Flora Batson Bergen: A Voice That Fought Racial Prejudice in the 19th Century

Acclaimed concert singer Flora Batson Bergen was born in Washington, D. C. in 18651  and moved to Providence, Rhode Island at age three with her mother, Mary A. Batson after the death of her father from wounds sustained during the Civil War. Flora attended school and studied music until age thirteen in Providence. She started her professional career in her early teens. For two years, she traveled extensively and sang for Storer College2 at Harpers Ferry in West Virginia. For three years, she  sang for the Peoples Church3 in Boston; one year for Redpath’s Lecture and Lyceum Bureau4 of Boston. In New York, Flora sang two years during the temperance revival under the management of Thomas Doutney5. During that revival, in 1885, Flora sang "Six Feet of Earth Make Us All One Size" ninety successive nights—moving attendees to tears by her voice.

Impressed by her talent, John G. Bergen6, who attended the revival,  engaged her for one year, and by 1887 she was known nationally. On December 13, 1887, Flora married Bergen, a white man, who remained her husband and her manager until his death in 1896. Her marriage made headlines and challenged a society that held as truth that Blacks were inferior to whites and should not intermarry. While married, Flora continued to sing and brought fame to Bergen’ s company, Bergen Star Concert Company. For instance, a week after her marriage to Bergen, she was declared “Queen of Song” in Philadelphia. In 1888, before an audience of thousands in Steinway Hall , Flora received a diamond necklace from the citizens of New York City. Starting in the fall of 1888, Flora toured Europe and America to great success in every city she visited. She sang before Queen Victoria of England, Pope Leo XII, and Liliuokalani, Queen of Hawaii. She also toured in Fiji, India, China, and Japan. After her husband's death, she toured Africa and Australia with Gerad Millar, a Black bassist. Flora died in Philadelphia on December 1, 1906. Flora, a Black woman, was considered by many to be the greatest concert singer of the 19th century.

The following excerpts from the press7 testify to her talent and the effect she had on her audience:

The Flora Batson created such a furore in Odd City Hall last evening that before the programme was half through the excitement had become so intense that cries of "Bravo" were heard from all parts of the house. Many people arose to their feet and the applause was uproarious and deafening in its intensity, and not only rounded of it the conclusions of selections, but broke in spontaneously at every interlude. The singer was certainly a marvel. Her voice showed a compass of three octaves, from the purest soprano, sweet and full, to the rich round notes of the baritone register. —Pittsburg Commercial Gazette

Her voice is rich in the qualities most valuable to a singer. The range is wonderful. It is clear and resonant, exceedingly flexible and pure. Her articulation is perfect, and she sings with a freedom from effort seen rarely, except in the most famous singers. The tones of her voice are powerful and thrilling. It is rather dramatic than emotional. Her rendition last night covered an extraordinary versatility and range. —Nashville American

Her articulation is so perfect, her renditions seem like recitations set to music. —Kansas City Dispatch

A better pleased audience never filed out of the theatre than that which listened to her last evening. —Los Angeles Tribune

Besides being the greatest vocalist of her time, Flora, the “Queen of Song,” also knew how to fight for her rights and demand respect. In his book, Life, Travels and Works of Miss Flora Batson: Deceased Queen, Gerard Millar recalls an instance when, returning from a tour in Australia, she was given a “steerage passage” (i.e. the ship's lowest class)  because she was Black. After a dispute, “Flora Batson came back to America first class cabin, and not as a steerage passenger” (p.16). An example of how Flora used her voice to fight racial prejudice.

References

1 Flora Batson’s birth date on some documents is April 16, 1864. 1865 is the date mentioned in Women of Distinction: Remarkable in Works and Invincible in Character by L.A. Scruggs. Can be found at Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture,  Manuscripts,  Archives, and Rare Books.

2 Storer College was founded following the Civil War to educate newly freed enslaved Blacks in the Shenandoah Valley. The Freedmen’s Bureau, the Freewill Baptists of New England and John Storer came together to form the college.

3 Peoples Baptist Church of Boston was founded August 8, 1805. The church is still open today in Boston, Massachusetts.

4 The Redpath Lyceum Bureau was founded by James C. Redpath in 1868 as a commercial lecture bureau. It had offices in Boston and Chicago.

5 Thomas Doutney was a 19th century temperance lecturer who, having recovered from addiction to alcohol and/or other drugs, went on to devote his life  to helping others similarly afflicted.

6 John G. Bergen, the white manager of the all-Black Bergen Star Concert Company.

7 Press excerpts found in Women of Distinction: Remarkable in Works and Invincible in Character by L.A. Scruggs. Can be found at Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture,  Manuscripts,  Archives, and Rare Books.