Early life and education Born
Dorothy Leigh Mainor on September 3, 1910 in the town of
Norfolk, Virginia, Maynor's parents were the Reverend John J. Mainor, a local African-American Methodist minister and his wife Alice (Jefferson) Mainor. Maynor attended
Hampton Institute, a preparatory school and college created for freed Black slaves, where she studied under
R. Nathaniel Dett. After her graduation from the Institute in 1933, Maynor received a four-year scholarship to the
Westminster Choir School in
Princeton, New Jersey.
Career In 1939, Maynor performed at the
Berkshire Festival where she was given an audition before
Sergei Koussevitzky, conductor of the
Boston Symphony Orchestra. She performed Lieder (German art songs), spirituals, and the "Ho-jo-to-ho" aria from
Wagner's Die Walküre. Koussevitzky was inspired to proclaim her voice a "miracle" and a "musical revelation" that "the world must hear." In New York, she was taught by voice instructors William Clamroth and John Alan Haughton. In one particularly noteworthy concert in 1942 in Long Beach, California, Maynor sang during a wartime blackout until the all-clear was given. Maynor's voice transfixed the audience of 4000 people, easing their fears, and after the blackout was lifted, the audience remained for several encores. and at President Dwight D. Eisenhower's 1953 presidential inauguration at
DAR Constitution Hall, where the
Daughters of the American Revolution famously refused to let
Marian Anderson sing in 1939. Though many maintain that Anderson's performance at Eisenhower's 1957 inauguration broke color barriers, Maynor's performances have received comparably less attention, despite predating Anderson by eight years. In 1949, Maynor was featured in an episode of
Richard Durham's radio drama
Destination Freedom, with Charmaine Anderson playing her character. In 1964, Maynor founded the
Harlem School of the Arts which was designed to give music education at a reduced rate to the mostly Black and
Latine children of
Harlem. Maynor called it a "cultural oasis in a sea of despair." She conceived the idea of the school when, while at the Savoy dance club in New York, she noticed white musicians scribbling down the intricate rhythms of the Black performers. She resolved at that moment that Black people would learn the disciplines of music to restore the "sound of music" to Harlem's streets and let Black people reap the rewards of their talents. When Maynor started the school, it was a one woman operation, with Maynor serving as administrator, teacher, and janitor. Under Maynor's directorship the school grew from 20 students to 1,000 by the time of her retirement in 1979. She left the school under the directorship of
Betty Allen, the American mezzo-soprano. Maynor received honorary degrees from several universities including Westminster Choir College,
Oberlin College, The Hartt School of Music (University of Hartford), and two degrees from
Howard University. In 1975, Maynor became the first African-American on the board of directors of the
Metropolitan Opera. ==Personal life and death==