Ednorah Nahar

Ednorah Nahar was born in 1873{{#tag:ref|There was a "colored" female child born to Edwin H. and Amelia Narr on November 28, 1862. The occupation of Narr was given as barber and the couple's address was 73 Southac.{{sfn|Massachusetts Births|1862|p=95}}|group="Notes"}} in Boston to Amelia (née St. Pierre) and Edwin H. Nahar.{{sfn|Boone County, Iowa Marriages|1916}} She came from a well-known family in Boston and was a cousin to Joan Imogen Howard.{{sfn|Majors|1893|p=244}} Her father was of foreign birth{{sfn|Scruggs|1893|p=182}}{{#tag:ref|There is an Edwin Nahar listed a mulatto and who had immigrated from Mexico as a nine-year-old child with the merchant J. P. Nahar.{{sfn|Baltimore Passenger Lists|1846|p=302}} When Nahar's father married, he stated that his father was John P. and mother Amelia M., that he was a barber and was born in Massachusetts.{{sfn|Boston Vital and Town Records|1862|p=858}} The 1860 census shows a mulatto, Edwin H. Nahar, who was a barber, living with John W. Bolling and Amanda M. Bolling.{{sfn|U. S. Census|1860|p=127}}|group="Notes"}} and she was sometimes described as a light-skinned Spaniard or Indian.{{sfn|The Cleveland Gazette|1896|p=2}}{{sfn|The Detroit Free Press|1903|p=45}} By 1879, she was enrolled in the Bowdoin School for girls{{sfn|Documents of Boston|1879|p=62}} and after completing her grammar school, enrolled in Fort Edward Collegiate Institute in Fort Edward, New York. Her aptitude for elocution was acclaimed and she was assigned a group of younger children to teach, while she continued her studies. In addition, she took acting courses at the Madison Dramatic School of Dion Boucicault in New York City.{{sfn|Majors|1893|p=244}}{{sfn|The Davenport Daily Republican|1896|p=2}}{{sfn|The Times|1890|p=2}}

Nahar had her stage debut on November 16, 1886. Within a year, she had given readings at the Chickering Hall, becoming only the second black woman to perform there. On November 17, 1890, she appeared before a crowd of 5,000 accompanied by the United States Marine Band at the Academy of Music in Philadelphia. Nahar traveled widely, performing in ten of the British West Indies colonies and thirty-one US states. By 1893, she had performed over 800 concerts, acting as her manager{{sfn|Majors|1893|p=245}} and in February of that year, she began to manage for other performers, such as Sissieretta Jones.{{sfn|Majors|1893|p=246}} She appeared with Jones in her 1893 concert tour at Carnegie Hall.{{sfn|Abbott|Seroff|2002|p=280}} Nahar was often mentioned as one of the best elocutionists of the day, along with Hallie Q. Brown and Henrietta Vinton Davis and was praised for her management of concert tours.{{sfn|Northrop|1969|p=105}}{{sfn|Brawley|1910|p=42}}{{sfn|Wood|1897|p=368}}

In 1896, she planned a trip to Europe including venues in London and Paris{{sfn|The Davenport Daily Republican|1896|p=2}} and in 1899, Nahar made a trip to London, under the patronage of the Consuelo Vanderbilt, Duchess of Marlborough.{{sfn|The Cincinnati Enquirer|1899|p=36}} She continued performing in the United States through the 1900s performing dramas and also singing.{{sfn|The New York Tribune|1900|p=7}}{{sfn|The Detroit Free Press|1903|p=45}}{{sfn|The Gazette and Courier|1904|p=7}}{{sfn|The Brooklyn Daily Eagle|1908|p=6}} By 1905, she was a resident of New York City1905 New York state Census. ancestry.com

On February 28, 1916, Nahar married William F. X. Dierkes, an osteopath and Spanish-American War veteran{{Citation needed|date=February 2023}} in Boone, Iowa,.{{sfn|Boone County, Iowa Marriages|1916}} After being involved in an automobile accident.,{{sfn|The Des Moines Register|1916|p=3}} she cut back her appearances, the last one in 1920.{{Citation needed|date=February 2023}}

The Dierkes family moved to Westfield, Massachusetts, by 1923, where Dr. Dierkes set up a private medical practice. The health of both husband and wife began to fail near the end of 1936, with Ednorah dying on November 14 and her husband following her four weeks later.{{Citation needed|date=February 2023}}

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• {{cite book|last1=Abbott|first1=Lynn|last2=Seroff|first2=Doug|title=Out of Sight: The Rise of African American Popular Music, 1889-1895|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kPJZTJtz1IwC&pg=PA280|year=2002|publisher=University Press of Mississippi|location=Jackson, Mississippi|isbn=978-1-60473-039-5}}
• {{cite book|last=Brawley|first=Benjamin|title=The Negro in literature and art|url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=umn.319510023192049;view=1up;seq=46|year=1910|publisher=Benjamin Griffith Brawley|location=Atlanta, Georgia|oclc=23524396}}
• {{cite book|last=Majors|first=Monroe A.|title=Noted Negro women, their triumphs and activities|url=https://archive.org/stream/27056814.4698.emory.edu/27056814_4698#page/n250/mode/1up/search/ednorah+nahar|edition=Reprint 1971 by Freeport, New York: Books for Libraries Press|year=1893|publisher=Donohue and Henneberry|location=Chicago, Illinois|isbn=978-0-8369-8733-1}}
• {{cite book|last1=Northrop|first1=Henry Davenport|title=The college of life or, Practical self-educator, a manual of self-improvement for the colored race, forming an educational emancipator and a guide to success, giving examples and achievements of successful men and women of the race as an incentive and inspiration to the rising generation, including Afro-American progress illustrated, the whole embracing, business, social, domestic, historical, and religious education|date=1969|publisher=Mnemosyne Publishing Inc.|location=Miami, Florida|edition=Reprint of the 1895 Chicago, Illinois: Chicago Publication and Lithograph Company|url=https://archive.org/stream/collegeoflifeorp00nort#page/n118/mode/1up/search/ednorah+nahar|oclc=770818018}}
• {{cite book|last=Scruggs|first=Lawson Andrew|title=Women of Distinction: Remarkable in Works and Invincible in Character|url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.aa0014724744;view=1up;seq=1|year=1893|publisher=L. A. Scruggs|location=Raleigh, North Carolina|oclc=4255360}}
• {{cite book|last=Wood|first=Norman Barton|title=The white side of a black subject: enlarged and brought down to date: a vindication of the Afro-American race: from the landing of slaves at St. Augustine, Florida, in 1565, to the present time|url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=emu.010001133959;view=1up;seq=396|year=1897|publisher=American Publishing House|location=Chicago, Illinois|oclc=619919443}}
• {{cite web|ref={{harvid|U. S. Census|1860}}|author=|title=1860 U. S. Census, Chelsea, Suffolk County, Massachusetts|url=https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GBSS-4Z9?mode=g&i=126&cc=1473181|date=June 21, 1860|website=FamilySearch|publisher=National Archives and Records Administration|access-date=24 February 2017|location=Washington, D.C.|id=NARA microfilm publication M653, Roll #526}}
• {{cite web|ref={{harvid|Baltimore Passenger Lists|1846}}|author=|title=Baltimore Passenger Lists, 1820-1948|url=https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-997J-XV4?mode=g&i=304&cc=2018318|date=September 19, 1846|website=FamilySearch|publisher=National Archives and Records Administration|access-date=24 February 2017|location=Washington, D.C.|id=NARA microfilm publication M255, Roll #5}}
• {{cite web|ref={{harvid|Boston Vital and Town Records|1862}}|author=|title=Boston Vital and Town Records 1626-2001|url=https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G9QY-PWK7?mode=g&i=397&cc=2061550|date=June 24, 1862|website=FamilySearch|publisher=Town Clerk Offices|access-date=24 February 2017|location=Boston, Massachusetts|id=FHL microfilm 817613, Image #398}}
• {{cite report|ref={{harvid|Documents of Boston|1879}}|author=|title=Documents of the City of Boston|volume=2|url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015068187023;view=1up;seq=944|date=1879|publisher=Boston City Council, Printing Section|access-date=24 February 2017|location=Boston, Massachusetts|oclc=607826365}}
• {{cite news|ref={{harvid|The Times|1890}}|author=|title=An Excellent Entertainment|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/9147081/an_excellent_entertainment_the_times/|access-date=24 February 2017|work=The Times|date=February 19, 1890|location=Philadelphia, Pennsylvania|via = Newspaperarchive.com}} {{open access}}
• {{cite news|ref={{harvid|The Davenport Daily Republican|1896}}|author=|title=Ednorah Nahar at Home|url=https://newspaperarchive.com/us/iowa/davenport/davenport-daily-republican/clippings/Celebrity/203892/|access-date=24 February 2017|publisher=The Davenport Daily Republican|date=January 26, 1896|location=Davenport, Iowa|via = Newspaperarchive.com}} {{open access}}
• {{cite news|ref={{harvid|The Brooklyn Daily Eagle|1908}}|author=|title=Hungry Club's Dinner|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/9148650/hungry_clubs_dinner_the_brooklyn/|access-date=24 February 2017|publisher=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle|date=May 12, 1908|location=Brooklyn, New York|via = Newspapers.com}} {{open access}}
• {{cite web|ref={{harvid|Boone County, Iowa Marriages|1916}}|author=|title=Iowa Marriages, 1809-1992|url=https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XJP8-Q24|website=FamilySearch|publisher=Boone County Iowa Recorder|access-date=24 February 2017|location=Boone, Iowa|date=February 28, 1916|id=FHL microfilm 1532003, Reference #2:3QP9K50}}
• {{cite news|ref={{harvid|The Gazette and Courier|1904}}|author=|title=Lake Pleasant|url=https://newspaperarchive.com/us/massachusetts/greenfield/greenfield-gazette-and-courier/clippings/Celebrity/203913/|access-date=24 February 2017|publisher=The Gazette and Courier|date=July 16, 1904|location=Greenfield, Massachusetts|via = Newspaperarchive.com}} {{open access}}
• {{cite web|ref={{harvid|Massachusetts Births|1862}}|author=|title=Boston, Massachusetts Births, 1841-1915|url=https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-6S44-8MD?mode=g&i=505&cc=1536925|publisher=Massachusetts Archives|access-date=24 February 2017|location=Boston, Massachusetts|date=1862|id=GS Film #1420998, Image #524}}
• {{cite news|ref={{harvid|The Des Moines Register|1916}}|author=|title=Noted Reader Asks Damages|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/9140855/noted_reader_asks_damages_the_des/|access-date=24 February 2017|newspaper=The Des Moines Register|date=April 19, 1916|location=Des Moines, Iowa|via = Newspapers.com}} {{open access}}
• {{cite news|ref={{harvid|The New York Tribune|1900}}|author=|title=Plays and the Public|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/9148042/plays_and_the_public_the_new_york/|access-date=24 February 2017|publisher=The New York Tribune|date=May 22, 1900|location=New York City, New York|via = Newspapers.com}} {{open access}}
• {{cite news|ref={{harvid|The Cincinnati Enquirer|1899}}|author=|title=(untitled)|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/9147137/untitled_the_cincinnati_enquirer/|access-date=24 February 2017|newspaper=The Cincinnati Enquirer|date=April 9, 1899|location=Cincinnati, Ohio|via = Newspapers.com}} {{open access}}
• {{cite news|ref={{harvid|The Detroit Free Press|1903}}|author=|title=(untitled)|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/9148633/untitled_the_detroit_free_press/|access-date=24 February 2017|newspaper=The Detroit Free Press|date=March 15, 1903|location=Detroit, Michigan|via = Newspapers.com}} {{open access}}
• {{cite news|ref={{harvid|The Cleveland Gazette|1896}}|author=|title=Who Said it is Miss Ednorah Nahar?|url=http://dbs.ohiohistory.org/africanam/html/page6c03.html?ID=18576|access-date=24 February 2017|issue=1|publisher=The Cleveland Gazette|date=8 August 1896|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170224220656/http://dbs.ohiohistory.org/africanam/html/page6c03.html?ID=18576|archive-date=24 February 2017|location=Cleveland, Ohio|page=2|url-status=dead}}

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Category:1873 births

Category:1936 deaths

Category:19th-century African-American women

Category:20th-century African-American women

Category:American public speakers

Category:Elocutionists

Category:People from Boston

Category:19th-century African-American musicians