Born this day ... Camilla Ella Williams

"Who would have guessed that a little black girl from Danville, Virginia would make such a wonderful debut."
Camilla Williams

Camilla Ella Williams (1919-2012) began singing at the age of five and joined her church choir when she was nine. At twelve, she started training with Raymond Aubrey, a voice teacher who taught music to white students at Averett College but also instructed Black students in private homes. After graduation, Williams began teaching, then left for Philadelphia to advance her career. 

Williams auditioned with the New York City Opera for "Madame Butterfly" and became the first Black woman to appear in a major US-American opera house performing Cio-Cio San in 1946. Williams was also the first Black artist to receive a contract from the Opera and the first Black singer in a major role at the Vienna State Opera. In 1948, she had the lead role of Aida for the New York City Opera. Three years later, Williams recorded Gershwin's "Porgy and Bess" but refused to portray Bess in staged productions since she did not accept the stereotypical casting for the opera. In 1963, before the historic speech "I Have a Dream", she sang "Star-Spangled Banner". After retiring from opera, Williams continued her teaching career and became the first Black woman appointed at Indiana University Jacobs School of Music and the first Black professor of voice at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing (Talibah, 2020).

Her decision to ‘seize the time’ was a bold one for a young black girl from the South. Many accolades followed her arrival in Philadelphia. She became the first winner of the prestigious Marian Anderson Award, a vocal scholarship established by Miss Anderson, in 1943 and again the next season. In that same year, Camilla won the Philadelphia Orchestra Youth Concert Auditions, which offered an opportunity as soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra, directed by the distinguished Eugene Ormandy.

Growing up in a small southern town in the 1920s and 30’s naturally implies the canopy of racial segregation and its ubiquitous and complicated codes of social perception and political behavior. These same codes would continue to plague her for the next sixty years of her life. As a mature woman, she realized that she had often been naïve to the prejudicial attitudes she frequently encountered. A select few had protected her from harmful attitudes and negative episodes on her journey.

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- Talibah, M. (2020). Camilla Williams. Danville Museum.
- photograph via