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In 1952, Conservatory Dean Virginia Carty received a letter from Walter E. Hager, President of Wilson Teachers College in Washington, D.C., as a follow up to a 1950 Regional Conference on Discrimination in College Administration. Hager asked for a…

In 1943, the Baltimore Adult Activities Council held a roundtable discussion at the Enoch Pratt Library, addressing the topic of racial prejudice and how to teach children in a way that would lead to better race relations.

In 1936, young pianist Ellis Larkins performed this recital at the Phipps Auditorium (likely at Johns Hopkins Hospital) for the benefit of the Peabody Institute. Larkins was used to raise funds for Peabody despite their refusal to accept him to the…

In 1984, the year before Ellis Larkins received an honorary Bachelor's Degree from The Johns Hopkins University, his wife, Crystal Larkins, sent this letter to Robert Pierce, Director of the Peabody Conservatory.

Ellis Larkins was a childhood piano prodigy from Baltimore, MD. He was famous within Baltimore at a very young age, making his debut with the City Colored Orchestra in 1934 at the age of six. Although taught by Peabody faculty members, Larkins was…

Because of her race, soprano Anne Wiggins Brown was not allowed to enroll at the Peabody Conservatory as a college student in 1928, and enrolled at Juilliard instead. In 1998, she received the George Peabody Medal for her contribution to music in…