Geneva Handy Southall facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Geneva Handy Southall
Dr. Geneva Handy Southall, from a 1994 newspaper
Born	Frances Geneva Handy December 5, 1925 New Orleans, Louisiana, US
Died	January 2, 2004 Iowa City, Iowa, US
Education	Dillard University (B.A.), Chicago Conservatory of Music (M.F.A.), University of Iowa (Ph.D.)
Occupation	Musicologist, pianist, college professor
Relatives	D. Antoinette Handy (sister) Tisch Jones (daughter)

Frances Geneva Handy Southall (born December 5, 1925 – died January 2, 2004) was an amazing American music expert, a talented pianist, and a college professor. She taught many students and wrote important books about music history.

Growing Up and Learning

Frances Geneva Handy was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. Her father, William Talbot Handy, was a minister and a trained singer. Her mother, Dorothy Pauline Pleasant Handy, was a music teacher. Music was a big part of her family life!

College Years

Geneva graduated from Dillard University in 1945. She studied music there and was part of the Delta Sigma Theta sorority. Later, in 1954, she started a master's degree at the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago.

Making History in Music

In 1966, Geneva Southall made history at the University of Iowa. She became the first woman to earn a Ph.D. (a very high degree) in piano performance. Her special research project was about the piano music of a composer named John Field.

A Musical Family

Geneva wasn't the only musician in her family. Her sister, D. Antoinette Handy (1930–2002), was also a talented musician and music scholar.

Teaching and Writing Career

After college, Geneva Southall taught music at several schools. She taught at the Gray Conservatory of Music in Los Angeles for a short time. While she was studying for her advanced degrees, she also taught at Paul Quinn College in Waco, Texas, Knoxville College in Tennessee, and South Carolina State College.

Becoming a Professor

In 1966, she joined the faculty at Grambling College. Then, in 1970, she became a professor of music and African-American studies at the University of Minnesota. She even led the African-American studies department there. She retired from teaching in 1992.

Inspiring Students

Dr. Southall taught many piano students. One of her famous students was Ellis Marsalis Jr., a well-known jazz pianist, whom she taught in New Orleans.

Books About a Musical Genius

Geneva Southall wrote three important books about a 19th-century Black pianist named Blind Tom Wiggins. He was a musical genius who was also disabled. Her books helped people learn about his life and struggles:

• Blind Tom: the Post-Civil War Enslavement of a Black Musical Genius (1979)
• The Continuing Enslavement of Blind Tom: the Black Pianist-Composer (1983)
• Blind Tom, the Black Pianist Composer: Continually Enslaved (1999)

Awards and Recognition

Dr. Southall was honored for her important work. She received awards from groups like the National Association of Negro Musicians and the NAACP. Her old university, Dillard University, also recognized her achievements.

The library of the African American and African Studies department at the University of Minnesota is named after her. In 1992, the governor of Minnesota, Arne Carlson, even declared a "Geneva Southall Week" to celebrate her contributions!

Personal Life

Geneva Southall was married twice. Her first husband was Patrick Omille Rhone, a dentist and a World War II veteran. They married in 1946 and had a daughter named Patricia Rhone. Patricia later became a theater artist and scholar known as Tisch Jones. Patrick Rhone passed away in 1954.

She was briefly married again to a composer named Mitchell Southall. They later divorced. Geneva Southall passed away in 2004 in Iowa City, Iowa, at the age of 78, after having a stroke.

Her Legacy

You can find many of Dr. Southall's important papers and writings at Emory University. Smaller collections of her work are also kept at the Iowa Women's Archives and at Columbus State University.

Images for kids

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  Dr. Geneva Handy Southall in 1994