One night, in the town of Erie, Pennsylvania, a poor negro boy stood, knee-deep in snow, outside the windows of a large house listening to a famous singer within. The name of the negro boy was Harry Burleigh. His mother was sometimes employed as extra help when a party was given in the big house, and she had told Harry that a great artist was to sing that evening, and although it was nearly zero and he shivered in the winter cold, the little fellow was so thrilled with the music that he forgot the biting wind and the frost.

Harry’s grandfather had been a slave and partly as a result of the hardships he endured became blind, yet he laboured hard to support his family. Harry’s father died while he was a little fellow so he and his mother had to depend upon the old blind man for much of their support. For several years the grandfather was town-crier and the old blind negro often roamed the streets ringing his bell and announcing some news of general interest such as the hour of a funeral, or a meeting to be held. Newspapers only came once a week so the old negro filled a useful place in the town.

The boy’s widowed mother was glad to earn a few cents whenever she could. She acted as janitress at a public school and often in the evenings helped servants in the big houses. Harry sold papers, ran errands, and did any odd chores he could find to do. Later he got work as a lamplighter. There was no gas or electricity in those days in the smaller towns and cities, and Harry got a job helping to keep the oil lamps clean and attending to them each evening.

The negro boy attended school and while it was not like a modern school he learned to read and write and—what interested him more than anything else—he learned to sing. Poor, shabbily dressed, and often hungry though he was, Harry forgot all these things when the singing-lesson came around. He had a wonderful voice and soon the attention of his teacher was attracted. He gave the lad every encouragement and told him that some day he would be a great singer.

It was then that Harry’s mother told him of the music in homes where she sometimes was employed and one evening, when a boy was needed at a party to open the door for guests, she secured the place for Harry, and there was no happier boy in all America that night than Harry Burleigh.

He continued to attend school through the day and he worked at nights. There was scarcely anything he did not do during those years when he and his mother battled against poverty. When he was sixteen he sang in church choirs on Sundays, and in a Jewish synagogue on Saturdays, and soon his fine voice made him known to musical people. But all the money he could earn was needed at home and he so much wanted to get a musical education.

He heard that the National Conservatory of Music in New York City offered scholarships for young people whose voices gave promise and he determined to try for one. He had to sing before several distinguished musicians and he was a very nervous and worried lad that day, but he did his best, and after some hesitation the judges granted him a scholarship, and at last he began to study music in earnest. Dvořák, the great Bohemian composer, was one of the directors of the Conservatory and he was at once attracted to the negro boy. Harry sang for him many old negro melodies and Dvořák was greatly pleased.

For four years Harry Burleigh studied hard every day. He knew that he had a great privilege in being at the Conservatory and he made the most of it. But always there was the struggle for daily bread. His scholarship simply meant that he obtained free tuition. He still had to provide for himself and his mother, and so there was a never ceasing search for jobs that the home might be kept going. His mother was firm in her belief that Harry would be a great singer and she helped in every possible way.

For several years in the summer time he worked on the big lake steamers, and then one year he secured a position in a Saratoga hotel. While he was there he sang in an Episcopal church and he was told that the position of baritone soloist at St. George’s Episcopal Church in New York City was vacant and he determined to apply for the position. This is one of the largest churches in New York and Harry found that there were no less than sixty applicants, all eager to secure the place, and he was the only coloured person applying. In spite of the severe handicaps he had to face his wonderful full, rich voice overcame all prejudice. He was selected for the place and for more than thirty years he has filled the position and always given great satisfaction.

While his struggles were not at an end, Harry Burleigh had turned the corner and he never had to face again the terrible hardships he had known in his boyhood and young manhood. In addition to his work at St. George’s he undertook to train other choirs in New York churches and he was soon in great demand as a concert singer. He made several European tours and everywhere he went his fine voice and modest behaviour won for him a host of friends. He received a great welcome in England and sang before the late King Edward VII who was greatly moved by his singing. He also sang before other members of European royalty and everywhere he won golden opinions.

In addition to being a singer of extraordinary power, Harry Burleigh became a composer. He has composed the music for more than one hundred songs in addition to several festival anthems for choruses. He has also written the music for a large number of negro “spirituals” and made these quaint old negro melodies known and loved the world over. He has composed music for some of the greatest musicians, and made possible much of their success. He composed the music for the song “Little Mother of Mine” which John McCormack sang before one of the largest audiences ever gathered in a concert hall. He was present when the singer received a tremendous ovation and although McCormack wanted him to acknowledge the applause, he modestly kept himself in the background.