White, Clarence Cameron

Composer, violinist, educator, and author. Major participant in the Harlem Renaissance.

From the description of Clarence Cameron White collection, 1872-1965 (bulk, 1930-1960). (Moorland-Spingarn Resource Center). WorldCat record id: 739116553

Composer, violinist, educator. White and John Frederick Matheus collaborated on "Ouanga" (1932) and "Tambour" (1929).

From the description of Clarence Cameron White papers (Additions), 1906-1963. (New York Public Library). WorldCat record id: 122455215

From the guide to the Clarence Cameron White papers (Additions), 1906-1963, (The New York Public Library. Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division.)

Clarence Cameron White was a composer, violinist, educator and author. He studied music at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and in London, England. He also studied with Will Marion Cook and Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, who is credited with inspiring him to become a composer. White frequently used folk music as a source for his compositions. He collaborated with John F. Matheus, a professor of Romance languages (librettist), on two works, "Tambour" and the opera "Ouanga," which was based on the life of Jean-Jacques Dessalines, one of the slave leaders of the Haitian Revolution. White's other major works include the ballet score for "A Night in San Souci," the orchestral work "Elegy," "Symphony in D Minor," a cantata "Heritage," and "Bandanna Sketches," composed for the violin. He also wrote "Dance Rhapsody," "Pantomime," and "Poeme: For Orchestra."

White's teaching career spanned the Boston public school system (1912-1923), his directorship of music at West Virginia State College (1924-1931), and Hampton Institute in Hampton, Virginia, where as director of music he conducted the Hampton Institute Choir from 1933 to 1935.

From the description of Clarence Cameron White papers, 1901-1940. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 122570779

Clarence Cameron White was a composer, violinist, educator and author. He studied music at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and in London, England. He also studied with Will Marion Cook and Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, who is credited with inspiring him to become a composer. White frequently used folk music as a source for his compositions. He collaborated with John F. Matheus, a professor of Romance languages (librettist), on two works, "Tambour" and the opera "Ouanga," which was based on the life of Jean-Jacques Dessalines, one of the slave leaders of the Haitian Revolution. White's other major works include the ballet score for "A Night in San Souci," the orchestral work "Elegy," "Symphony in D Minor," a cantata "Heritage," and "Bandanna Sketches," composed for the violin. He also wrote "Dance Rhapsody," "Pantomime," and "Poeme: For Orchestra.".

White's teaching career spanned the Boston public school system (1912-1923), his directorship of music at West Virginia State College (1924-1931), and Hampton Institute in Hampton, Virginia, where as director of music he conducted the Hampton Institute Choir from 1933 to 1935.

From the guide to the Clarence Cameron White papers, 1901-1940, (The New York Public Library. Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division.)

• 1880 August 10: Born in Clarksville, Tennessee, to Jennie Scott and James W. White
• ca.1881: White's father James W. White died. White and his mother relocated to Oberlin, Ohio to live with maternal grandparents.
• ca.1890: While teaching in Chattanooga, Tennessee, Jennie Scott married William H. Conner and the family relocated to Washington D.C., where Conner accepted the position of medical examiner in the Government Pension Office.
• 1890 - 1894 : Attended public schools of Washington, D.C.
• 1893 - 1895 : Studied at Howard University, Washington, D.C.
• 1896 - 1901 : Attended Oberlin Conservatory of Music, Oberlin, Ohio
• 1892: Private instruction with Will Marion Cook, Washington, D.C.
• ca. 1892: Private instruction with Joseph Douglass, Washington, D.C.
• 1903 - 1907 : Served as violin teacher, vice-president and registrar at Washington Conservatory of Music, Washington, D.C.
• 1905: Married Beatrice Warrick, accomplished pianist
• 1906: 1908 - 1911 : Received private instruction from African-British composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, London England
• 1907 - 1911 : Received private instruction from Russian violinist Michael Zacharewitsh, London, England
• 1910: Established private studio, Boston, Massachusetts
• 1911 - 1923 : Taught in Boston Public Schools
• 1913 - 1924 : Conducted Victoria Concert Orchestra of Boston
• 1916: Conceptualized National Association of Negro Music Teachers, which later evolved into National Association of Negro Musicians
• 1919: Composed Bandanna Sketches which was popularized when noted violinist Fritz Kreisler recorded a piece from the work entitled Nobody Knows the Trouble I See.
• 1924 - 1930 : Served as director of music at West Virginian State College Institute, West Virginia
• 1928: Received Honorary Master of Arts degree from Atlanta University
• 1928: Received Harmon Foundation Award
• 1929 - 1932 : Received private instruction from French opera composer Raoul Laparra
• 1930: Received Rosenwald Foundation Grant
• 1932: Composed Ouanga (libretto by John Matheus) which theme based on the life of Dessalines, Haiti's first emperor
• 1932: Received David Bispham Award
• 1932 - 1935 : Served as chair of the music department at Hampton Institute in Virginia, Hampton, Virginia
• 1933: Received Honorary Doctorate of Music from Wilberforce University
• 1937: Named music specialist for the National Recreation Association under the Work Progress Administration
• 1942: Beatrice Warrick White died in Elizabeth, New Jersey
• 1943: Married Pura Belpre, New York Public Library librarian, with special interest in Puerto Rican culture and literature
• 1949: First stage production of Ouanga performed in South Bend, Indiana under the auspices of the Burleigh Musical Association
• 1954: Composed Elegy for which White won the "Tranquil Music" Benjamin Award
• 1960 June 30: Died in New York City, New York of cancer at Sydenham Hospital

Clarence Cameron White was an accomplished violinist and a major participant in the Black Renaissance (Harlem Renaissance). His career accomplishments and well as relationships he cultivated during his career are well documented in the correspondence series, which contains letters from such notables as Phillippa Schuyler, W.C. Handy, Henry O. Tanner and Alain Locke.

White spent significant periods of time in Europe where he was trained by renowned musicians, including celebrated African-British composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, renowned Russian violinist Michael Zacherewitsch and Raoul Laparra, French opera composer. In the earlier years, White was as student of Will Marion Cook and Joseph Douglass when his family relocated to Washington, D.C. In his unpublished autobiography, located with in the writings series, White writes of these and other experiences, including his childhood friendships with Anita Patti Brown and Roland Hayes.

The music instruction White received at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and at Howard University (1894-1895) eventually led him to the teaching field. In 1924 he served as the director of music at West Virginia State, and later served as chair of the music department at Hampton Institute (1932-1935). His career in academe is documented in the teaching material, correspondence and program series.

From the guide to the Clarence Cameron White Collection, Bulk, 1930-1960, 1872-1965, (Moorland-Spingarn Research Center, Howard University)