Pauline Donnan
{{Short description|American opera singer}}
Pauline Keller Donnan (September 21, 1885 – August 9, 1934) was an American soprano opera singer who worked with blinded veterans after World War I.
Early life
Pauline Keller Donnan was from Joplin, Missouri, the daughter of Andrew Fuller Donnan Jr. and Pauline Scott Keller Donnan. Her father was a city engineer, city councilman,[https://books.google.com/books?id=A9Q-AAAAYAAJ&dq=Donnan+Joplin+MO&pg=PA11 Revised and Republished Ordinances of the City of Joplin, Missouri] (Pratt Printing House 1904): 11, 13. and mining company executive.[https://books.google.com/books?id=YBkAAAAAMAAJ&dq=Donnan+Joplin+MO&pg=RA1-PA40 Annual Report of the State Mine Inspector] (1900): 40. She attended Lindenwood College and Wilson College, and with encouragement from Ernestine Schumann-Heink, pursued further training as a singer in Paris, with Jean de Reszke and Alice Verlet.[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/21000789/pauline_keller_donnan_1910/ "Pauline Donnan, American Girl, Is To Sing In Opera"] St. Louis Post-Dispatch (July 24, 1910): 9. via Newspapers.com{{open access}}
Career
Donnan sang at the La Monnaie in Brussels.[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/21000719/pauline_donnan_1910/ "Pauline Donnan in Song Recital at Chambersburg October 20"] The Sentinel (October 17, 1910): 4. via Newspapers.com{{open access}} She was a leading singer in the Carl Rosa Opera Company, touring in Great Britain before and during World War I, in parts such as "Micaela" in Carmen, "Marguerite" in Faust, and "Queen of the Night" in The Magic Flute.[http://special.lib.gla.ac.uk/sta/search/detaile.cfm?EID=23112 Scottish Theatre Archive], University of Glasgow Special Collections.[http://www.operascotland.org/person/4795/Pauline-Donnan Pauline Donnan], OperaScotland.org. She also sang with the O'Mara Opera Company.[http://newspapers.library.wales/view/4001198/4001206/81/Pauline%20Donnan "Visit of the O'Mara Opera Company to Merthyr"] Pioneer (January 15, 1916): 8. via Welsh Newspapers Online{{open access}} While in England, she worked at St. Dunstan's, a rehabilitation program in London, teaching vocal techniques as occupational skills for newly blind soldiers. She directed her students in operettas, and helped some find professional work as singers or voice teachers.[https://books.google.com/books?id=HO86AQAAMAAJ&dq=Pauline+Donnan&pg=RA15-PA43 "American Singer Develops Talent of Blinded Soldiers"] Musical Courier (October 17, 1918): 43.
Personal life
Donnan's health deteriorated after her work at St. Dunstan's. Her mother retrieved her from London in 1920.[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/21007434/pauline_donnan_1921/ "Personals"] Joplin Globe (January 1, 1921): 5. via Newspapers.com{{open access}} At the time of her mother's death in 1925, she was living in Columbia, Missouri, where her sister Margaret Donnan Miller also lived.[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/21007067/pauline_k_donnan/ "Mrs. Donnan's Funeral Will Be Held Monday"] Joplin Globe (March 15, 1925): 9. via Newspapers.com{{open access}} Donnan spent her last years in the Missouri State Hospital in Fulton, Missouri, where she died in 1934, aged 48 years.
References
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External links
- [https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/person/mp68207/pauline-keller-donnan Six 1913 portraits of Pauline K. Donnan] by Bassano Ltd, in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery (London).
- [https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/52383461/pauline-donnan Pauline Donnan's gravesite], on Find a Grave.
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Category:American women in World War I