Born in 1868 and active between 1887 and 1915, Sissieretta Jones was the highest-paid Black performer of her time, who sang at the White House for four consecutive U.S. presidents. Met with international success, she also toured across the globe, from South America to Australia, India to sub-Saharan Africa, and even performed for the British royal family. Her international fame did not quite spare her from racism, however, and it was (as she noted in her letters) worse in the United States than in Europe. The Metropolitan Opera rescinded its…
