Charlton, Melville

Organist. Melville Charlton served as organist for several churches and Jewish synagogues in New York City; he also gave concert tours and wrote the popular piano piece, "Poem Erotique." He was the first African-American organist to be admitted to the American Guild of Organists. Charlton was born in 1880 and died in 1973.

From the guide to the Melville Charlton collection, 1915-1973, (The New York Public Library. Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division.)