The publication is reproduced in full below:
HONORING LULU V. CHILDERS
______
HON. ELISSA SLOTKIN
of michigan
in the house of representatives
Friday, February 25, 2022
Ms. SLOTKIN. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize the incredible contributions to musical history and to the history of Howell, Michigan made by one of the city's Black pioneers, Lulu Childers.
This remarkable woman was ultimately responsible for developing the small music program at Howard University in Washington, D.C., first into a Conservatory of Music, and then into a School of Music.
But before all that, she was a child in Howell, Michigan, the daughter of slaves, her parents brought her from Dry Ridge, Kentucky in 1875 at the age of five.
It was in Howell that the public was first treated to the gift of Lulu's voice. In the early 1880s, she performed regularly at the Howell Opera House and its neighboring Methodist Church on Walnut Street. By 17 she was singing at numerous fundraisers and events across the area and was billed as ``Howell's Lulu Childers.''
And in 1890, she walked across the stage as valedictorian of the Howell High School Class, and enrolled at Oberlin Conservatory in Ohio to study voice.
After graduation, Childers performed around the country but felt a tug to the classroom. She taught music in Ohio public schools for several years, and then in 1905, she joined the faculty of Howard University.
At the time, Lulu was one of only two music teachers at Howard. She taught voice, and another instructor taught piano. In 1906, Lulu was appointed Director of Music and steadily the program blossomed.
Lulu established a college-level curriculum, hired experienced instructors, and created the University Choral Society. When she led the chorus in song, the people turned out. At the 1929 Christmas service, Lulu drew a crowd so large that there was standing room only and 400 people had to be turned away.
Lulu also created an annual concert series that brought renowned musicians to the Washington community. In 1938 she invited the famed contralto, Marian Anderson, to perform. The performance gained national attention because both the Board of Education of Washington, D.C. and the Daughters of the American Revolution refused to let Anderson perform in their facilities because of her race.
Lulu used her voice, not just to sing, but to enlist the help of First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt in the fight for equity and justice. She also took her advocacy to Secretary of the Interior Harold Ickes, who in turn invited Anderson to perform at the Lincoln Memorial, a free concert which drew 75,000 people on Easter Sunday of 1939.
One year later, Lulu retired from Howard University and returned to her family home in Howell, where she died in 1946.
It's so entirely fitting that ten years after her passing, the classroom portion of Howard University's fine arts complex was renamed Lulu V. Childers Hall.
Lulu Childers was born with the gift of voice, a gift she never took for granted. She used that voice to entertain, to instruct, and to advocate. She sang the anthem of freedom, justice, and equality with perfect pitch and tone. Let us all endeavor to use our own lives and our own voices to carry her tune, to continue singing her song, and to ensure that the music never ends.
____________________
SOURCE: Congressional Record Vol. 168, No. 35
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