

Portia May White was born on June 24, 1911 in Truro, Colchester County, Nova Scotia, Canada^[1] Her parents were Rev. Capt. William Andrew White Hon. D.D., a son of a former slave in Virginia and Izie Dora White, a descendant of Black Loyalists. ^[2]

Portia was a Canadian Operatic Contralto, the first Canadian Black concert singer to achieve International fame. At the age of 6 she joined the choir at Cornwallis Baptist Church in Halifax, where her father was the Minister and her mother a musical director. As Portia grew older she became the choir director and assisted with church fundraising by singing on her father’s weekly radio show. While a teen, she entered a local singing competition with her sister June. They performed an Aria from Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor.^[3]. They won first prize, and although Portia wanted to pursue a singing career, she was unable to afford professional training. In 1929, she entered Dalhousie University^[4] in Halifax to become a teacher. During the 1930’s she taught school in Africville and Lucasville, two small communities In Halifax that were predominately Black Nova Scotians. A regular competitor at the Halifax Music festival, she won the Helen Kennedy Silver Cup in 1935, 1937 and 1938. Finally the organizers decided to award her the cup permanently.

In 1939, Portia won a scholarship to the Halifax Conservatory of Music and continued her musical training with noted baritone, Ernesto Vinci. He taught her the “Bel Canto” vocal style of singing. ^[5] After World War II, she sang in concerts and on radio shows and won awards at many provincial music festivals.

During 1941, she met Edith Read, a headmistress from a school in Toronto, who offered Portia opportunities for performing. On November 7, 1941, Portia made her national debut as a singer, in Toronto at the Eaton Auditorium. ^[6][7]. Writing in the Evening Telegram, Edward Wodson said White had a "coloured and beautifully shaded contralto… It is a natural voice, a gift from heaven.'” ^[8] The audience appreciated her performance and from there she received a career management offer from Oxford University Press.

In 1944, after many difficulties obtaining bookings because of her race, she made her international debut as a singer, receiving critical acclaim for both her classical European music and her African-American spirituals. She performed throughout Europe, Central and South American and the Caribbean. In 1944 she signed a contract with Columbia Concerts Inc., the largest artist agency in North America.

Unfortunately, voice difficulties and cancer contributed to her retirement in 1951. She settled in Toronto and eventually taught both privately and at Branksome Hall, a school for girls. Some of her young students were Canadian musicians such as Lorne Greene, Robert Gerard Goulet, and Dinah Christie. One of Portia's fist major public appearances was for Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip in 1964.

Portia died on Feb 13, 1968 from cancer and was buried in Camp Hill Cemetery, Halifax, Nova Scotia. ^[9]

In 1995, Portia White was declared a person of national historic significance by the Government of Canada. Canada Post issued a stamp bearing her image in 1999, Supporters in Nova Scotia established the Nova Scotia Talent Trust and the government of Nova Scotia continues to award an annual Portia White Prize. In 2007, she was posthumously awarded a lifetime achievement award by the East Coast Music Association. ^[10] An exhibit with photographs, recordings and many of Portia's person items has been put on display at Don Heights Unitarian Congregation in North York, Ontario. There are plans to circulate the exhibit throughout Canada before putting in on permanent display in Truro. ^[11]

Sources

1. ↑?ImageFile=1911-57800396&Event=birth&ID=268998
2. ↑
3. ↑,
4. ↑
5. ↑
6. ↑?id=7413
7. ↑
8. ↑
9. ↑ Find a Grave, database and images (: accessed 19 September 2024), memorial page for Portia May White (24 Jun 1911–13 Feb 1968), Find a Grave Memorial ID 231607412, citing Camp Hill Cemetery, Halifax, Halifax County, Nova Scotia, Canada; Maintained by The Silent Forgotten (contributor 46537737).
10. ↑
11. ↑

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Connections to Kings: Portia is 26 degrees from Martin King, 22 degrees from Barbara Ann King, 17 degrees from George King, 21 degrees from Philip King, 25 degrees from Truby King, 23 degrees from Louis XIV de France, 23 degrees from King Charles III Mountbatten-Windsor, 22 degrees from Amos Owens, 22 degrees from Gabrielle Roy, 23 degrees from Richard Seddon, 30 degrees from Pometacom Wampanoag and 37 degrees from Charlemagne Carolingian on our single family tree. Login to see how you relate to 33 million family members.