Collect Day #32, NELLIE BROWN MITCHELL
O God, the source of the blessed gifts we receive: today we remember Nellie Brown Mitchell and her gift of a beautiful singing voice, which she shared with the world, in worship of You, and by teaching others; may she be a reminder to us to appreciate and use the precious gifts we have received from You; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen
DAY #32, March 22, 2018
Dover
NELLIE BROWN MITCHELL
(1845 – 1924)
Darryl Glenn Nettles
Nellie Brown Mitchell, a Dover native, was a prominent African American opera singer during the 1850s and 1860s. Her stage career lasted 10 years, during which she formed her own company, the Nellie Brown Mitchell Concert Company.
“Nellie Brown was born in 1845. While in Dover, she studied with Caroline Bracket, who encouraged her to pursue a professional vocal career. She began at the Free-Will Baptist Church, an Anglo-American Church, in 1865. Brown was the soprano soloist. Service to the church would prove to be a distinct part of her musical career.
In 1872, she left Free-Will Baptist to serve as soloist at Grace Church in Haverhill, Massachusetts. Brown studied voice with Mrs. J. Rametti and Professor O’Neill, returning to Dover in 1876. Brown studied at the New England Conservatory and the School of Vocal Arts. She received her diploma in 1879, then she served as musical director at the Bloomfield Street Church in Boston until 1886.
Nellie Brown had given a series of successful recitals in Boston and made her New York debut at Steinway Hall by 1874. She debuted in Philadelphia in 1882 and was “prima-donna soprano” with James Bergen’s Star Concerts until 1885. Flora Batson replaced her when prior concert obligations in the South prevented her from attending a concert in Providence, Rhode Island. She resigned her Bloomfield church position to devote her time to her concert career and her newly formed Nellie Brown Mitchell Concert Company, which included her sister, soprano Ednah B. Brown. Nellie’s husband was Lt. Charles L. Mitchell, a member of the 55th Massachusetts Negro Regiment.
During the 1880s and into the 1890s Nellie Brown Mitchell reached the peak of her concert career, touring the East Coast and Midwest. Her reputation won her great admiration from colleagues and critics. She was considered by many to be the greatest African American singer of her time and the only rival of Marie Selika Williams, first Black artist to perform at the White House.
For many summers Nellie Mitchell taught at the Hedding Chautauqua Summer School in East Epping, New Hampshire. In the 1890s she retired from the concert stage and devoted her time to private teaching, advertising that she taught the Guilmette Method of vocal technique. She died in Boston in January 1924.
Adapted from an article reproduced with permission from the Dover Public Library.
