Gorman's Original Philadelphia Church Choir Company
date: label: Date made
content: 1879 or before
name: label: depicted
content: Henry, Emma
label: maker
content: Thomas, Henry Atwell
notes: label: Description
content: This black and white print is a profile bust portrait of actress Emma Henry wearing a plumed hat. The date and place, “Grand Opera House. Saturday Afternoon and Evening, Dec. 13, ’79,” are printed across the top in colored letters.
label: Description
content: Emma Henry was a successful stage actress. She performed in the comic opera <i> H.M.S. Pinafore </i> at the Broadway Theatre in New York in the spring of 1879. That production was also presented by Gorman’s Philadelphia Church Choir Company and directed by John Philip Sousa. It’s possible that this poster is advertising her appearance in <i> H.M.S. Pinafore </i> later that year at the Grand Opera House which was probably the one in Manhattan which opened originally in 1868 as Pikes Opera House but was renamed a year later.
label: Description
content: Gorman's Original Philadelphia Church Choir Company made its debut in the late 1870s with a performance of Gilbert and Sullivan's <i> H. M. S. Pinafore</i>. Composer and conductor John Philip Sousa (1854-1932) directed the production. The group was called the Amateur Opera Company before it changed its name to Gorman's Original Philadelphia Church Choir Company. Under Sousa's direction, the semi-amateur company continued to perform through 1879 in the Philadelphia area and New York. During this time Sousa met his wife, Jane van Middlesworth Bellis (ca 1862-1944), who had an understudy role in the production. The choir was one of several American musical companies that sprang up during that period, inspired by enthusiasm for the light operas of Gilbert and Sullivan.
label: Description
content: This lithograph was produced by Henry Atwell Thomas. Henry Atwell Thomas (1834-1904) was an artist, portrait painter, and lithographer especially well known for his theatrical portraits. His New York firm was called H. A. Thomas Lith. Studio until 1887, when it became H. A. Thomas & Wylie Lithographic (sometimes cited as Lithography or Lithographing) Company.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: New York, New York City
topic: label: Subject
content: Adornment
label: Subject
content: Chronology: 1870-1879
label: Subject
content: Music
setName: label: See more items in
content: Home and Community Life: Domestic Life
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content: Advertising
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content: Art
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content: Peters Prints
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content: Domestic Furnishings
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Harry T. Peters "America on Stone" Lithography Collection
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: DL.60.3040
label: catalog number
content: 60.3040
label: accession number
content: 228146
objectType: label: Object Name
content: lithograph
label: Object Type
content: Lithograph
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: paper (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: ink (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: image: 17 1/4 in x 13 1/2 in; 43.815 cm x 34.29 cm