Kellogg, Clara Louise

Clara Kellogg was the featured performer at the opening of the Athenaeum in Englewood in 1870. Clara Louise Kellogg (1842–1916) was one of the first American-born opera singers to achieve international fame. Born in Sumterville, South Carolina, and raised in New York, she studied music from an early age and made her professional debut in 1861 at the New York Academy of Music. Possessing a powerful soprano voice, Kellogg quickly became a leading performer in American opera during the late nineteenth century. Over the course of her career, she appeared in hundreds of performances across the United States, Europe, Australia, and Latin America. She was especially known for roles in operas by composers such as Giuseppe Verdi, Charles Gounod, and Gaetano Donizetti. At a time when European singers dominated the opera stage, Kellogg helped demonstrate that American performers could achieve international acclaim. Later in life, she married Carl Strakosch, who had managed many prominent opera stars. After retiring from the stage, she wrote a memoir, Memoirs of an American Prima Donna, which provides a detailed account of her career and the development of opera in the United States. Today, Kellogg is remembered as a pioneering figure who helped establish a place for American singers in the international world of opera. The Record, June 1, 1949.

Matthew Benjamin Brady

National Archives, College Park

War Department. Office of the Chief Signal Officer.

circa 1860-1865

Public Domain