For the American actress with the same name, see Elsie Baker.

Elsie West Baker (September 27, 1886 – April 28, 1958) was an American contralto singer who made hundreds of recordings in the 1910s and 1920s. She is sometimes confused with American actress Elsie Baker, who was about the same age.

Early life and education

Baker was born in Philadelphia, the daughter of William Drinker Baker and Carrie Ella Green Hammond Baker. She studied voice with Oscar Saenger in New York.[1]

Career

Baker was a contralto singer. In 1910 she sang for a Washington, D.C. audience that included President WIlliam Howard Taft and his wife.[2] She was a member of the Bethlehem Church Quartet of Philadelphia in 1911,[3] and a soloist at St. Paul's Methodist Episcopal Church in New York City in 1920.[1] She was heard regularly in concert and on radio in the 1920s.[4][5] She also made hundreds of recordings for the Victor label,[6][7][8] and wrote songs.[9] She performed in the Virgin Islands in 1932.[10]

Baker recorded under various names, including Edna Brown, Nora Watson, and Mabel West.[1]

Personal life

Baker was listed as divorced and living with her partner, Ellen F. Johnson, at the Ansonia Hotel, in the 1950 census.[11] She died in 1958, at the age of 71, in New York City.[12][13][14]

References

  1. ^ a b c Hoffmann, Frank; Cooper, B. Lee; Gracyk, Tim (2012-11-12). Popular American Recording Pioneers: 1895-1925. Routledge. pp. 34–38. ISBN 978-1-136-59229-4.
  2. ^ "View of Indian Pictures; President and Mrs. Taft Included in Distinguished Gathering". Evening star. 1910-04-21. p. 24. Retrieved 2025-01-16 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "Pennsylvania Chautauqua". Lebanon Daily News. 1911-07-12. p. 3. Retrieved 2025-01-16 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "Featured Tonight". The Boston Globe. 1930-02-19. p. 17. Retrieved 2025-01-16 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "Sunday Concert by American Quartet". The Buffalo News. 1925-12-19. p. 38. Retrieved 2025-01-16 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ "Elsie Baker". Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved 2025-01-15.
  7. ^ "Four Victor Artists in Concert Here Monday Night". Los Angeles Evening Post-Record. 1923-12-08. p. 7. Retrieved 2025-01-16 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "Miss Elsie Baker to be at Orpheum". Morris Tribune. 1920-11-19. p. 1. Retrieved 2025-01-16 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ "Elsie Baker" Music News 19(June 3, 1927): 49.
  10. ^ Sims, Valerie (2016-01-08). "Elsie Baker Performs in the Virgin Islands! ~ 1932". 🌺 Virgin Islands History. Retrieved 2025-01-15.
  11. ^ 1950 United States census, manuscript returns, via Ancestry.
  12. ^ "Baker, Elsie West" Encyclopedia of Recorded Sound (2004, Routledge).
  13. ^ Wilson, Scott (2016-09-05). Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons, 3d ed. McFarland. p. 37. ISBN 978-0-7864-7992-4.
  14. ^ "Miss Elsie Baker". The New York Times. April 29, 1958. p. 29. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2025-01-16.
Allikas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elsie_West_Baker
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