Western Reserve Historical Society: Dr. Zelma Waton George

Press release from the Western Reserve Historical Society:

February 22, 2022

By Patrice Hamiter, African American History Archivist at the Western Reserve Historical Society

During this Women’s History Month, the African American Archives would like to honor Dr. Zelma Waton George. Among other things, Dr. George was a much sought after lecturer, educator, a trained soprano, a leading researcher of African American music, and philanthropist.

Dr. George accompanied by Congresswoman Frances P. Bolton, being interviewed outside the White House after her six month lecture tour around the world. (1959), Courtesy of the WRHS Archives

She was born in Hearn, Tex., and then moved with her family to Chicago, where she earned a sociology degree from the Univ. of Chicago and studied voice at the American Conservatory of Music. She became a change agent early on, while studying there she was instrumental in integrating the whites-only swimming pool and helped to establish the first integrated YWCA on campus, and began her 70 year affiliation with Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority.

In the 1920s she worked as a caseworker in Illinois before becoming a juvenile court probation officer in Chicago. Then in 1932 she became the dean of women and the director of personnel administration at Tennessee State University. Later she went on to earn her master’s degree and doctorate in sociology from New York University.

Five years later she  moved to Los Angeles, where she founded and directed the Avalon Community Center. While living in Los Angeles she took graduate courses at the University of Southern California. Ever resourceful, she obtained a Rockefeller Foundation grant to spend two years traveling the country to study Negro spirituals and music.

That endeavor brought her to Cleveland to review the John G. White collection at Cleveland Public Library.  During her stay she met attorney Claybourne George, and they married two years later.

In 1949 she sang a leading part in “The Medium ”, an opera by Gian-Carlo Menotti at Karamu Theater. After seeing her performance, Menotti cast her in a revival that opened on Broadway. It is said that this performance made her the first Black artist to lead in an American Opera.

In the 1950s, at the request of then-Vice President Richard M. Nixon, she participated in the Youth Training Incentive conference, and was also asked to serve on several government committees that concerned women, youth, and African Americans. The next year she was offered a grant for a six month world tour under the Education Exchange Program. Soon after her return she was appointed as the only Black United Nations delegate by President Eisenhower

Dr. George went on to teach at Cuyahoga Community College, produce television programs about black spirituals, and was frequently recognized for her contributions to her various fields of work.She also sat on policy making boards of the Girl Scouts of America, the American Red Cross, the League of Women Voters and the National Conference of Christiona and Jews. From 1966 until her retirement in 1974 she worked as the executive director of the Cleveland Job Corps for Women.

Dr. George visits the Cincinnati Residential Manpower Program. (1971), Courtesy of the WRHS Archives

This entry was posted in Then & Now. Bookmark the permalink.

This press release was produced by the Western Reserve Historical Society. The views expressed here are the author’s own.