Charleston, South Carolina (February 14, 1894 -March 19, 1962) age 68 yrs

Mary Lucinda Cardwell Dawson was an African American musician and teacher. She was also the founding director of the National Negro Opera Company (NNOC). In 1940, Dawson became president of the National Organization of Negro Musicians. The next year, she founded the NNOC in Pittsburgh. One of the organization’s first victories involved Lillian Evanti. She was an already established soprano in Europe. Still, she was repeatedly rejected by all white opera companies in the United States.