[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 35 (Friday, February 25, 2022)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E177]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       HONORING LULU V. CHILDERS

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                          HON. ELISSA SLOTKIN

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, February 25, 2022

  Ms. SLOTKIN. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize the incredible 
contributions to musical history and to the history of Howell, Michigan 
made by one of the city's Black pioneers, Lulu Childers.
  This remarkable woman was ultimately responsible for developing the 
small music program at Howard University in Washington, D.C., first 
into a Conservatory of Music, and then into a School of Music.
  But before all that, she was a child in Howell, Michigan, the 
daughter of slaves, her parents brought her from Dry Ridge, Kentucky in 
1875 at the age of five.
  It was in Howell that the public was first treated to the gift of 
Lulu's voice. In the early 1880s, she performed regularly at the Howell 
Opera House and its neighboring Methodist Church on Walnut Street. By 
17 she was singing at numerous fundraisers and events across the area 
and was billed as ``Howell's Lulu Childers.''
  And in 1890, she walked across the stage as valedictorian of the 
Howell High School Class, and enrolled at Oberlin Conservatory in Ohio 
to study voice.
  After graduation, Childers performed around the country but felt a 
tug to the classroom. She taught music in Ohio public schools for 
several years, and then in 1905, she joined the faculty of Howard 
University.
  At the time, Lulu was one of only two music teachers at Howard. She 
taught voice, and another instructor taught piano. In 1906, Lulu was 
appointed Director of Music and steadily the program blossomed.
  Lulu established a college-level curriculum, hired experienced 
instructors, and created the University Choral Society. When she led 
the chorus in song, the people turned out. At the 1929 Christmas 
service, Lulu drew a crowd so large that there was standing room only 
and 400 people had to be turned away.
  Lulu also created an annual concert series that brought renowned 
musicians to the Washington community. In 1938 she invited the famed 
contralto, Marian Anderson, to perform. The performance gained national 
attention because both the Board of Education of Washington, D.C. and 
the Daughters of the American Revolution refused to let Anderson 
perform in their facilities because of her race.
  Lulu used her voice, not just to sing, but to enlist the help of 
First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt in the fight for equity and justice. She 
also took her advocacy to Secretary of the Interior Harold Ickes, who 
in turn invited Anderson to perform at the Lincoln Memorial, a free 
concert which drew 75,000 people on Easter Sunday of 1939.
  One year later, Lulu retired from Howard University and returned to 
her family home in Howell, where she died in 1946.
  It's so entirely fitting that ten years after her passing, the 
classroom portion of Howard University's fine arts complex was renamed 
Lulu V. Childers Hall.
  Lulu Childers was born with the gift of voice, a gift she never took 
for granted. She used that voice to entertain, to instruct, and to 
advocate. She sang the anthem of freedom, justice, and equality with 
perfect pitch and tone. Let us all endeavor to use our own lives and 
our own voices to carry her tune, to continue singing her song, and to 
ensure that the music never ends.

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