Hattie King Reavis

US singer (1890–1970

Hattie King Reavis
Black and white portrait of a black woman dressed in the attire of the 1920s
Reavis in 1919
Born
Hattie Beatrice King

(1890-11-18)November 18, 1890
DiedMarch 12, 1970(1970-03-12) (aged 79)
New York City
NationalityAmerican
Other namesH. King Reavis, Hattie Beatrice Reavis
Occupation(s)singer, actress
Years active1919–1949

Hattie King Reavis, also known as H. King Reavis or Hattie Beatrice Reavis (November 18, 1890 – March 12, 1970), was a singer, song writer, and theater performer from the United States. She performed with fellow African Americans in New York City in the 1920s, toured Europe on various trips through 1930, and recorded with Black Swan Records. In addition to singing, she worked as a recruiter for the Southern Syncopated Orchestra and later managed the career of Urylee Leonardos. From the 1930s to the end of 1940, she acted in New York in various shows, such as in the touring ensemble of the 1932 Broadway revival of Show Boat and several performances of On Strivers Row by Abram Hill. In 2019, selections from artists of Black Swan Records, including Reavis, were digitized, edited, and released by Parnassus Records.

Early life

Hattie Beatrice King was born in Woodsworth, North Carolina, on November 18, 1890, to Lucy Davis and Wiley King.[1][2] She married Stephen J. Reavis on July 8, 1914, in Manhattan.[2][3]

Career

In March 1919, Reavis was hired as a soprano vocalist for the Southern Syncopated Orchestra. The orchestra toured through various venues in Ohio and Indiana, before performing on April 20 in Chicago at Orchestra Hall.[4] Three ships carried the 36 members of the troupe to England. Reavis sailed on the first one, the SS Northland, arriving in Liverpool in June.[5] The first performance occurred in London in July,[6] and a reviewer from The Musical Standard praised Reavis' rendition of Swanee River.[7] Singing in various venues in London, including a performance at Buckingham Palace, a run of performances at the Philharmonic Hall, and at the Royal Albert Hall, Reavis received favorable press reviews.[8] In December, the orchestra began touring, with appearances in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Liverpool.[9] After that, sections of the orchestra continued touring throughout the country until 1921, with more favorable press reports for Reavis. A critic for The Graphic in London praised her as a "colored prima donna" and noted Listen to the Lambs was "exquisitely rendered.[10] A reviewer for the Nottingham Guardian added that her singing of Sinner, Please, Don' Let dis Harvest Pass received two standing ovations.[11] Her repertoire included Dear Old Pal of Mine, Give Me All of You, Good Morning Brother Sunshine, Mammy's Little Coal Black Rose, and The Awakening. [12]

Full length photograph of a standing woman wearing an ankle length dress in which the top layer is sheer and has art deco motifs as embellishment
Reavis, 1921

From January 1921, Reavis worked as a talent scout, recruiting members for the orchestra, such as Elmer Certain, Farley Berry Graden, Herbert Eugene Parker, and Walter Bernard Williams for the tour.[13][14] Williams died soon thereafter in the sinking of the SS Rowan in October 1921[15] along with at least one other band member. The ship collided with two other vessels near Corsewall Point and sank, leaving 13 crew members and three passengers unaccounted for.[16] Reavis, who was aboard, survived, but lost her passport, according to her affidavit when applying for a replacement.[17] Resuming touring, she performed with the orchestra in Vienna between October and November 1921, returning there in the summer of 1922. She sang in September in Prague, and Budapest, before returning to the United States on December 13, 1922.[18][19]

As early as 1921, Reavis was recorded in songs for Harry Pace's Black Swan Records. Florence Cole Talbert, Antoinette Garnes, Kemper Herreld, and Reavis were selected by Pace for his "Red Label" series.[20] In 1922, advertisements in The Crisis confirmed the label had released in April her recording of There Is a Green Hill Far Away / I'm So Glad Trouble Don't Last Always.[21] She also sang an arrangement by R. Nathaniel Dett for Black Swan of I'm So Glad in 1923.[22] That year she played the principal role in The Sheik of Harlem (1923), opposite Irvin C. Miller. The show was a musical production held at Harlem's Lafayette Theatre.[23] Theophilus Lewis, known for his disdain for Harlem productions, gave a good review, praising Reavis for her rendition of It Don't Pay to Love a Northern Man in from the South.[24] In the production, together with Alonzo Fenderson, she sang Just the Man We Can't Forget in tribute to the deceased president Warren G. Harding. It was well received by audiences.[25]

Throughout 1924, Reavis worked the recital circuit, singing at churches in New York, North Carolina and Virginia.[18][26] She received a favorable review for her role in the 1925 production Chocolate Dandies,[27] before returning to Europe in December. She performed in the revue Black People produced by Louis Douglas in Berlin and Zürich in 1926. She then performed in the Creole Review, touring Norway, Sweden, Russia, Italy, Egypt, Turkey, Greece, and then back through France, Belgium and Germany.[18][28] She was accompanied by Amanda Ira Aldridge, daughter of Ira Aldridge, in London in 1928 in a version of one of Reavis's own songs.[29] In April 1930, she returned from Gibraltar to the U.S.[18]

Reavis performed in 1930 in a Douglas' revue, Brownskin Models of 1931 at the Lafayette Theater.[30] In 1932, she gave recitals and acted in the touring company of Show Boat.[31][32] She appeared in Abram Hill's On Strivers Row in 1940 at the New York Public Library branch in Harlem[18] and in a second production held in Harlem at the American Negro Theater in 1946.[33][34] Reavis was elected to serve on the board of the American Guild of Variety Artists for the New York Chapter in 1940 and 1946 became the executive secretary of the American Negro Theater.[35][36] She continued to act through the end of the 1940s, also writing songs.[37][38] On retiring from singing in 1949, Reavis managed the career of Urylee Leonardos.[39]

Death and legacy

Reavis died on March 12, 1970, in New York.[40] In 2019, her recordings and those of Cole-Talbert from Black Swan records were selected for inclusion in a CD, Black Swans, produced by Parnassus Records in Woodstock, New York. The CD included 22 performances, transferred from the 78-rpm records and digitally cleaned up to make modern audiences aware of the rare recordings.[41] The order of her selections was reversed from the original 1921 recording, where Charles Gounod's song had appeared on side A and Robert Nathaniel Dett's was on side B.[42]

Discography

  • "There Is a Green Hill" by Gounod / "Make More Room Anon" (1921) arranged by Dett.[42]
  • "There is a Green Hill Far Away" by Gounod / "I'm So Glad Trouble Doesn't Last Always" (1922)[21]
  • "I'm So Glad" (1923) arranged by Dett[22]

References

Citations

  1. ^ Rye 2010, p. 49.
  2. ^ a b Marriage Records 1914.
  3. ^ U.S. Passport Applications 1919, pp. 100–101.
  4. ^ Rye 2009, p. 159.
  5. ^ Rye 2009, p. 162-163.
  6. ^ Rye 2009, p. 165.
  7. ^ Rye 2009, p. 168.
  8. ^ Rye 2009, pp. 168–170, 175.
  9. ^ Rye 2009, p. 177.
  10. ^ Allison 1921, p. 271.
  11. ^ Rye 2009, pp. 188–189.
  12. ^ Rye 2009, pp. 192–194.
  13. ^ Rye 2010, pp. 25, 37, 46, 49–50, 64.
  14. ^ Rye 2009, p. 197.
  15. ^ Rye 2010, p. 64.
  16. ^ The Dallas Express 1921, p. 1.
  17. ^ U.S. Passport Applications 1921, p. 626.
  18. ^ a b c d e Rye 2010, p. 50.
  19. ^ Nowakowski 2009, p. 261.
  20. ^ Brooks 2005, p. 487.
  21. ^ a b The Crisis 1923, p. 42.
  22. ^ a b Brooks 2005, p. 491.
  23. ^ Kornweibel 1975, p. 110.
  24. ^ Kneller 1984, p. 321.
  25. ^ Sampson 2014, p. 1058.
  26. ^ White 1924, p. 7.
  27. ^ Richmond Planet 1925, p. 1.
  28. ^ The New York Age 1927, p. 7.
  29. ^ Keiler 2002, p. 73.
  30. ^ The New York Age 1930, p. 6.
  31. ^ The New York Age 1932, p. 7.
  32. ^ Allen 1974, p. 580.
  33. ^ Peterson 1990, p. 101.
  34. ^ Billboard 1946, p. 50.
  35. ^ Variety 1940, p. 45.
  36. ^ The Weekly Review 1949, p. 6.
  37. ^ Jackson Advocate 1949, p. 4.
  38. ^ The Brooklyn Citizen 1947, p. 10.
  39. ^ The Indianapolis Recorder 1949, p. 13.
  40. ^ The Daily News 1970, p. 48.
  41. ^ Snow 2019.
  42. ^ a b Lemco 2019.

Bibliography

  • Allen, Walter C. (1974). Hendersonia, The Music of Fletcher Henderson and His Musicians. Jazz Monographs. Vol. 4 (2nd ed.). Highland Park, New Jersey: Walter C. Allen. OCLC 470817103.
  • Allison, Madeline G. (April 1921). "The Horizon" (PDF). The Crisis. 21 (6). Baltimore, Maryland: NAACP: 271–272. ISSN 1559-1573. Retrieved April 14, 2020. 'J. C.', reviewer, quoted by Madeline G. Allison.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
  • Brooks, Tim (2005). Lost Sounds: Blacks and the Birth of the Recording Industry, 1890–1919 (first paperback ed.). Urbana, Illinois: University of Illinois Press. ISBN 978-0-252-07307-6.
  • Keiler, Allan (2002). Marian Anderson: A Singer's Journey. Urbana, Illinois: University of Illinois Press. ISBN 978-0-252-07067-9 – via Google Books.
  • Kneller, Bruce, ed. (1984). The Harlem Renaissance: A Historical Dictionary for the Era. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. ISBN 978-0-313-23232-9.
  • Kornweibel, Theodore (1975). No Crystal Stair: Black Life and the Messenger, 1917-1928. Contributions in Afro-American and African Studies. Vol. 20. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. ISBN 978-0-8371-8284-1.
  • Lemco, Gary (August 30, 2019). "Black Swans: Black Classical Music Performers, 1918-1944 – Parnassus". Audiophile Audition. Portland, Oregon. Archived from the original on April 25, 2020. Retrieved April 25, 2020.
  • Nowakowski, Konrad (Fall 2009). ""30 Negroes (Ladies and Gentlemen)": The Syncopated Orchestra in Vienna". Black Music Research Journal. 29 (2). Champaign, Illinois: Center for Black Music Research, University of Illinois Press: 229–282. ISSN 0276-3605. JSTOR 20640679.
  • Peterson, Bernard L. (1990). Early Black American Playwrights and Dramatic Writers: A Biographical Directory and Catalog of Plays, Films, and Broadcasting Scripts. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. ISBN 978-0-313-26621-8 – via Google Books.
  • Rye, Howard (Spring 2010). "Southern Syncopated Orchestra: The Roster". Black Music Research Journal. 30 (1). Champaign, Illinois: Center for Black Music Research, University of Illinois Press: 19–70. doi:10.5406/blacmusiresej.30.1.0019. ISSN 0276-3605. JSTOR 10.5406/blacmusiresej.30.1.0019. S2CID 193199070.
  • Rye, Howard (Fall 2009). "The Southern Syncopated Orchestra". Black Music Research Journal. 29 (2). Champaign, Illinois: Center for Black Music Research, University of Illinois Press: 153–228. ISSN 0276-3605. JSTOR 20640678.
  • Sampson, Henry T. (2014). Blacks in Blackface: A Sourcebook on Early Black Musical Shows. Vol. 1 (2 ed.). Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0-8108-8351-2 – via Google books.
  • Snow, Violet (September 6, 2019). "Parnassus Records Releases 'Black Swans', Early African American Classical Recordings". Hudson Valley One. Kingston, New York. Archived from the original on January 19, 2020. Retrieved April 24, 2020.
  • White, Lucian H. (May 3, 1924). "Many Musical Recitals Were Heard During the Past Week". The New York Age. New York City, New York. p. 7. Retrieved April 24, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  • "At the Lafayette Theatre". The New York Age. New York City, New York. November 1, 1930. p. 6. Retrieved April 24, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  • "Black Swan Records". The Crisis. 26 (1). Baltimore, Maryland: NAACP: 42. May 1923. ISSN 1559-1573. Retrieved April 14, 2020.
  • "'Chocolate Dandies' Fast and Par-Excellent Show". Richmond Planet. Richmond, Virginia. November 14, 1925. p. 1 – via Virginia Chronicle: Digital Newspaper Archive, Library of Virginia.
  • "King-Reavis in Recital". The New York Age. New York City, New York. February 20, 1932. p. 7. Retrieved April 24, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  • "Leonardos to Hollywood as 'Carmen'". The Indianapolis Recorder. Indianapolis, Indiana. August 20, 1949 – via Hoosier State Chronicles: Indiana's Digital Historic Newspaper Program.
  • "Lou Swarz Jottings". Jackson Advocate. Jackson, Mississippi. December 31, 1949. p. 4. Retrieved April 24, 2020 – via Newspaperarchive.com.
  • "Music Notes". The New York Age. New York City, New York. April 30, 1927. p. 7. Retrieved April 24, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  • "N.Y. AGVA Local Sets Pete Wells as Prez". Variety. Vol. 140, no. 70. New York City, New York: Variety, Inc. October 23, 1940. p. 45. ISSN 0042-2738. Retrieved April 24, 2020.
  • "New York City Marriage Records, 1829–1940: Hattie Beatrice King/Stephen Jacob Reavis". FamilySearch. New York City, New York: New York City Municipal Archives. July 8, 1914. FHL microfilm #1613919. Retrieved April 24, 2020. – via FamilySearch (subscription required)
  • "Off-Broadway Opening". Billboard. Vol. 58, no. 10. Cincinnati, Ohio: Nielsen Business Media Inc. March 9, 1946. ISSN 0006-2510.
  • "Orchestra Members Drowned in Sea Tradegy [sic]". The Dallas Express. Dallas, Texas. Associated Press. October 29, 1921. p. 1. Retrieved April 24, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  • "Reavis—Hattie King". The Daily News. New York City, New York. March 15, 1970. p. 48. Retrieved April 16, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  • "Singer Acclaimed as Carmen". The Weekly Review. Birmingham, Alabama. March 25, 1949. p. 6. Retrieved April 14, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  • "Tin Top Valley". The Brooklyn Citizen. Brooklyn, New York. March 4, 1947. p. 10. Retrieved April 24, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  • "U.S. Passport Applications January 2, 1906 – March 31, 1925: Hattie Beatrice Reavis". FamilySearch. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration. May 27, 1919. pp. 100–101. Certificates 84000-84249, NARA Series M1490, Roll 782. Retrieved April 24, 2020. – via FamilySearch (subscription required)
  • "U.S. Passport Applications January 2, 1906 – March 31, 1925: Hattie Beatrice Reavis". FamilySearch. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration. December 31, 1921. pp. 625–626. Certificates 114976-115349, NARA Series M1490, Roll 1823. Retrieved April 24, 2020. – via FamilySearch (subscription required)
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