About Roberta Dodd Crawford
Roberta Dodd Crawford (5 August 1897 – 14 June 1954) was an African-American lyric soprano and voice instructor who performed throughout the United States and Paris in the 1920s and 1930s. Roberta was born in Bonham, Texas before studying singing in Nashville, Chicago, and Paris. While in Paris, she married Prince Kojo Tovalou Houénou of Dahomey. When Houénou died in a French prison, Roberta was left without access to their marriage funds and returned to Paris where she lived through the Nazi occupation from 1940 until 1944. After the war, she returned to Texas where she died in 1954 in Dallas. == Early life == Roberta Dodd Crawford was born on 5 August 1897 in the Tank Town section of Bonham, Texas. She was one of eight children of Joe and Emma Dodd (née Dunlap). She was active in the church choir and any other musical opportunities in Bonham while growing up. She worked at the Curtis Boarding House in town in 1914 and would often perform regular songs for customers. Because of her singing talents, five white women in the community paid for her to attend Wiley College until she transferred to Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee and then in 1920 to the Chicago College of Performing Arts.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.