Canadian National Historic Person Contralto Portia White, an internationally acclaimed concert singer, was born in Truro and sang in this church's choir at the time that her father was Pastor. Standing in front of the church are a life sized wood carving of Portia and her memorial plaque.
Portia's plaque reads as follows:
PORTIA MAY WHITE
(1911-1968)
The first African-Canadian woman to win international acclaim, contralto Portia White had a remarkable career on the concert stage. Born to a musical family, she was taught to sing by her mother and sang in the choir of this church where her father was pastor. Her talent was nurtured by the Halifax Ladies' Musical Club and Dr. Ernesto Vinci of the Halifax Conservatory. Between 1940 and 1948 her debuts in Toronto and New York, and recitals across North and South America and in the Caribbean became a source of pride for all Canadians.
See a biography of Portia White below, from
Black History of Canada. The article references several other articles that have been written on the singer.
Portia White
Portia White was raised in Halifax, where she sang in her church choir as a child. She became a teacher and taught in Black communities, such as Africville and Lucasville. In the meantime she took voice lessons and sang on radio broadcasts hosted by her father, a church minister. It was soon clear that she had an extraordinary voice and she won a scholarship at the Halifax Conservatory of Music in 1939. In 1941, White made her singing debut, at age 30, in Toronto. The newspaper reviewer wrote that "she sings spirituals with pungent expression and beauty of utterance." Another wrote that her voice was "a gift from heaven."
Portia White became the first Black Canadian concert singer to win international renown, despite difficulties obtaining bookings because of her race. The high point of her career was a widely acclaimed recital in New York in 1944. White's career was short, however, as she suffered vocal difficulties. She retired from public singing and in 1952 she moved to Toronto to teach voice. She returned to the concert stage occasionally and sang for Queen Elizabeth in Charlottetown, PEI, in 1964.
We have only a few recordings of White's remarkable voice. The Halifax Chronicle-Herald called her "the singer who broke the colour barrier in Canadian classical music." Tributes include a postage stamp in her honour, a monument in her birthplace at Truro, NS, and a film documentary (Think on Me). She died in Toronto in 1968.
From Black History of Canada