A. Grace Lee Mims
{{Short description|American singer and radio personality (1930–2019)}}
A. Grace Lee Mims (July 17, 1930 – October 3, 2019) was an African-American singer, radio personality and leading member of the arts community in Cleveland, Ohio best known for her 43 years as a radio host and producer on the classical radio station WCLV.
Early life
A. Grace Lee Mims was born in Snow Hill, Alabama on July 17, 1930.{{cite web |last1=Hickey |first1=Matthew |title=The HistoryMakers Video Oral History With A. Grace Lee Mims |url=https://search.lib.virginia.edu/sources/video/items/u7227239 |website=University of Virginia Library |accessdate=19 July 2020}} Her parents were Arnold Wadsworth and Alberta Grace Edwards Lee,{{cite web |title=Biography: A. Grace Lee Mims |url=https://www.thehistorymakers.org/biography/grace-lee-mims |website=The History Makers |accessdate=20 July 2020}} both of whom were musically talented. Her father played cornet and was the band director at Florida A & M University, while her mother was a classical pianist and teacher.{{cite news |last1=Weber |first1=Bruce |title=Consuela Lee, Jazz Pianist and Educator, Dies at 83 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/12/arts/music/12lee.html |accessdate=27 July 2020 |work=The New York Times |date=12 Jan 2010}} Three of her six siblings were also musically gifted - sister Consuela Lee and brothers Bill (father of Spike Lee) and Clifton{{cite web |last1=Grevatt |first1=Martha |title=Obituary: A. Grace Lee Mims: a cultural treasure |url=https://www.workers.org/2019/10/44014/ |website=Workers World |date=14 October 2019 |accessdate=20 July 2020}} - and together they formed a jazz-folk ensemble which played at churches and schools.{{cite web |last1=Segall |first1=Grant |title=A. Grace Lee Mims dead at 89, pioneering host and producer of 'The Black Arts' on WCLV |url=https://www.cleveland.com/metro/2019/10/a-grace-lee-mims-dead-at-89-pioneering-host-and-producer-of-the-black-arts-on-wclv.html |website=cleveland.com |date=7 October 2019 |accessdate=20 July 2020}} The group's name, The Descendants of Mike and Phoebe, commemorated two enslaved ancestors whose stories were recounted by their grandfather William James Edwards. Together they recorded an album, "A Spirit Speaks".{{cite web |title=The Descendants Of Mike And Phoebe – A Spirit Speaks |url=https://www.discogs.com/The-Descendants-Of-Mike-And-Phoebe-A-Spirit-Speaks/release/988973 |website=Discogs |date=1974 |accessdate=20 July 2020}}
Education
She attended the Snow Hill Institute, which was founded by her grandfather, and graduated as valedictorian. She went on to Hampton University, where she earned a BA in English with a minor in Voice.{{cite web |title=2011 MARTHA JOSEPH PRIZE FOR DISTINGUISHED SERVICE TO THE ARTS |url=http://clevelandartsprize.org/awardees/a_grace_lee_mims.html |website=Cleveland Arts Prize |accessdate=21 July 2020}} While studying at Hampton she met her future husband Howard Mims. She then earned a Master of Science degree in Library Science from Western Reserve University.
Career
= Education =
She began her career working at libraries in Cleveland and Detroit, before becoming head librarian at Glenville High School in Cleveland, Ohio. While at Glenville, she built a highly regarded library of African-American culture. She also launched the first Afrocentric course in the Cleveland Public Schools system and created the Black Arts Festival, which attracted notable guests such as Muhammad Ali. During the period 1980–2018, she was a voice instructor at The Music School Settlement in Cleveland.
= Music =
For 20 years, she was a soprano soloist at the Fairmount Presbyterian Church in Cleveland Heights. She also sang with the William Appling Singers and Orchestra, who performed at Lincoln Center and the Newport Jazz Festival. She further performed with the Cleveland Orchestra Chorus and Chamber Chorus. In 1981, she recorded and produced a solo album entitled "Spirituals".{{cite web |title=A. Grace Lee Mims – Spirituals |url=https://www.discogs.com/A-Grace-Lee-Mims-Spirituals/release/7533728 |website=Discogs |date=1981 |accessdate=21 July 2020}} She was considered a leading authority on Spiritual solo music.
= Radio =
In 1976 she approached Robert Conrad, the president of WCLV, with the idea of hosting a show centered around African-American classical music and jazz. Over the course of the 43 years of hosting the "Black Arts" show, she conducted extensive research to inform her profiles of artists such as Jessye Norman, Leontyne Price, Miles Davis and Duke Ellington. From 1980 she also hosted a 5-minute interview show "Artslog" which ran on WCLV for 30 years.
Accolades
Mims was dedicated to the arts community, serving on the boards of the Cleveland Institute of Music, the Cleveland Museum of Art and the Black History Archives of the Western Reserve Historical Society. In 2011 she was awarded the Martha Joseph Prize for Distinguished Service to the Arts, in recognition of " living a life committed to music, family and the contributions of African Americans to culture, history and the arts".
Other awards included:
- An honorary doctorate in Music from Cleveland State University in May 1999{{cite web |title=Honorary Degrees |url=https://www.csuohio.edu/board-of-trustees/honorary-degrees |website=Cleveland State University |accessdate=22 July 2020}}
- Recognition at the 2007 Women of Vision Luncheon hosted by the Greater Cleveland chapter of the National Coalition of 100 Black Women.{{cite web |title=The Black Arts with A. Grace Lee Mims |url=https://www.ideastream.org/wclv/black-arts |website=ideastream |date=16 April 2015 |accessdate=22 July 2020}}
- The Theodore J. Horvath Award, granted by the Rainey Institute in recognition of those who embody the transformative power of the arts
- Outstanding Musical Alumnus Award from Hampton University
Death and legacy
In 1971, Mims was one of the founding members of the African American Archives Auxiliary of the Western Reserve Historical Society, which guides the development of its African-American Archives collection.{{cite web |last1=Williams |first1=Regennia N. |title=Honoring the African American Archives Auxiliary's Founders - Mrs. A. Grace Lee Mims |url=https://www.wrhs.org/blog/honoring-the-african-american-archives-auxiliarys-founders-mrs-a-grace-lee-mims/ |website=Western Reserve Historical Society |date=16 April 2020 |accessdate=29 July 2020}}
In 2010 she established the A. Grace Lee Mims Vocal Scholarship in cooperation with The Cleveland Foundation. The purpose of the scholarship is to "perpetuate the singing of the Negro spiritual through performance and/or teaching, so that this art form, created by African-American slaves in the Diaspora, will remain alive."{{cite web |title=A. Grace Lee Mims Vocal Scholarship |url=https://www.clevelandfoundation.org/scholarship/a-grace-lee-mims-vocal-scholarship/ |website=Cleveland Foundation |accessdate=27 July 2020}} She and her husband established the Cleveland chapter of the Hampton University Alumni Association, which also awards scholarships to local area students.
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://engagedscholarship.csuohio.edu/crohc000/670/ "Grace Lee Mims Interview, 18 July 2014" in Cleveland State University Oral History Archives]
- [https://www.thehistorymakers.org/biography/grace-lee-mims "A. Grace Lee Mims" at The HistoryMakers Oral Video Collection]
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Category:Radio personalities from Cleveland
Category:Singers from Cleveland
Category:Hampton University alumni
Category:Case Western Reserve University alumni
Category:American music educators
Category:American women music educators
Category:20th-century African-American women singers
Category:21st-century African-American women
Category:21st-century African-American people
Category:African-American librarians
Category:American women librarians