place

National Negro Opera Company

African-American history in PittsburghCity of Pittsburgh historic designationsHouses completed in 1894Musical groups disestablished in 1962Musical groups established in 1941
Pennsylvania state historical marker significationsPerforming arts in PittsburghPittsburgh stubsQueen Anne architecture in Pennsylvania
NationalNegroOperaCompanyHouse
NationalNegroOperaCompanyHouse

The National Negro Opera Company (1941–1962) was the first African-American opera company in the United States. Organized in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, under the direction of Mary Cardwell Dawson, the company was launched with a performance at the local Syria Mosque. The star was La Julia Rhea, and other members included Minto Cato, Carol Brice, Robert McFerrin, and Lillian Evanti. During its 21-year run, NNOC also mounted productions in Washington D.C., New York City, and Chicago. The company disbanded in 1962 upon Dawson's death.Although the company toured nationally, its offices and studios were housed in a three-story Queen Anne-style house at 7101 Apple Street in Pittsburgh's Homewood neighborhood. Constructed as a private residence, it was purchased by William A. "Woogie" Harris (brother of the photographer Charles "Teenie" Harris) in the 1930s. The NNOC moved to Washington, D.C. in 1942, but the company continued to use the third floor as a local guild office and studios until the company disbanded.After the Opera departed, the building transitioned into a social hub and boarding house known as Mystery Manor, often hosting visiting celebrities and athletes who were excluded from the local segregated hotels.In 1994 the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission designated the NNOC's house on Apple Street a historic structure; it became a Pittsburgh City Historic Landmark in 2008. In 2003 and again in 2013, the Young Preservationists of Pittsburgh included the building on their "Top 10" preservation opportunities. Purchased in 2000 by Pittsburgh residents Jonnet Solomon and Miriam White, after years of plans to transform the historic building into a museum and arts center, it remains dilapidated.In 2020, the National Trust for Historic Preservation added the building to its annual list of America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places. Restoration work on the structure began in 2022, with a targeted completion date of 2024.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article National Negro Opera Company (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

National Negro Opera Company
Apple Avenue, Pittsburgh

Geographical coordinates (GPS) Address Website Nearby Places
placeShow on map

Wikipedia: National Negro Opera CompanyContinue reading on Wikipedia

Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 40.4642 ° E -79.89571 °
placeShow on map

Address

Na­tional Ne­gro Opera Com­pany House

Apple Avenue
15206 Pittsburgh
Pennsylvania, United States
mapOpen on Google Maps

Website
en.wikipedia.org

linkVisit website

NationalNegroOperaCompanyHouse
NationalNegroOperaCompanyHouse
Share experience

Nearby Places

Westinghouse Park
Westinghouse Park

Westinghouse Park is a city-block sized municipal park in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The park land is the former estate of George Westinghouse, an American entrepreneur and engineer, and his wife Marguerite. With an area of about 10 acres, it was the site of his mansion known as Solitude. At this house, Westinghouse worked with his engineers, including Nikola Tesla, and entertained notable people of the day, including scientist William Thomson (Lord Kelvin), and congressman and later president William McKinley. Close by was another building, a carriage house, that housed his private laboratory in the basement. There, he developed some of his residential electric lighting technology, installing a generator and running cables to the main house, with wires that were left exposed on the interior walls, so as not to cut into the woodwork. Also there, Westinghouse invented methods to control and transmit natural gas for both industrial and residential consumers. In the winter of 1883/1884, seeking a source of natural gas in his own "back yard," Westinghouse ordered drilling on his estate. When gas was struck on May 22, 1884, a blowout resulted in the uncontrolled release of gas for about a week. Westinghouse devised a way to cap the well. An illumination test was conducted by igniting the gas jet at the top of a tall pipe. It initially produced a 100-foot flame that illuminated a mile-wide area to a brightness sufficient to read a newspaper. This well was designated as "Westinghouse Well No. 1" or "Old No. 1" to distinguish it from several other wells that were drilled in the area. Eventually, several natural gas derricks towered above the estate's Victorian gardens. In modern times there is no above-ground trace left of these derricks.

East End Brewing Company
East End Brewing Company

East End Brewing Company is a Pittsburgh brewery. According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, it is a "force in the local beer market." Owner Scott Smith founded the brewery after quitting his job with a consumer products company. The brewery started selling beer in December 2004. The brewery was originally located in a 4,000-square-foot (370 m2) brewery in the Homewood neighborhood of Pittsburgh's East End. In 2011, the company began pursuing a move to a 17,000-square-foot building in the nearby Larimer neighborhood, and completed that move in November of 2012. In order to finance the move, Smith sold $1,000 vouchers to customers/investors, which will be redeemable for future beer, merchandise and special access to new brews. The move was completed in November 2012. The new location will allow production to increase from 2,500 barrels brewed per year to 5,000 barrels. In 2008, it sold 700 barrels; in 2010 it sold 1,800 barrels of beer. Sales are primarily done through growlers and kegs sold to local bars. In 2010, sales were expanded to the Pittsburgh Public Market in the Strip District. As of 2010, there were 28 varieties of beer. Big Hop is the flagship beer. Specialty beer varieties include Big Hop Harvest Ale, and Gratitude barleywine. Smith delivered the bike-themed beer Pedal Pale Ale via bike trailer. Smith commemorated the enactment of a smoking ban within Allegheny County with "Smokestack" smoked porter. The brewery is closely associated with Pittsburgh. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette cited East End Brewing as an example of Pittsburgh's superior beer culture compared to Philadelphia's. Demand for East End beer spiked after the Pittsburgh Steelers won Super Bowl XLIII. In 2012, Pittsburgh Magazine named it one of the best breweries in Pittsburgh. It is among the most popular Pittsburgh businesses on Twitter. April of 2023 brought East End's first satellite location: a taproom in the Mt. Lebanon suburb of Pittsburgh.