Do you have a Portia story?
"My mother, Wilhemine (Waghorne) Mason, possesses a copy of a program that she received when she attended a performance by Portia White, the renowned contralto, when she sang at a concert in Sarnia, Ontario in 1946.
My mom remembers the concert vividly. She said that it was quite an expenditure for her family to buy tickets to a concert such as this, but that her Dad wanted to expose her to music other than what was being heard on the radio's "hit parades" of the day. It worked! Portia's concert inspired my Mom to listen to and enjoy a wide range of music.
This is where she wanted the program to be sent -- to be with Portia's family. The program indicates that the concert was being offered under the auspices of Haensel and Jones Division of Columbia Concerts, Inc., New York, NY.
The program says that "the latter half of the past season was devoted to a concert tour of Latin-America." It is signed by Portia herself and her piano accompanist for that concert, Marc D'Albert." Ian Mason, Brigden, ON April 2, 2019
My mom remembers the concert vividly. She said that it was quite an expenditure for her family to buy tickets to a concert such as this, but that her Dad wanted to expose her to music other than what was being heard on the radio's "hit parades" of the day. It worked! Portia's concert inspired my Mom to listen to and enjoy a wide range of music.
This is where she wanted the program to be sent -- to be with Portia's family. The program indicates that the concert was being offered under the auspices of Haensel and Jones Division of Columbia Concerts, Inc., New York, NY.
The program says that "the latter half of the past season was devoted to a concert tour of Latin-America." It is signed by Portia herself and her piano accompanist for that concert, Marc D'Albert." Ian Mason, Brigden, ON April 2, 2019
"In the late 1940’s or early 1950’s she stayed with us for about one year. She lived on the top floor of our house at 64 Delaware avenue in Toronto. Norris and I had our bedroom on that same floor and we shared a bathroom with her. She was very intelligent and I enjoyed talking to her. She spent a lot of time washing her pairs of white opera gloves and hanging them out to dry in that washroom. Her father was an important figure in the black community in the east coast. I have an LP of her opera singing which I treasure." Stanley Weisman February 5, 2018
"Portia always spoke so affectionately of your children - she said they were beautiful and brilliant (if girls) and handsome and brilliant (if boys) - I hope they always are blessed with two other attributes, divine discontent and happiness in their personal lives - I think Portia was full of divine discontent and certainly possessed of superhuman courage. "
Ruth E. Wilson March 23, 1968 to Portia's sister-in-law, Vivian White
Ruth E. Wilson March 23, 1968 to Portia's sister-in-law, Vivian White
Presented with the permission of The White Family