Singers Norma Green, Anne Brown & George Garner with pianist Netta Garner and C. W. Hill, Los Angeles, 1940s

Item Overview

Title

Singers Norma Green, Anne Brown & George Garner with pianist Netta Garner and C. W. Hill, Los Angeles, 1940s

Date Created

[1940s-/1950s]

Date

1940/1959

Language

No linguistic content

Collection

Walter L. Gordon, Jr./William C. Beverly, Jr. Collection

Notes

Summary

George Garner was a tenor vocalist (and first African American to sing with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra) and conductor.
Netta Paullyn (aka Pauline) Garner was a concert pianist, married to George Garner.
Norma Green was the wife of actor Eddie Green. Mrs. Green was a singer, and she played the piano and violin. The couple had a daughter, Elva Diane.
Anne Wiggins Brown was an African American soprano radio and concert singer, perhaps best known for singing the part of Bess in the world premier of Porgy and Bess in Boston. In the late 1940s, Brown moved to Norway, to escape the continuing racial prejudice in the United States.
Dr. Charles Wesley Hill moved to Los Angeles from Arkansas. Initially working as a dentist, he became a successful businessman and real estate broker. Hill was active in the NAACP, the International Film and Radio Guild (IFRG) where he was co-vice president along with Lena Horne, and other civil rights organizations. He was a member of the Phi Beta Sigma fraternity. Hill was also a fund raiser and party host at his Hollywood home. According to Walter L. Gordon, Jr., at some point Mr. Hill simply disappeared from the Los Angeles scene, and no one knew what had become of him. Census records indicate that he died in Evansville, Indiana in 1977.

Description

All information concerning the content and description of the image was provided by Walter Gordon.
L to R: Norma Green, C. W. Hill, Anne Brown, George and Neta Paullyn (Pauline) Garner.

Physical Description

Extent

1 photograph : b&w

Keywords

Genre

Black-and-white photographs

Names

Garner, Netta Paullyn, b. 1906 or 07
Green, Norma Ann Amato, 1923-2010
Brown, Anne, 1912-2009
Hill, C. W. (Charles Wesley), Dr., 1900-1977
Garner, George, 1892-1971

Location

California--Los Angeles

Resource type

still image

Subjects

People

African American singers
African American musicians--California--Los Angeles
African American dentists--California--Los Angeles