Background
Marie Smith was born in Natchez, Mississippi around 1849. After she was born her family moved to Cincinnati where a wealthy family funded voice lessons for her.
Marie Smith was born in Natchez, Mississippi around 1849. After she was born her family moved to Cincinnati where a wealthy family funded voice lessons for her.
She moved to San Francisco in the 1870s and studied with Signora G. Bianchi. She then studied with Antonio Farini in Chicago who taught the Italian method.
She was the first Black artist to perform in the White House. There she met fellow student Sampson Williams, who she would later marry. Marie became the first Black artist to perform in the White House in 1878.
She sang for President Rutherford B. Hayes and First Lady Lucy Webb Hayes in the Green Room and was introduced by Frederick Douglass.
She performed at Philadelphia"s Academy of Music in 1878 and at New York"s Steinway Hall in 1879. Williams probably took her stage name from the character Sélika in Giacomo Meyerbeer"s opera L"Africaine.
Due to her rendition of East. West. Mulder"s "Polka Staccato", she was often called the "Queen of Staccato". They toured Europe a second time and performed at the 1893 World"s Columbian Exposition before settling in Cleveland, Ohio.
Marie joined fellow Black singers Flora Batson and Sissieretta Jones for a performance at Carnegie Hall in New York on October 12, 1896.
She died on May 19, 1937.