{{Short description|American pianist and music educator}} {{Infobox person | name = Cornella Lampton | image = CorneliaLamptonForrest1924.jpg | alt = A young African-American woman, from her 1924 yearbook photo. | caption = Cornella Lampton, from the 1924 Howard University yearbook. | other_names = Cornelia Lampton, Cornelia Lampton Forrest, Cornelia Lampton Dawson | birth_name = Cornella Derrick Lampton | birth_date = | birth_place = | death_date = August 9, 1928 | death_place = Chicago | occupation = Musician | years_active = | known_for = | notable_works = | spouse = William Levi Dawson (m. 1927) }}

'''Cornella Derrick Lampton''' (1896 – August 9, 1928), later '''Cornella Lampton Dawson''', was an American pianist and music educator. She was the first woman to earn a bachelor's degree in music at Howard University.

== Early life and education == Cornella Derrick Lampton was from Greenville, Mississippi,<ref>{{Cite book|last=University|first=Howard|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6JdIAQAAMAAJ&q=Cornella+Lampton&pg=RA1-PA215|title=Catalogue of the Officers and Students of Howard University, District of Columbia|date=1913|publisher=Judd & Detweiler|pages=215, 231|language=en}}</ref> the youngest daughter of clergyman Edward Wilkinson Lampton and Lula M. Lampton.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Lucas-Thompson|first=Grace|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=l6knAAAAIBAJ&pg=4478%2C5216782|title=What Our Women are Doing|date=June 12, 1915|work=The Freeman|access-date=February 9, 2020|page=3|via=Google News}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://nkaa.uky.edu/nkaa/items/show/2395|title=Lampton, Edward Wilkinson|website=Notable Kentucky African Americans Database|access-date=2020-02-09}}</ref> The family moved to Chicago after one of her sisters demanded to be addressed as "Miss Lampton" by the phone company, and the argument escalated to threats against the family.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Jackson|first=D.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DVzJAAAAQBAJ&q=Lampton+Greenville&pg=PA72|title=Booker T. Washington and the Struggle against White Supremacy: The Southern Educational Tours, 1908–1912|date=2008-09-29|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-0-230-61550-2|pages=72|language=en}}</ref>

She was the first woman to earn a bachelor's degree at Howard University's Conservatory of Music,<ref>[https://dh.howard.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1103&context=bison_yearbooks "The History of Howard University from 1867 to 1924"] ''The Bison'' (Howard University 1924).</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/43911244/the_cornella_lampton_scholarship/|title=The Cornella Lampton Scholarship|date=1929-06-01|work=The New York Age|access-date=2020-02-09|pages=7|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> graduating in 1914.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/43913054/cap_and_gown_day_held_at_howard/|title=Cap and Gown Day Held at Howard|date=1927-04-10|work=Evening Star|access-date=2020-02-09|pages=22|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://dh.howard.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://www.google.com/&httpsredir=1&article=1027&context=huj_v10|title=Piano-Forte Recital|date=May 9, 1913|work=Howard University Journal|access-date=February 9, 2020|page=3}}</ref> She attended the Chicago Musical College, where she studied piano with Alexander Raab<ref>{{Cite journal|date=March 26, 1920|title=Chicago Musical College Concert|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SndFAQAAMAAJ&q=Cornelia+Lampton+Chicago&pg=RA12-PA18|journal=Music News|volume=12|pages=18}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|date=April 8, 1920|title=Chicago Musical College Notes|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y-w6AQAAMAAJ&q=Cornelia+Lampton+Chicago&pg=RA14-PA36|journal=Musical Courier|volume=80|pages=36}}</ref> and Percy Grainger,<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=7SIqQHZL2_wC&dq=Cornelia+Lampton+Forrest&pg=RA6-PA28 "Last Summer Concert at Musical College"] ''Musical Courier'' 79(August 14, 1910): 28.</ref> and from 1925 to 1927<ref name=":3">{{Cite news|url=https://newspaperarchive.com/other-articles-clipping-aug-18-1928-1543881/|title=Cornella Lampton, Pianist, is Buried|date=August 18, 1928|work=Baltimore Afro American|access-date=February 9, 2020|page=8|via=NewspaperArchive.com}}</ref> pursued further studies in piano with James Friskin, on a scholarship at the Juilliard Musical Foundation.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/6915764/the_new_york_age/|title=Cornella Lampton is a Juilliard Piano Fellow|date=1927-11-19|work=The New York Age|access-date=2020-02-09|pages=7|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Cuney-Hare|first=Maud|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Xp7QCgAAQBAJ&q=Cornella+Lampton&pg=PT293|title=Negro Musicians and their Music|date=2015-10-27|publisher=Library of Alexandria|isbn=978-1-4656-0478-1|language=en}}</ref>

== Career == Cornella Lampton performed as a pianist in recitals and on radio programs,<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/43911848/station_kyw/|title=Station KYW|date=1923-08-04|work=The Bristol Herald Courier|access-date=2020-02-09|pages=3|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> and taught piano. She was also music editor of the ''Chicago Whip''. She was a member of the National Association of Negro Musicians, and the Chicago Music Association.<ref name=":2">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/43911968/late_pianist_was_authority_in_music/|title=Late Pianist was Authority in Music World|date=1928-08-25|work=The Pittsburgh Courier|access-date=2020-02-09|pages=15|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> In 1927, she spoke and played at the 137th Street YWCA in New York, giving a program on "song and folk song."<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/43912644/beauxarts_girls_at_137th_st_y_hear/|title=Beaux-Arts Girls at 137th St. Y Hear 1st Lecture-Recital|date=1927-04-23|work=The New York Age|access-date=2020-02-09|pages=10|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>

== Personal life and legacy == Cornella Lampton married composer and musician William Levi Dawson in May 1927.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Greene|first1=David Mason|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=m3S7PIxe0mwC&q=Cornelia+Lampton+Chicago&pg=PA1289|title=Greene's Biographical Encyclopedia of Composers|last2=Green|first2=Constance|date=1985|publisher=Reproducing Piano Roll Fnd.|isbn=978-0-385-14278-6|pages=128–129|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_rQRAQAAMAAJ&q=Cornelia+Lampton+piano&pg=PA152|title=Who's who in Colored America|date=1942|publisher=Who's Who in Colored America Corporation|pages=152|language=en}}</ref> She died in August 1928, aged 32, in Chicago.<ref name=":2" /> Reports ascribed her death to complications after an appendectomy.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/43913217/cornella_lampton_dawson_pianist_died/|title=Cornella Lampton Dawson, Pianist, Died Suddenly in Chicago Hospital|date=1928-08-25|work=The New York Age|access-date=2020-02-09|pages=7|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://newspaperarchive.com/entertainment-clipping-aug-18-1928-1543873/|title=Prominent Pianist Dies in Chicago|date=August 18, 1928|website=Indianapolis Recorder|page=3|language=en|access-date=2020-02-09}}</ref> Her remains were buried in Greenville.<ref name=":3" /> One of her students, Vivienne Shurland, established the Cornelia Lampton Scholarship Fund in her memory, for music students at Howard University.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/43911519/scholarship_fund_for_late_cornella/|title=Scholarship Fund for Late Cornella Lampton|date=1929-04-27|work=The New York Age|access-date=2020-02-09|pages=7|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>

== References == {{reflist}}

* {{Subject bar|portal1=Biography}} {{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lampton, Cornelil}} Category:1896 births Category:1928 deaths Category:People from Greenville, Mississippi Category:20th-century American pianists Category:Howard University alumni Category:Juilliard School alumni Category:20th-century American women pianists Category:Musicians from Mississippi Category:Chicago Musical College alumni