Southern, Eileen Jackson (1920–2002)
Southern, Eileen Jackson (1920–2002)
African-American pianist and musicologist. Born Feb 19, 1920 in Minneapolis, Minnesota; died Oct 13, 2002, in Port Charlotte, FL; University of Chicago, undergraduate degree, 1940, MA, 1941; New York University, doctorate in musicology, 1961; m. Joseph Southern; children: Edward and April Myra.
An authority on Renaissance and African-American music, was Harvard University's 1st black female tenured professor; studied piano as a child, playing her 1st concert in Chicao at age 7; taught at Prairie View University, Southern University, Brooklyn College and City University of New York; became a lecturer at Harvard (1974), full professor (1976), and chaired the department of Afro-American studies (1975–79); retired (1987); wrote The Music of Black Americans, a History (1970), among others.