Charlotte Wesley Holloman Holloman was born in …
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Charlotte Wesley Holloman Holloman was born in Washington on March 24 in 1922, to Charles and Louise Wesley. By the time she was 8 years old, she had already lived a cultured life. As she spent her third grade year in London, England at Regents Park Public Elementary School and the Guildhall School of Music as a result of her father receiving a Guggenheim Fellowship for historical research there. Holloman attended the famous Dunbar High School and afterwards she entered into Howard University. At age 15 she enrolled in Howard’s junior music program to study piano. As she entered her final semester at Howard, Mrs. Holloman realized she would need one more credit to graduate. She and the school secretary went through the course catalog class by class. Having already taken nearly all of the one-credit classes offered except violin which would have required her to buy a violin she chose to sign up for voice. At the time Howard’s music instructor was Todd Duncan, Duncan originated the role of Porgy in George Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess. Holloman had to audition in front of Duncan in order to be accepted into voice. Upon graduation Duncan encouraged her to pursue voice and singing. Holloman’s voice operatically speaking is a coloratura soprano, which allows her to extend her vocal range into the sixth octave. Mrs. Holloman won many fans of all races with her great vocal abilities. She toured Europe and performed in operas in Germany, England and Italy. She
Transcript of Charlotte Wesley Holloman Holloman was born in …
Charlotte Wesley Holloman
Holloman was born in Washington on March 24 in 1922, to Charles and Louise Wesley. By the time she was 8 years old, she had already
lived a cultured life. As she spent her third grade year in London, England at Regents Park Public Elementary School and the Guildhall School of
Music as a result of her father receiving a Guggenheim Fellowship for historical research there. Holloman attended the famous Dunbar High
School and afterwards she entered into Howard University. At age 15 she enrolled in Howard’s junior music program to study piano.
As she entered her final semester at Howard, Mrs. Holloman realized she would need one more
credit to graduate. She and the school secretary went through the course catalog class by class. Having
already taken nearly all of the one-credit classes offered except violin which would have required her to buy
a violin she chose to sign up for voice. At the time Howard’s music instructor was Todd Duncan, Duncan
originated the role of Porgy in George Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess. Holloman had to audition in front of
Duncan in order to be accepted into voice. Upon graduation Duncan encouraged her to pursue voice and
singing.
Holloman’s voice operatically speaking is a
coloratura soprano, which allows her to extend her vocal
range into the sixth octave. Mrs. Holloman won many fans of all races with her great vocal
abilities. She toured Europe and performed in operas in Germany, England and Italy. She
received rave reviews for her performances in such pieces as The Queen of the Night and the Magic Flute.
Holloman graduated from Howard cum laude with a Bachelor of Music, and earned her Masters of Arts in Voice and Music Education
from Columbia University.
Her father Charles Wesley was a member of the Fisk Jubilee Singers (1908-1911), was the
third black student to earn a doctorate from Harvard, served Howard University for thirty years as
professor and as the head of the History Department and dean of the Graduate School at Howard.
He would go on to become the first President of Central State College (now known as Central
State University) located in Wilberforce Ohio. Holloman’s mother Louise was also gifted piano player and sang in the Howard University Choir as
a student. Her sister Louise, who graduated from Oberlin also played the piano.
Holloman began her teaching career when she arrive back to the states from Germany, where she
admits she “wanted to stay,” but couldn’t afford to. She started as an adjunct professor in vocal instruction
for CUNY Lehman College (CUNY). She would go on to teach vocal instruction at Catholic University,
Northern Virginia Community College and the University of District of Columbia. Afterward she would come
back to her alma mater and serve as the Coordinator of Vocal Area and a lecturer of voice in the Department
of Music at Howard. Holloman has also ran and maintained a full private voice studio in the Washington,
DC. As recently as 2007 (Making her 85 years old at the time) Holloman was teaching full time at Howard
and adjunct at the University of the District of Columbia, and credited receiving the energy to do such tasks from her father.
Holloman currently resides in Washington DC.
Family
One sister Louise J. Wesley, who died in 1950. And her mother Louise Johnson Wesley died in 1973 and father Charles in 1987.
Holloman has an uncle by marriage, Percy Lavon Julian a famed chemist who was commemorated with a Postage Stamp.
Notes
The Root sites that Holloman recorded an unreleased record with Godfather of Soul, musical legend James Brown while in New York.
Musical Selections and Opera and Recital Criticisms
Listed Addresses
According the white pages the last listed number for Charlotte Holloman was 202-726-
7415 and the last listed addresses include, 1625 1/2 19th St NW Apt E Washington, DC
20009-1677, and 1824 Taylor St NW Washington, DC 20011-5348.
Joe Selmon Howard University
Selmon was born in Memphis Tennessee on November 19, 1947. He
attended Memphis State University for a semester enlisted in the military
and completed two years of active service in the Navy Reserve. Upon of his
discharge, he returned to Memphis State University where he received a
Bachelor’s of Science in Political Science.
While studying at MSU, Selmon was an active participant with many
local area community theater groups and began to see the performing arts as
a platform for helping to shape positive images about the lives of African-American youth. This led him to enroll in Memphis States graduate
program in Theatre Arts. Selmon graduated with an MFA degree in Theatrical Design and Production in 1974.
In the fall of 1974 Selmon was hired to teach in the Theatre Arts Department at the newly built Florida International University, in Miami
Florida. The university was only 6 years old and at the time and the performing arts curriculum was still being built, Selmon was able help mold
the direction of the theater program at the university.
In 1976 he was appointed to a position on the Theatre Faculty at Howard University. He has taught courses in the design and technical
area and has designed scenery, lighting and properties for many productions at
Howard as well as the surrounding Washington area. In addition to Theatre Arts
courses, Selmon has also helped develop an interdisciplinary, general studies
course in Fine Arts with a focus in Afro American studies, including such classes as Blacks in the Arts. While at Howard he has also served as the
Chairman and Artistic Director of the Theatre Arts Department and the Chair of the Theatre Arts Department.
Family
Through an outdated Myspace page, a radaris.com page, and the whitepages.com it is believed that Selmon has multiple children and
grandchildren, including his oldest daughter, Keetra A. Selmon, and his youngest daughter, Kalea A. Selmon. His wife is believed to be Sandra S.
Selmon, and other children may include Jose Selmon. The family stays in Ft. Washington, Maryland. A possible last known address is believed to
be 2106 Wolf St Ft. Washington, MD 20744-3276. A last known home phone was listed as 301-567-3758.
Inserting Stories
The Interesting case of Hattie McDaniel’s Oscar award.
Famed Black actress Hattie McDaniel was the first African American to
win an Academy Award, which she won for best supporting actress for her
portrayal of Mammy in the film Gone With the Wind in 1940. In McDaniel’s will
she donated the Oscar award to Howard University. The award was
maintained by the Theatre department and remained in the Theatre on display
until about 1971-72. From that point on the trophy was moved, and hasn’t been located since.
There are many theories as to what may or may not have happened to the award that have inspired many articles. Some expound on
the more absurd or extreme (radical protest students threw the award in the Potomac River), some claim thievery (two former professors [Owen
Dodson or Make Malone] entrusted with caring for the artifact may have took it) others air on the side of the university still having it albeit lost
still, (adding that it is possible that the award is lost in storage). Selmon who believes that
it may be hidden or lost amongst other University items in storage, made news in a
2010 story wrote by the Washington Post when he asked the Academy of Motion
Pictures Arts and Sciences to send a replacement for the reward. The Academy
responded by saying that award reissues were impossible, instead they sent Selmon
a framed photo of McDaniel and a sheet of commemorative stamps featuring
McDaniel. The lost McDaniel Oscar has garnered so much attention that George
Washington University Law professor W. Burlette Carter J.D. wrote a 60+ page article in
the Howard Law Review (2011) entitled Finding the Oscar investigating what happened to
the award. In the article Carter dispels the theories that former professors may have took
the award or that militant students of the 1960s threw it in the Potomac River. In 2014
the location of the award remains a mystery.
Thelma B. Baker, Ph.D, RD, LD. -- College of Nursing and Allied Health Sciences | Interim Chair and Associate Professor
Professor Baker has successfully applied for and received Title VII Health Professions Grant funding in
District of Columbia, which has had a direct benefit to Howard and Howard students. Since 2012
Professor Baker has received just shy of $300,000, in Title VII grant funds which she has used for funding
Scholarships for Disadvantaged Students (known as project T08). In 2012 she was awarded $150,000, and
2013 she was awarded $140,685. She along with several of her Howard faculty members are responsible for
over $3 million in Title VII grants for Scholarships for Disadvantaged Students (T08).
Professor Baker has served as a Committee Advisor for The Research Infrastructure in Minority Institutions (RIMI) Project. RIMI was
founded, to promote educational experiences and opportunities that encourage students and faculty to pursue clinical, biomedical and
behavioral science research careers that will contribute to the elimination of health disparities in the United States. It was a five year long
project grant program that placed eighteen faculty scholars with Howard University faculty mentors who guided the scholars through the
research experience and provide instruction and support through the process.
The RIMI Project was a sub-contractual arrangement with the University of the District of Columbia, Howard University and the
McFarland Institute. The goal of the RIMI grant was to assist non research “intensive minority-serving institutions in solidifying and
strengthening their academic infrastructure and capacity to add to the critical mass of research trained professionals.”
Professor Baker was a contributor to the text book Nutrition in Public Health: A Handbook for Developing Programs and Services (2006).
She is credited for writing Chapter 15 Maintaining Nutrition and Food Service Standards in Group Care. The chapter touched on such topics as
the role of nutrition professionals in group care settings, being aware of the government agencies that govern nutrition care and food care
services, and understanding the information needed for nutrition professional to provide quality nutrition care and food services management.
Professor Baker was also a participant in Perspectives from United Kingdom and United States Policy Makers on Obesity Prevention:
Workshop Summary (2010). Other participants included figures from the US Department of Agriculture, the National Cancer Institute, the
Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the YMCA, the House Committee on Education and Labor, and Georgetown University. The study sought to
bring professional from both the United Kingdom and the United States in order to discuss and learn from each other ways to battle the obesity
rate in each respective country.
The current Howard University Email for Professor Baker, [email protected]
Professor Baker’s DOB is unknown.
*Speculative address and phone number 5402 15th Pl Hyattsville, MD 20782-3440 | 301-559-1510
