The resurgence of interest in my father's sister's singing career and ability 56 years after her death and 113 years after her birth is quite extraordinary.
Aunt Portia was the darling of Canadian and international concert stages in her heyday. She was also Black, making her classical concertizing fame and accomplishments all the more noteworthy given the racist conditions that existed when she began carving her path. 

Canada honored her with a stamp and designated her a person of historical significance. Plays, books, films and singers have been inspired by her, public spaces named after her. She is the subject of heritage plaques and the namesake of cultural scholarships and prizes. Rather than waning, interest in Portia White is expanding.

June 2024 marks the historic opera based on Portia's life, the Canadian Opera Company's production of aportia chryptych, a first in a remarkable number of ways, including first all-Black cast. In October, author Charlie Rhindress explores Portia's life in a chapter of his new book about the Six All-Time Top Female Singers from Eastern Canada.

This year, the White Family will be rereleasing Portia's early concerts, including New York Town Hall's in 1944, restored and remastered. With eyes closed, the listener is in the concert halls, hearing the legendary voice with crystal clarity previously denied. What a treat it will be to offer this to a discerning listening public in both CD and vinyl formats.

The Portia White Exhibit was created as a legacy project in Toronto by the Don Heights Unitarian Congregation and the White Family.

​Artifacts which had been carefully preserved by the family archivist, Vivian White, who was Portia's sister-in-law, formed a display to celebrate the famous Canadian singer's life on the fiftieth anniversary of her death on  February 13, 1968.

In February, 2018 Don Heights opened its doors to a month-long, interactive display for Black History Month, Celebrating Portia White: 50 Years On. The Opening Ceremony was a hugely successful affair featuring as guest speaker the acclaimed literary figure, George Elliott Clarke, Portia's grandnephew. From Toronto the exhibit traveled to Colchester Historeum in Portia's birthplace of Truro, Nova Scotia, where it was housed from May to October, 2019.  In November the collection was placed in the hands of the Black Cultural Centre for Nova Scotia where it is currently on loan. 

Curated by Portia's niece, Sheila White and her husband Alex King, the exhibit  in its entirety represents the most comprehensive assortment of Portia White collectibles ever assembled in one place.   The two were ably assisted by a hardworking committee. 

Sheila is the Music Director at Don Heights Unitarian Congregation and was able to initiate the Portia Exhibit project on behalf of her late parents, both founding members of Don Heights in 1960, Bill and Vivian White.