{{short description|Canadian opera singer}} {{Use mdy dates|date=June 2020}} {{good article}} {{Infobox person | name = Portia White | image = Portia White.jpg | caption = Portrait of White, taken in 1946 by [[Yousuf Karsh]] | birth_name = Portia May White | birth_date = {{Birth date|1911|06|24}} | birth_place = [[Truro, Nova Scotia]], Canada | death_date = {{Death date and age|mf=yes|1968|02|13|1911|06|24}} | death_place = [[Toronto, Ontario]], Canada | occupation = [[Contralto]] | years_active = 1941–1968 | children = 1<ref name="ronfanfair">{{cite web |last1=Fanfair |first1=Ron |title=50 years after her death, Portia White exhibit brings family together |url=https://www.ronfanfair.com/home/2018/2/7/50-years-after-her-death-portia-white-exhibit-brings-family-together |website=Ronfanfair |date=February 7, 2018 |publisher=Ron Fanfair |access-date=22 March 2022}}</ref> | module = {{infobox person|embed=yes|family ={{Plainlist| * [[William A. White]] (father) * [[Jack White (politician)|Jack White]] (brother) * [[Bill White (Canadian politician)|Bill White]] (brother) * [[Donald Oliver]] (nephew) * [[George Elliott Clarke]] (grand nephew) }} }} }}
'''Portia May White''' (June 24, 1911{{spaced ndash}}February 13, 1968) was a Canadian [[contralto]], known for becoming the first [[Black Canadians|Black Canadian]] concert singer to achieve international fame. Growing up as part of her father's church choir in [[Halifax, Nova Scotia]], White competed in local singing competitions as a teenager and later trained at the [[Halifax Conservatory of Music]]. In 1941 and 1944, she made her national and international debuts as a singer, receiving critical acclaim for her performances of both classical European music and African-American [[spirituals]]. White later completed tours throughout Europe, the Caribbean, and Central and South America.
When vocal difficulties and cancer eventually contributed to her retirement in 1952, White settled in [[Toronto]] and subsequently taught young Canadian musicians such as [[Lorne Greene]], [[Dinah Christie]], [[Don Francks]], [[Robert Goulet]] and [[Anne Marie Moss]]. One of White's final major public appearances was a special [[Royal Command Performance|command performance]] for [[Elizabeth II|Queen Elizabeth II]] and [[Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh|Prince Philip]] in 1964.
White was declared a person of national historic significance by the [[Government of Canada]]. Her original supporters in Nova Scotia went on to establish the Nova Scotia Talent Trust, awarding annual arts scholarships to both emerging and established local artists, and the government of Nova Scotia continues to award an annual [[Portia White Prize]]. In 2007, White was posthumously awarded a lifetime achievement award by the [[East Coast Music Association]].
==Early life and family== [[File:Cornwallis Baptist Church, Halifax, Nova Scotia.jpg|thumb|The [[New Horizons Baptist Church]] (formerly the Cornwallis Street Baptist Church)|alt=Photograph of the front of the New Horizons Baptist Church]] Portia May White was born June 24, 1911, in [[Truro, Nova Scotia]],<ref name="ce">{{cite web|title=Portia White|url=http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/portia-white-emc/|last1=King|first1=Betty Nygaard|last2=So|first2=Joseph K.|date=June 21, 2017|website=The Canadian Encyclopedia|publisher=Historica Canada|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200323151919/https://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/portia-white-emc|archive-date=March 23, 2020|access-date=May 14, 2020|last3=Macpherson|first3=James B.}}</ref> the third of 13 children born to Izie Dora (White) and [[William A. White|William Andrew White]]. Her mother was a descendant of [[Black Loyalists]] in Nova Scotia, while her father was the son of former slaves from [[Virginia]]; he moved to Canada independently. William attended [[Acadia University]] in Nova Scotia, later becoming the first Black Canadian to receive a [[Doctor of Divinity]] from Acadia. After the [[First World War]], the White family moved to [[Halifax, Nova Scotia|Halifax]], and William became the minister of [[Cornwallis Street Baptist Church]].<ref name="ce" />
Many other members of Portia White's family went on to achieve distinction in Canadian political and cultural life, including her brothers [[Jack White (politician)|Jack]], a noted Canadian labour union leader; [[Bill White (Canadian politician)|Bill]], the first Canadian of African heritage to run for political office in Canada;<ref name="ce" /> and Lorne, a regular performer for television show ''[[Singalong Jubilee]]''.<ref>{{Cite news|date=April 15, 2008|title=Performer, educator Lorne White dies|work=CBC News|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/performer-educator-lorne-white-dies-1.729919|access-date=May 19, 2020}}</ref> White also became aunt to [[Senate of Canada|Senator]] [[Donald Oliver]]<ref>{{cite web|title=Senator Donald Oliver|url=http://www.virtualmuseum.ca/edu/ViewLoitDa.do;jsessionid=D27E8DB0D6D5EA1C0B738426C4A19891?method=preview&lang=EN&id=3181|website=Virtual Museum of Canada|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180120065923/http://www.virtualmuseum.ca/edu/ViewLoitDa.do;jsessionid=D27E8DB0D6D5EA1C0B738426C4A19891?method=preview&lang=EN&id=3181|archive-date=January 20, 2018|access-date=January 19, 2018}}</ref> and political commentator Sheila White.<ref name="ce" />
Portia White began her musical career at the age of six as a choir member with the Cornwallis Street Baptist Church,<ref name=":1">{{cite web|title=Portia White 1911–1968|url=http://www.blackpast.org/?q=gah/white-portia-1911-1968|last=Ito|first=Gail Arlene|date=March 12, 2008|work=Black Past|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200408021104/https://www.blackpast.org/global-african-history/white-portia-1911-1968/|archive-date=April 8, 2020|access-date=May 18, 2020}}</ref> where her mother was also the musical director.<ref name=":2" /> As White grew older, she became the choir director and assisted with church fundraising by singing on her father's weekly radio show.<ref name=":3">{{Cite book|last=Nurse|first=Donna Bailey|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GeOSQT_O35gC&q=%22donna+bailey+nurse%22+and+%22portia+white%22&pg=PA63|title=What's a Black Critic to Do?: Interviews, Profiles and Reviews of Black Writers|date=2009|publisher=Insomniac Press|isbn=978-1-897414-53-8|pages=63–65|language=en}}</ref> In an interview later in life, White explained that her love of music and performing had developed early:<blockquote>Nobody ever told me to sing, I was born singing. I think that if nobody had ever talked to me, I wouldn't be able to communicate in any other way but by singing. I was always bowing in my dreams and singing before people and parading across the stage as a very little girl.<ref name=":5" />{{Rp|269}}</blockquote>As a teenager, White entered a local singing competition with her sister June, the pair performing an aria from Donizetti's ''[[Lucia di Lammermoor]]''. They won first prize. Although White wanted to pursue a singing career, she could not afford professional training at the time.<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal|last=Nurse|first=Donna Bailey|date=September 22, 1998|title=Grand tradition: great Canadian musical figures: Portia White 1911–1968.|url=https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Grand+tradition%3a+great+Canadian+musical+figures%3a+Portia+White...-a030137098|journal=Opera Canada|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200518154058/https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Grand+tradition%3a+great+Canadian+musical+figures%3a+Portia+White...-a030137098|archive-date=May 18, 2020|via=The Free Library}}</ref>
White entered [[Dalhousie University]] in 1929, studying to become a teacher. From the early 1930s she taught in [[Africville]] and [[Lucasville, Nova Scotia|Lucasville]], two small Halifax communities that were predominately [[Black Nova Scotian]], and during this time White was finally able to begin paying for vocal lessons.<ref name=":2" /> She competed regularly at the Halifax Music Festival, winning the Helen Kennedy Silver Cup in 1935, 1937 and 1938,<ref name="ce" /> until the festival organizers finally decided to award her the cup permanently.<ref name=":2" />
In 1939, White won a scholarship to continue her musical training at the [[Halifax Conservatory of Music]] with noted Italian baritone Ernesto Vinci,<ref name="ce" /> and Vinci taught her using the ''[[bel canto]]'' vocal style.<ref name=":5" /> White soon gave her first formal recital, and after the start of the [[Second World War]] she continued singing in concerts and radio shows.<ref name="Whites" /> She won awards at provincial music festivals,<ref name=":3" /> and in mid-1941 she met Edith Read, a visiting headmistress from [[Branksome Hall]] in Toronto, who offered to arrange new performing opportunities for White.<ref name=":2" />
==Singing career and later life== [[File:EatonsAuditorium1945.jpg|thumb|The [[Eaton Auditorium]], {{circa|1945}}|alt=Photograph of an audience watching a performance inside the Eaton Auditorium]] In November 1941, with the support of Read, 30-year-old White made her national debut as a singer in [[Toronto]] at the [[Eaton Auditorium]].<ref name=":2" /> She was favourably received by audiences, even receiving a career management offer from [[Oxford University Press]] the day after her performance.<ref name="books" /> Despite encountering racism as she sought out new performance bookings,<ref name="ce" /> White subsequently toured across Canada, performing concerts at venues that included the [[Governor General of Canada|Governor General]]'s [[Rideau Hall]] residence.<ref name="books" /> [[File:Portia White publicity photo.png|alt=Photo portrait of Portia White looking up and to her left|thumb|Portia White, {{circa|1945}}]] White sang both classical European music and African-American [[spirituals]],<ref name="Whites" /> and works by [[Harry T. Burleigh]] were a constant part of her concert repertoire.<ref name=":5">{{Cite book|last=Hamilton|first=Sylvia D.|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Kk_ri6lJT-0C&q=%22Portia+White%22&pg=PA259|title=Rain, Drizzle, Fog: Film and Television in Atlantic Canada|date=2009|publisher=University of Calgary Press|isbn=978-1-55238-248-6|editor-last=Varga|editor-first=Darrell|pages=259–284|language=en|chapter=Searching for Portia White}}</ref> Alongside English pieces, she performed music in Italian, German, French and Spanish,<ref name=":5" /> and White's three-octave range attracted critical acclaim.<ref>{{Citation|last=Hamilton|first=Sylvia D.|title=White, Portia|date=2004|url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195415599.001.0001/acref-9780195415599-e-1653|work=The Oxford Companion to Canadian History|publisher=Oxford University Press|language=en|doi=10.1093/acref/9780195415599.001.0001|isbn=978-0-19-541559-9|access-date=May 18, 2020|url-access=subscription}}</ref> [[Hector Charlesworth]]'s review in ''[[The Globe and Mail]]'' observed White's "pungent expression and beauty of utterance", while a critic with the ''[[Toronto Evening Telegram]]'' said she had a "coloured and beautifully shaded contralto{{nbsp}}... It is a natural voice, a gift from heaven."<ref name="ce" /> White was compared to noted American contralto [[Marian Anderson]].<ref name="Whites" />
After auditioning for [[Metropolitan Opera]] general manager [[Edward Johnson (tenor)|Edward Johnson]], White made her international debut in [[New York City]] in 1944, becoming the first Canadian to perform at New York's [[Town Hall (New York City)|Town Hall]] performance space.<ref name="ce" /> The ''[[The New York Times|New York Times]]'' reported her performance as "remarkable,"<ref name="books" /> and [[Paul Bowles]] of the ''[[New York Herald Tribune]]'' wrote that "White, contralto, showed the public{{nbsp}}... that she not only has a magnificent vocal instrument, but that she also has sufficient musicianship and intelligence to do what she wishes with it."<ref>{{Cite web|title=Halifax concert commemorates Portia White's New York City debut|url=http://www.thechronicleherald.ca/lifestyles/local-lifestyles/halifax-concert-commemorates-portia-whites-new-york-city-debut-373482/|last=Arsenault|first=Tim|date=November 7, 2019|website=The Chronicle Herald|language=en|url-access=limited|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200110085740/https://www.thechronicleherald.ca/lifestyles/local-lifestyles/halifax-concert-commemorates-portia-whites-new-york-city-debut-373482/|archive-date=January 10, 2020|access-date=May 17, 2020}}</ref>
White went on to sing at many more concerts across the United States. The province of Nova Scotia and the city of Halifax provided new financial support for the rising star, purchasing a white fox cape for White to wear at performances.<ref name="books" /> In 1945, she signed a contract with artist agency Columbia Concerts Incorporated.<ref name="ce" /> A three-month tour of Central and South America and the Caribbean followed in 1946,<ref name=":2" /> and she sang in France and Switzerland in 1948. White was the first [[Black Canadians|Black Canadian]] concert singer to achieve international fame.<ref name="ce" /><ref>{{Cite news|last=Choi|first=Sannah|date=February 10, 2018|title=Exhibit on Portia White honours late concert singer's life and career|work=CBC News|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/portia-white-exhibit-1.4529401|access-date=May 17, 2020}}</ref>
Vocal problems, an exhausting itinerary,<ref name="Whites" /> and an eventual diagnosis of breast cancer<ref name=":2" /> later contributed to White's early retirement from public singing in 1952, and she settled in Toronto, where she studied with sopranos [[Gina Cigna]] and [[Irene Jessner]] at the [[The Royal Conservatory of Music|Royal Conservatory of Music]]. White became a vocal instructor herself and taught both at [[Branksome Hall]] and privately.<ref name="ce" /> She went on to teach some of Canada's up-and-coming musical talent,<ref name="Whites">{{cite web|title=Portia White 1911–1968|url=http://www.mta.ca/about_canada/study_guide/famous_women/portia_white.html|date=2001|work=The Centre for Canadian Studies|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090318144810/http://www.mta.ca/about_canada/study_guide/famous_women/portia_white.html|archive-date=March 18, 2009|access-date=May 15, 2020}}</ref> and her students included singers [[Lorne Greene]], [[Dinah Christie]], [[Don Francks]], [[Robert Goulet]],<ref name=":1" /> [[Anne Marie Moss]]<ref name=":4">{{Cite web|title=Portia White's debut|url=https://uwaterloo.ca/library/special-collections-archives/blog/post/portia-whites-debut|last=Marcogliese|first=Nicole|date=July 20, 2017|website=University of Waterloo Special Collections & Archives|language=en|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200518154802/https://uwaterloo.ca/library/special-collections-archives/blog/post/portia-whites-debut|archive-date=May 18, 2020|access-date=May 16, 2020}}</ref> and Judith Lander.<ref name=":5" /> White appeared in Halifax for a few rare performances during the 50s; although she announced her intention to resume a full-time singing career, her return to the concert circuit never fully materialized.<ref name="Whites" />
In 1964, she sang in a [[Royal Command Performance|command performance]] for [[Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom|Queen Elizabeth II]] and [[Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh|Prince Philip]], at the opening of the [[Confederation Centre of the Arts]] in [[Charlottetown]], [[Prince Edward Island]]. This was one of her last major concerts.<ref name=":4" /><ref name="books">{{Cite book|author=Forster|first=Merna|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZqeZBw6nzjgC&q=Portia+White+1911-1968&pg=PA273|title=100 Canadian heroines: famous and forgotten faces|publisher=Dundurn|year=2004|isbn=1550025147|pages=273–274}}</ref>
White died in Toronto of cancer on February 13, 1968, aged 56.<ref name="ronfanfair"/>
==Legacy and honours== [[File:Portia White Portrait by Hedley Rainnie.jpg|thumb|Portrait of Portia White by Hedley Rainnie on display at Government House, Nova Scotia]]In 1944, White's supporters in Nova Scotia formed the Nova Scotia Talent Trust to provide her with financial assistance for her singing career. The Trust went on to establish annual scholarships for other Nova Scotian artists,<ref>{{Cite web|title=Our History|url=https://www.nstalenttrust.ns.ca/about/our-history|website=Nova Scotia Talent Trust|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180906032853/https://nstalenttrust.ns.ca/About/Our-History/|archive-date=September 6, 2018|access-date=May 15, 2020}}</ref> and continues to award the Portia White Award to artists who show "exceptional commitment and potential in voice."<ref>{{Cite web|title=Special Awards|url=https://www.nstalenttrust.ns.ca/awards/special-awards|website=Nova Scotia Talent Trust|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180906015002/https://nstalenttrust.ns.ca/Awards/special-awards/|archive-date=September 6, 2018|access-date=May 15, 2020}}</ref> The Nova Scotia provincial government also awards a [[Portia White Prize]] for "cultural and artistic excellence,"<ref>{{Cite web|title=Portia White Prize|url=https://artsns.ca/programs/portia-white-prize|website=Arts Nova Scotia|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200518155239/https://artsns.ca/programs/portia-white-prize|archive-date=May 18, 2020|access-date=May 16, 2020}}</ref> and the 1998 inaugural Portia White Prize was awarded to Nova Scotian poet [[George Elliott Clarke]], White's great nephew.<ref name="ce" />
White has been declared a person of national historic significance by the [[Government of Canada]],<ref>{{Cite web|title=White, Portia May (National Historic Person)|url=https://www.pc.gc.ca/apps/dfhd/page_nhs_eng.aspx?id=1713|website=Parks Canada|language=en|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200518155434/https://www.pc.gc.ca/apps/dfhd/page_nhs_eng.aspx?id=1713|archive-date=May 18, 2020|access-date=May 17, 2020}}</ref> and she was featured in a special issue of Millennium postage stamps celebrating Canadian achievement.<ref name="Whites" /> At the 2007 [[East Coast Music Awards]], White was posthumously honoured with a Dr. Helen Creighton Lifetime Achievement Award.<ref name="ce" /> She is the namesake of Portia White Court, a Halifax street,<ref>{{Cite web|title=Halifax Regional Municipality – Official Street List|url=https://www.halifax.ca/sites/default/files/documents/home-property/civic-addressing/HRMstreetlist-May-11.pdf|date=May 8, 2020|website=Halifax|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200518155608/https://www.halifax.ca/sites/default/files/documents/home-property/civic-addressing/HRMstreetlist-May-11.pdf|archive-date=May 18, 2020|access-date=May 16, 2020}}</ref> as well as the Portia White Atrium in [[Citadel High School]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|last=Devereaux|first=Allison|date=February 12, 2017|title=Teen group Preston Primos wins first Portia White Youth Award|work=CBC News|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/preston-primos-portia-white-award-1.3974854|url-status=live|access-date=May 15, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170215141600/https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/preston-primos-portia-white-award-1.3974854|archive-date=February 15, 2017}}</ref> In 2017, the Portia White Youth Award was established as part of the African Nova Scotian Music Awards.<ref name=":0" /> In 2022, [[Branksome Hall]] unveiled a plaque honouring White on its campus as part of a student-led commemorative ceremony, with guests George Elliott Clarke, singer [[Measha Brueggergosman|Measha Brueggergosman-Lee]], and White's niece, Sheila White, also in attendance.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-05-17 |title=Branksome Hall honour for Portia White considered one of the 20th century's best classical vocalists |url=https://www.ronfanfair.com/home/2022/5/17/qkofik0ife8t9w5qklvk07rcirgmwd |access-date=2024-01-16 |website=Ron Fanfair |language=en-US}}</ref>
White has been the subject of [[Lance Woolaver]]'s play ''[[Portia White: First You Dream]]'' (also known simply as ''Portia''),<ref>{{Cite web|title=Company History|url=http://www.easternfronttheatre.com/about-us/history/|website=Eastern Front Theatre|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170120093335/http://www.easternfronttheatre.com/about-us/history/|archive-date=January 20, 2017|access-date=May 20, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Victoria Playhouse performance portrays life of Canadian concert singer|url=https://lambtonshield.com/victoria-playhouse-performance-portrays-life-canadian-concert-singer/|last=Poland|first=Travis|date=August 18, 2017|website=Lambton Shield|language=en-US|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200518160035/https://lambtonshield.com/victoria-playhouse-performance-portrays-life-canadian-concert-singer/|archive-date=May 18, 2020|access-date=May 15, 2020}}</ref> [[Sylvia Hamilton]]'s documentary ''Portia White: Think on Me'',<ref name="ce" /> and George Elliott Clarke's book ''Portia White''.<ref>{{Cite news|date=July 26, 2019|title=Portia White|work=CBC Books|url=https://www.cbc.ca/books/portia-white-1.5226861|access-date=May 15, 2020}}</ref>
A new opera entitled ''[[Aportia Chryptych: A Black Opera for Portia White]]'' by [[HAUI]] and Sean Mayes premiered in June 2024 and was produced by the [[Canadian Opera Company]]<ref>{{Cite news|date=Jan 13, 2019|title=Aportia Chryptych: A Black Opera for Portia White|work=Canadian Opera Company|url=https://www.coc.ca/portiawhite|access-date=Jan 13, 2024}}</ref> The show made history as the first time a black composer, librettist, stage director, ensemble have worked on the COC stage.<ref>{{Cite news|date=Jun 15, 2024|title=All-Black cast makes history with premiere of Aportia Chryptych|work=CBC|url=https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/video/9.6423770|access-date=July 29, 2024}}</ref> The show took home the 45th Annual Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding Ensemble and Outstanding New Musical/New Opera.<ref>{{Cite news|date=July 1, 2025|title=Dora Awards 2025|work=Toronto Star|url=https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/stage/dora-awards-2025-mahabharata-dominates-torontos-top-theatre-honours-amid-major-upsets/article_adb811b0-ea51-4482-a4fc-d8ac2e591a92.html|access-date=July 1, 2025}}</ref>
A portrait of White by Hedley Rainnie is on permanent display at [[Government House (Nova Scotia)|Government House, Nova Scotia]] in honour of her contributions to the arts.<ref>{{cite book |last=McCreery |first=Christopher |author-link=Christopher McCreery |date=2020 |title=Government House Halifax: A Place of History and Gathering |url=https://gooselane.com/products/government-house-halifax?_pos=1&_sid=c1fd28c8f&_ss=r |location=Fredericton |publisher=Goose Lane Editions |isbn= 978-1773102016}}</ref>
==Discography== * ''Think on Me'' (1968, White House Records) WH-6901<ref name="ce" /> * ''Great Voices of Canada'', Vol 5. White et al. Analekta AN 2 7806<ref name="ce" /> * ''First You Dream'' (1999. C. White) W001-2<ref name="ce" /> * Library and Archives Canada also holds audio recordings of White's live performances.<ref name="ce" />
==See also== {{Portal|Canada|Nova Scotia}} * [[Black Nova Scotians]] * [[Music of Canada]]
==References== {{reflist}}
==Further reading== * {{Cite journal|last=Aitken|first=Margaret|date=April 8, 1944|title=Portia White, the new Canadian star of the concert stage|journal=Saturday Night}} * Clarke, George Elliot. 2019. ''Portia White: A Portrait in Words.'' Halifax: Nimbus Publishing. {{ISBN|9781771086974}} *Gauthier, Natasha. 2020. "Where is BLACK OPERA in Canada." ''Opera Canada'' 6, no. 2 (Winter): 65–68. *{{Cite journal|last=Geller|first=Vincent|date=September 1986|title=I, too, am Nova Scotia|journal=Performing Arts in Canada|volume=23}} *Goodall, Lian. 2008. ''Singing Towards the Future: The Story of Portia White''. Toronto: Dundurn Press. {{ISBN|9781894917551}} *Hamilton, Sylvia D. 2004. "A Daughter's Journey." ''Canadian Woman Studies'' 23, no. 2. (Winter): 6–12. *Hamilton, Sylvia D. 2009. "Searching for Portia White." In ''Rain/Drizzle/Fog: Film and Television in Atlantic Canada,'' edited by Darrell Varga, 259–287. Calgary: University of Calgary Press. *{{Cite journal|last=White|first=Jay|date=1995|title=Portia White's spiritual winter|journal=Collections of the Royal Nova Scotia Historical Society|volume=44}}
==External links== * [http://donoliver.ca/a-personal-tribute-to-my-aunt-portia-white-contralto/ "A Tribute to My Aunt Portia White"] by former Senator Donald Oliver * [https://www.cbc.ca/archives/canadian-contralto-portia-white-s-life-on-the-stage-1.4986880 Archived Interviews with Portia White] on CBC News * [https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/2202961578 Celebrating Portia White (with music clips)] on CBC News * [https://www.dal.ca/about-dal/dalhousie-originals/portia-white.html Dalhousie Originals: Portia White] from Dalhousie University *[http://thevpp.ca/portia/ Photos from stage play ''Portia'' (2017)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190414154121/http://thevpp.ca/portia/ |date=April 14, 2019 }} from Victoria Playhouse Petrolia * [https://web.archive.org/web/20040812081554/http://www.ac.wwu.edu/~jay/pages/pwhite.html Portia White online biography (1995)] archived from Western Washington University
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:White, Portia}} [[Category:1911 births]] [[Category:1968 deaths]] [[Category:20th-century Baptists]] [[Category:20th-century Canadian women opera singers]] [[Category:Deaths from cancer in Ontario]] [[Category:20th-century Black Canadian women singers]] [[Category:20th-century Canadian women singers]] [[Category:Canadian Baptists]] [[Category:Canadian contraltos]] [[Category:Canadian gospel singers]] [[Category:Dalhousie University alumni]] [[Category:Singers from Nova Scotia]] [[Category:Operatic contraltos]] [[Category:People from Truro, Nova Scotia]] [[Category:Persons of National Historic Significance (Canada)]] [[Category:The Royal Conservatory of Music alumni]] [[Category:Black Nova Scotians]]