Madame Goldye Steiner
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Madame Goldye Steiner | |
---|---|
Born | Gladys Mae Sellers 1889 |
Died | 1960 (aged 70–71) |
Madame Goldye Steiner (1889–1960) was a pioneering African-American woman cantor.
Personal life
Born in 1889 in
In 1922 and 1923, Sellers performed on several WAAK radio station broadcasts in Milwaukee, including performances with John Wickliffe's Ginger Band/Wickliffe's Ginger Orchestra. Around the same time, Sellers was part of the Wisconsin delegation to the "50 Year Jubilee celebration of the Emancipation Proclamation in Chicago".[1]
In the mid-1920s, she moved to
A 1925 piece in
As with other Black performers, Steiner faced racism in the Yiddish theatre scene. However, as a woman, she also had to deal with kol isha, a religious restriction that did not allow men to hear women sing.[6]
She and her second husband, Richard Armstead, lived near Harlem through the mid-1940s, when they moved back to Milwaukee.
She died in 1960 and was buried in an unmarked grave in Mt. Olivet Cemetery in Milwaukee.[2] However, by 2022, a "rematriation" project to fund a headstone for Steiner was headed by Shahanna McKinney-Baldon, director of the Edot Midwest Regional Jewish Diversity and Racial Justice Collaborative.[7]
References
- ^ a b c Tanzilo, Bobby (2022-10-31). "Rematriating the Milwaukee singer who was the first African-American woman cantor". OnMilwaukee. Retrieved 2024-03-31.
- ^ a b c "Madame Goldye Steiner". Wisconsin Black Historical Society. Retrieved 31 March 2024.
- ^ a b c Sapoznik, Henry (25 August 2020). "Goldye, di Shvartze Khaznte/The Black woman Cantor". www.henrysapoznik.com. Retrieved 31 March 2024.
- ^ Esensten, Andrew; Kirya-Ziraba, Shoshana McKinney (2024-02-27). "Jenni Asher is set to become first ordained Black woman cantor". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Retrieved 2024-03-31.
- ^ "Goldye Steiner". Playbill. Retrieved 2024-03-31.
- ^ Silver, Maayan (9 February 2023). "Milwaukee's Goldye Steiner". Milwaukee's NPR.
- ^ Kafrissen, Rokhl (22 September 2022). "Reviving the Memory of the First Black Female Cantor, One Century Later". HeyAlma. 70 Faces Media. Retrieved 31 March 2024.