- One of the most famous and greatest American sopranos of the twentieth century, she was also the first major black singer to have a long-running star career at the Metropolitan Opera.
- Made her Metropolitan Opera debut on January 27, 1961.
- Her 1955 NBC-TV performance as Tosca was not carried by some television stations in the then racially segregated South.
- A member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.
- She was awarded the American National Medal of the Arts in 1985 by the National Endowment of the Arts in Washington D.C.
- Studied at Juilliard.
- She studied music after graduating from college and was signed to play Bess in a production of Porgy and Bess which toured the world until 1855, Since then she's sung at Viena State Opera, New York;s Metropolitan, La Scala, Milan and London;s Covent Garden.
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