Nellie Brown Mitchell

Nellie E. Brown was born in Dover, New Hampshire,Monroe Alphus Majors, [https://books.google.com/books?id=pZ4TAAAAYAAJ&dq=Nellie+E.+Brown+Mitchell&pg=PA176 Noted Negro Women: Their Triumphs and Activities] (Donohue and Henneberry 1893): 176-178. the daughter of Charles J. Brown and Martha A. Runnels Brown. She trained as a singer at the New England Conservatory of Music, earning a diploma in 1879. Her sister Edna Brown Bagnall was also a singer, and sometimes joined her in concerts.[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/17679709/edna_brown_bagnall_1900/ "The Marriage Ceremony"] Colored American (November 3, 1900): 15. via Newspapers.com{{open access}}[https://books.google.com/books?id=mNk_AQAAMAAJ&dq=Edna+Brown+Bagnall&pg=PA1173 "Personals"] Christian Register (December 9, 1915): 73. Their brother Edward Everett Brown was a lawyer and anti-lynching activist based in Boston.[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/17680043/edward_everett_brown_1899/ "Duty of the Government"] The Colored American (November 25, 1899): 1. via Newspapers.com{{open access}}

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Nellie Brown Mitchell was a popular singer in churches in New England, and was at one point the lead soprano at four white churches in Boston.Maud Cuney-Hare, [https://books.google.com/books?id=Xp7QCgAAQBAJ&dq=Nellie+E.+Brown+Mitchell&pg=PT245 Negro Musicians and their Music] (1936). She gave concerts throughout and beyond the New England region."Hill's Grand Star Concert" The Appeal (June 9, 1888): 1. via Newspapers.com{{open access}}[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/17679546/nellie_brown_mitchell_1885/ "The Colored People of Memphis Honor Mrs. Nellie Brown Mitchell, their Excellent Vocalist"] Memphis Daily Appeal (October 18, 1885): 2. via Newspapers.com{{open access}} In 1874 she gave a concert at Steinway Hall in New York City.

In the 1880s, Mitchell toured with the Bergen Concert Company.Michael Saffie, [https://books.google.com/books?id=p9tQAwAAQBAJ&dq=Nellie+E.+Brown+Mitchell&pg=PA57 Music and Culture in America, 1861-1918] (Routledge 2014): 57. {{ISBN|9781135598013}} She also formed her own company, the Nellie Brown Mitchell Concert Company. From 1879 to 1886, she was musical director at Bloomfield Street Church in Boston.[http://www.dover.nh.gov/government/city-operations/library/history/nellie-brown-mitchell.html "Nellie Brown Mitchell"] Dover History, Dover Public Library website. She sang at the first meeting of the National Negro Business League, in Boston in 1900.[https://books.google.com/books?id=oeBtAAAAMAAJ&dq=Nellie+Brown+Mitchell&pg=PA181 Proceedings of the National Negro Business League] (J. R. Hamm 1901): 84, 181.[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/17679769/national_negro_business_league_1900/ "Colored People Met"] Morning News (August 27, 1900): 4. via Newspapers.com{{open access}} She sang at the funeral of abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison in 1879, and was a soloist at the observance of his centennial in 1905.Garrison Centenary Committee, [https://books.google.com/books?id=P4cx4f9dHqUC&dq=Nellie+Brown+Mitchell&pg=PA50 The Celebration of the One Hundredth Anniversary of the Birth of William Lloyd Garrison] (Boston 1906): 50.[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/2390784/the_boston_daily_globe/ "To Honor 'Liberator'"] Boston Daily Globe (December 4, 1905): 5. via Newspapers.com{{open access}}

Mitchell was head of the vocal department at Hedding Academy in New Hampshire.[https://books.google.com/books?id=HMhCAQAAMAAJ&dq=Nellie+Brown+Mitchell&pg=PA97 "Noted Afro-American Women and their Achievements"] The College of Life or Practical Self (Horace C. Fry 1896): 97. In 1876, she conducted a group of 50 girls in a cantata, Laila, the Fairy Queen, as part of the Centennial Musical Festival in Boston. After she retired from touring, she taught voice techniques to African-American women students in Boston. In 1909, she organized and hosted the first meeting of the Chaminade Musical Club, for "the leading women musicians" of Boston, named for French composer Cécile Chaminade.[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/17679477/nellie_brown_mitchell_1909/ Untitled news item], New York Age (March 4, 1909): 6. via Newspapers.com{{open access}}

Mitchell also invented the "phoneterion", a device meant to help train proper tongue position for vocal students.[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/17679936/mr_charles_l_mitchell_1900/ "Mr. Charles L. Mitchell"] The Colored American (October 20, 1900): 6. via Newspapers.com{{open access}}

In July of 2023, the Black Heritage Trail of New Hampshire unveiled a historical marker at the entrance to the Pine Hill Cemetery in Dover, NH, highlighting Mitchell's contributions.{{Cite web |last=Foster's |first=Special to |title=Black Heritage Trail of NH invites public for unveiling of historic marker in Dover |url=https://www.fosters.com/story/news/local/2023/07/14/black-heritage-trail-nh-historic-marker-dover/70405967007/ |access-date=2024-02-29 |website=Foster's Daily Democrat |language=en-US}} The marker unveiling was part of a larger effort, Mapping Untold Stories, by the Black Heritage Trail of NH to highlight the history of Black people in New Hampshire.{{Cite web |title=Black Heritage Trail of NH announces historic marker |url=https://www.nashuatelegraph.com/news/community-news/2023/07/12/black-heritage-trail-of-nh-announces-historic-marker/ |access-date=2024-02-29 |website=nashuatelegraph.com |language=en-US}}

Nellie E. Brown married Charles Lewis Mitchell. He was a disabled veteran of the American Civil War, having lost a foot as a member of the 55th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment. He was also one of the first two African-American members of the Massachusetts legislature, along with Edward G. Walker.Benjamin Griffith Brawley, [https://books.google.com/books?id=17dr4sQaRxoC&dq=Nellie+E.+Brown+Mitchell&pg=PA125 The Negro Genius: A New Appraisal of the Achievement of the American Negro in Literature and the Fine Arts] (Biblo & Tannen 1966): 125-126. {{ISBN|9780819601841}} Nellie Brown Mitchell was widowed in 1912, and she died in Roxbury on January 5, 1924, aged 78 years.{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/46220985/mrs-nelie-b-mitchell-singer-and/ |title=Mrs Nelie B. Mitchell, Singer and Teacher, Dies |newspaper=The Boston Globe |page=7 |date=1924-01-06 |access-date=2020-03-06 |via=Newspapers.com}}

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• [https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/136318067 Nellie Brown Mitchell's New Hampshire gravesite] on Find a Grave.
• Janice A. Brown, [http://www.cowhampshireblog.com/2016/09/05/african-american-soprano-and-queen-of-song-dover-new-hampshires-nellie-brown-mitchell-1845-1924/ "African-American Soprano and 'Queen of Song': Dover, New Hampshire's Nellie (Brown) Mitchell (1845-1924)"] Cow Hampshire (September 5, 2016). A blog post about Nellie Brown Mitchell.

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Category:1845 births

Category:1924 deaths

Category:People from Dover, New Hampshire

Category:19th-century American women singers

Category:19th-century American inventors

Category:New England Conservatory alumni

Category:Singers from New Hampshire

Category:19th-century American women inventors