Elizabeth Lennox
A white woman with dark hair, seated indoors, in front of a bookcase, with a book open in her lap
Elizabeth Lennox, from the George Grantham Bain Collection, Library of Congress
BornMarch 16, 1894
Ionia, Michigan
DiedMay 3, 1992
Fairfield, Connecticut
Other namesLouise Terrell, Elizabeth Lennox Hughes
OccupationSinger

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.[5][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.[2][3] 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.[5][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.[5] 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]

References

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