Dorothy Fowler Richardson
Celebrated Contralto, Choral Director, Devoted ChurchWoman
Dorothy Juanita (Fowler) Richardson (1887-1968) was born in Cambridge to John Fowler of South Carolina and his wife, Julia (Payne), of Virginia. After Julia’s death in 1890, John and the three-year-old Dorothy lived with Julia’s family on Pleasant Street. She graduated from Cambridge English High School in 1905 and attended the New England Conservatory of Music.
Dorothy was a gifted and popular soloist with a rich repertoire. She was classically trained by the tenor Isidore Braggiotti and sang in Italian, French, and German; in 1945 she performed in Mendelssohn’s oratorio Elijah. She also loved the songs she learned at home and in church and was invited to sing Negro spirituals, anthems, and folksongs at funerals, benefit concerts, and celebrations such as North Cambridge Community Church’s mortgage-burning ceremony.
Dorothy expanded her musical career in the 1930s and ’40s. She founded the 60-member Greater Boston Negro Male Chorus and in 1939 directed them in the first of several recitals at Jordan Hall. She later led them to three first prizes at three International Music Festivals at Symphony Hall. The Guardian called the group “… the most outstanding chorus in New England.” She also founded the Greater Boston Mixed Chorus, and the two choirs often appeared together.
Mrs. Richardson resided in Roxbury with her husband, Clarence Henry Richardson, and their children, Arthur and Julia. She retired professionally but continued to sing at churches in her community, including St. Cyprian’s Episcopal, Union Methodist, and Twelfth Baptist, and to tutor voice students at her Silver Box Studio in Boston. Dorothy Richardson is buried at Knollwood Cemetery in Canton, Massachusetts.