Elizabeth Lennox Explained

Elizabeth Lennox
Other Names:Louise Terrell, Elizabeth Lennox Hughes
Birth Date:March 16, 1894
Birth Place:Ionia, Michigan
Death Date:May 3, 1992
Death Place:Fairfield, Connecticut
Occupation:Singer

Elizabeth Lennox (March 16, 1894 – May 3, 1992), also known as Louise Terrell, was an American contralto singer. She made over 150 musical recordings in the 1920s, on the Brunswick, Edison, Victor, and Columbia labels.

Early life

Elizabeth Lennox was born in Ionia, Michigan the daughter of Lambert E. Lennox and Hester Anna Tyrell Lennox.[1] Her parents were from Canada. Her father was a Methodist clergyman,[2] and her older sister Olive Lennox was a pianist who sometimes accompanied her.[3] [4] She graduated from the Cosmopolitan School of Music in Chicago.[5] Her father's work meant that she lived in various towns as a child; she counted Benton Harbor, Michigan as one of her hometowns.[6]

Career

Lennox began her professional singing career as a church soloist in Chicago, and in New York.[7] [8] She sang mainly in concert and oratorio programs,[9] [10] and made over 150 recordings in the 1920s, on the Brunswick, Edison, Victor, and Columbia labels.[11] [12] Some of her recordings were made under the name "Louise Terrell" (using a variation on her mother's maiden name).[13] She explained that making recordings helped her hear her own voice and find where improvements were needed.[14] "People may try to flatter you by saying you are singing perfectly," she said, "but the record certainly shows up every little imperfection in a wonderful way."[15]

Lennox also taught voice in Michigan, as a young woman. She and accompanist Ann Straton Miller made a national concert tour during the 1921–1922 season.[16] In the 1930s she often performed on radio programs, including on the American Album of Popular Music,[17] and in a regular weekly slot on CBS Radio's "Broadway Varieties" show.[18] [19]

After she retired from professional performance in the 1940s, she was program committee chair of the South Shore Music Club, a women's club in Connecticut,[20] and was executive vice-president of the Connecticut Symphony Orchestra.[21]

Personal life

Lennox was tall, "distinctly the type for whom tailored clothes were made," according to a 1937 profile. She married George Percival Hughes, an advertising executive, in 1922.[22] Their son David Gratton Hughes was born in 1926.[23] [24] Her husband died in 1967,[25] and she died in 1992, aged 98 years, in Fairfield, Connecticut. Her son became a musicologist on the faculty at Harvard University.[26] Her granddaughter Catherine E. C. Hughes was a television news reporter and an Emmy-nominated filmmaker.[27] [28]

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: 1934-03-01 . Rev. Lennox, Ex-Sister City Pastor, is Dead . 2 . The Herald-Press . 2022-09-24 . Newspapers.com.
  2. July 14, 1923 . Contemporary American Musicians, No. 283: Elizabeth Lennox . Musical America . 38 . 12 . 15 . Internet Archive.
  3. November 10, 1916 . Elizabeth Lennox . Music News . 8 . 2 . 30.
  4. News: 1927-02-16 . Plan April Homecoming for Two Brilliant Lennox Sisters . 4 . The Herald-Palladium . 2022-09-24 . Newspapers.com.
  5. Arell . Ruth . March 27, 1937 . No Glamor Girl is She! . Radio Guide . 4–5 . Internet Archive.
  6. News: 1923-05-12 . Gifted Singer 'Comes Home' Next Tuesday . 4 . The Herald-Palladium . 2022-09-24 . Newspapers.com.
  7. December 11, 1920 . Elizabeth Lennox Won Spurs Against Disheartening Odds . Musical America . 33 . 7 . 44 . Internet Archive.
  8. September 2, 1920 . Elizabeth Lennox under New Management . Musical Courier . 81 . 10 . 16 . Internet Archive.
  9. February 17, 1921 . Frederic Warren Ballad Concert . Musical Courier . 82 . 7 . 41 . Internet Archive.
  10. February 17, 1921 . Elizabeth Lennox with Lowell Choral Society . Musical Courier . 82 . 7 . 54 . Internet Archive.
  11. Web site: Elizabeth Lennox . 2022-09-23 . Discography of American Historical Recordings.
  12. Web site: Elizabeth Lennox . 2022-09-23 . Discogs . en.
  13. Book: Moanin' Low: A Discography of Female Popular Vocal Recordings, 1920-1933 . 1996 . Greenwood Publishing Group . 978-0-313-29241-5 . 328–330 . en.
  14. April 6, 1922 . Lennox Declares Phonograph a Post Graduate Course in Vocal Training . Musical Courier . 84 . 14 . 58 . Internet Archive.
  15. February 12, 1920 . 'Corrective Criticism of Priceless Value' says Elizabeth Lennox . Musical Courier . 80 . 7 . 42 . Internet Archive.
  16. D.J.T. . January 14, 1922 . Carrying Musical Classics to the Oil Country . Musical America . 35 . 12 . 30 . Internet Archive.
  17. Book: Cox, Jim . Frank and Anne Hummert's Radio Factory: The Programs and Personalities of Broadcasting's Most Prolific Producers . 2003-05-21 . McFarland . 978-0-7864-1631-8 . 51–52 . en.
  18. Banner . Jack . September 14, 1935 . Broadway Varieties . Radio Guide . 4–5 . Internet Archive.
  19. Book: Dunning, John . On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio . 1998-05-07 . Oxford University Press . 978-0-19-977078-6 . 122 . en.
  20. News: Sherman . Robert . 1978-06-04 . Music: 45 Golden Years . en-US . The New York Times . 2022-09-24 . 0362-4331.
  21. News: Pascone . Tere . 1954-10-31 . Symphony Workers Push Drive for Goal of 1,000 Subscriptions . 63 . The Bridgeport Telegram . 2022-09-24 . Newspapers.com.
  22. News: 1922-06-01 . Eminent Singer a Bride . 4 . The South Bend Tribune . 2022-09-24 . Newspapers.com.
  23. August 5, 1926 . A Son to Elizabeth Lennox . Musical Courier . 93 . 6 . 11 . Internet Archive.
  24. News: 1926-07-02 . Elizabeth Lennox Hughes is Mother Son Born Today . 2 . The Herald-Press . 2022-09-24 . Newspapers.com.
  25. News: 1967-06-28 . George P. Hughes . 91 . The Bridgeport Post . 2022-09-24 . Newspapers.com.
  26. Web site: 2015-07-16 . David Grattan Hughes, 88 . 2022-09-24 . Harvard Gazette . en-US.
  27. Web site: WCAX News Team . August 1, 2022 . Channel 3′s Catherine Hughes remembered as tough, no-nonsense reporter . 2022-09-24 . WCAX . en.
  28. Web site: In person: Catherine Hughes . 2022-09-24 . Rutland Herald . 23 November 2002 . en.

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