Dr. Zelma Watson George, singer-musicologist dies at 90

Jet, July 25, 1994

Dr. Zelma Watson George, a sociologist, musicologist and performer who broke a color barrier on Broadway in 1950, recently died at University Hospitals in Cleveland. She was 90.

Raoul Abdul, a New York writer and longtime friend said the cause was heart failure.

Dr. George was a sought-after lecturer, a trained soprano and a leading researcher of African American music. She was also the first Black woman to take a White role on Broadway, having played the role of Madame Flora in a White production of The Medium.

In 1960, President Dwight D. Eisenhower appointed Dr. George as the only Black member of the U.S. delegation to the 15th General Assembly of the United Nations.

She is survived by two sisters, A. Catherine Johnson of Massachusetts, and Vivian Edwards of Los Angeles, and a brother, Samuel E.J. Watson of Bangor, MI.