Lois Towles facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Lois Towles
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Towles in 1947
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| Born |
Lois Bernard Towles
April 4, 1912 |
| Died | March 18, 1983 (aged 70) San Francisco, California
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| Nationality | American |
| Other names | Lois Caesar, Lois Towles Caesar, Lois Towles McNeely |
| Occupation | pianist, music educator, community activist |
| Years active | 1933–1983 |
Lois Towles (born April 4, 1912 – died March 18, 1983) was an amazing American woman. She was a talented classical pianist and a dedicated music teacher. Lois also worked hard to help her community.
She was born in Texarkana, Arkansas. From a young age, Lois loved music and started piano lessons at nine. She was a brilliant student, graduating at the top of her high school class. Later, she earned several college degrees.
Lois taught music at Fisk University for many years. She became a famous concert pianist, performing around the world. She and her sister, Dorothea Towles Church, were among the first African-American models to become internationally known. After marrying Richard C. Caesar, Lois focused on helping women and children in her community.
Early Life and Education
Lois Bernard Towles was born on April 4, 1912. Her parents were Thomas Elsworth Towles and Arabella Clark. Lois was one of nine children in her family. Her father worked as a carpenter. Around 1922, her family moved to the Texas side of Texarkana.
Lois loved music from a very young age. She would pretend a window sill was a piano. When she was nine, her parents bought her a real piano. She started playing at her church and became the choir's pianist a year later.
Lois was the best student in her high school class. This is called being the valedictorian. She then went to Wiley College in Marshall. She sang with the Wiley Singers and joined the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority. In 1933, she graduated with high honors.
After college, Lois married Rudolph McNeely. She taught music at a Black high school from 1936 to 1941. She then became the music director for schools in Gregg County, Texas. In 1941, Lois moved to Iowa. She earned two master's degrees from the University of Iowa very quickly. She was the first African-American person to earn a Master of Fine Arts degree there. Lois could speak English, French, German, and Spanish.
Concert Career and Modeling
In 1943, Lois Towles became a music professor at Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee. She also studied at the famous Juilliard. She gave her first big concert in 1947. A newspaper review compared her playing to that of Arthur Rubinstein, a world-famous pianist.
Rubinstein was so impressed that he offered to teach Lois for free. She spent the summer of 1948 studying with him. She also took classes at the University of California, Berkeley. Lois toured and performed for large crowds across the Southern United States.
In 1949, Lois went to Paris, France, to study music. She learned from famous teachers like Marcel Ciampi and Nadia Boulanger. She practiced many hours a day and performed in important places. These included the American Embassy and for UNESCO.
While in Paris, her sister Dorothea visited. Dorothea became a model for famous designers like Christian Dior. Lois and Dorothea became some of the first internationally known Black fashion models. Lois appeared in magazines like Ebony and Jet. She even designed her own concert gowns, adding musical notes to them.
In 1950, Lois performed in New York City. She then toured the United States for a month. She left Fisk University in 1952. For several years, she traveled between Paris and the U.S. She performed music and created fashion and music shows with her sister.
In 1956, Lois met Richard C. Caesar again in San Francisco. They had known each other when she taught at Fisk. Richard was a successful dentist and a retired combat pilot from the Tuskegee Airmen. They married on June 6, 1956. After her marriage, Lois began to focus more on helping her community. She continued performing until 1966.
Community Activism
After her marriage, Lois Towles Caesar became known for her community work. She focused on helping women and children.
In 1958, she helped organize a concert for the famous singer Leontyne Price. Lois also helped start the "Symphony-in-Schools" program. This program encouraged young people to learn about music. She created a plan called "Start a Symphony Family." It helped people with less money attend cultural events. She also set up scholarships for young artists.
Lois worked with a service group called The Links Incorporated. They created an art program to support young artists. From the early 1960s to 1965, she and her sister ran a "finishing school." This school taught women about manners, fashion, and building self-confidence. Lois also wrote a column called "Fashionably Dressed on a Budget."
In 1965, Lois Caesar made history. She became the first Black person to serve on the Board of Governors for the San Francisco Symphony. In 1969, she was the first Black woman elected as a director of the Symphony Foundation. She officially stopped performing in 1966.
Lois also served on the San Francisco grand jury in 1972. She was on the board of the city's Youth Service Bureau. In 1976, she was appointed to the San Francisco Mayor's Criminal Justice Commission. She was the first Black person and first woman to serve on it. She was also the first minority to lead the commission for two terms.
She was president of the local chapter of the World Adoption International Fund. This group helps children. In 1977, she became president of the Women's Auxiliary of the San Francisco Dental Society. In 1978, she received the Jefferson Award for Public Service. This award honors people who do great public service.
Death and Legacy
Lois Towles Caesar passed away on March 18, 1983, at her home in San Francisco. To honor her, a chapel at the Youth Guidance Center in San Francisco was renamed the Lois Towles Caesar Memorial Chapel. It was dedicated in a special ceremony on October 6, 1983.
