As a teenager, Barbara Smith idolized singer Marian Anderson, the world known Philadelphian whose historic performance more than 50 years ago on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial still captivates people. Anderson’s rich contralto voice inspired the Northeast Texan to pursue a college education that would provide her formal training in singing.
As a 19-year-old sophomore at the University of Texas at Austin, Smith had no idea her practice room singing would eventually resonate far beyond the music halls of her campus. A series of unexpected events eventually earned her a place in history with Anderson and other women who became opera legends.
“She became respected as a symbol for those who should be acknowledged for their talents beyond their race,” says Aaronetta Hamilton Pierce, chair of the advisory committee on Black studies at the University of Texas at Austin.
Pierce, interviewed earlier this month by phone, was echoing sentiments from others familiar with the life and legacy of Barbara Smith Conrad, the internationally known mezzo soprano opera singer. Conrad died last month in Edison, New Jersey, according to The New York Times. She had advanced Alzheimer’s disease, although a specific cause of death had not been determined when news of her passing was disclosed by family members, the newspaper said. She was 79.
Today, as the music and higher education communities reflect on Conrad’s life and career, many cite her college story as a good example of the challenges facing college presidents and chancellors, the impact of decisions some make to protect their institutions and how students endure, survive and persevere despite the developments around them.
Pierce and others were speaking of the humiliating sacrifice Conrad was forced to make as a student in the 1950s when racial desegregation in the South was in its earliest of stages. Three days before she was to begin performing with her fellow students in the opera “Dido and Aneneas,” Smith was told she could not perform.
Dr. Logan Wilson, then UT-A president, had made the decision after hearing from a state lawmaker who was a friend of the institution, that the state legislature might not give the institution as much money as it was seeking, if some lawmakers knew a Negro was playing a major role in the play, a role historically played by a white person.
