Commission on Human Rights
41st Great Black Kentuckian was Broadway star

February 17, 2006

New Great Black Kentuckian created “Porgy” in Gershwin classic 

Famous actor and baritone Robert Todd Duncan has been chosen as the 41st member of the Gallery of Great Black Kentuckians, the educational poster and bookmark series produced by the Kentucky Commission on Human Rights (KCHR).

The late star more commonly known as Todd Duncan was an actor, musician, professor and pioneering civil rights activist who broke the color barrier in theatre at a time when blacks had to use side entrances and sit in the balcony. He was born on Feb. 12, 1903, in Danville, Ky., and grew up in the town of Somerset.

His Gallery of Great Black Kentuckians poster will be unveiled at a special ceremony from 1 to 2 p.m. (EST), Feb. 22, at the Somerset Community College Harold Rogers Student Commons, 808 Monticello St. The public is invited to this free event. 

 
Mr. Duncan created the renowned role of “Porgy” in George and Ira Gershwin’s classic opera, Porgy and Bess, which opened on Broadway on Oct. 10, 1935.  He performed in the role more than 1,800 times. He was already an established baritone and a voice professor at Howard University in Washington D.C., when Gershwin contacted him about the part.

Mr. Duncan was the first performer in the role of “Stephen Kumalo” in Kurt Weill's, Lost in the Stars (1949–50), which won him the Donaldson and New York Drama Critics awards in 1950. He made two films, Syncopation (1942) and Unchained (1955).
In Unchained, Mr. Duncan introduced "Unchained Melody," the song which earned him an Academy Award nomination, and later became a rock and roll standard.

Todd Duncan received his musical training at Butler University in Indianapolis, Ind., with a bachelor of arts in music followed by a master of arts from Columbia University in New York. In 1933, he debuted in Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana at the Mecca Temple in New York with the Aeolian Opera, a black company. In 1945, he became the first African American to sing with a major company, performing the role of “Tonio” in Leoncavallo's I Pagliacci with the New York City Opera Company. That same year, he sang as “Escamillio” in Bizet's Carmen.

During the Washington, D.C. run of Porgy and Bess, he led the cast in a strike to protest the National Theatre's segregation policy. The actors held out against offers by the theatre to permit African-Americans to attend a "blacks only" performance. As spokesman for the cast, Mr. Duncan said he would never play in a theatre that barred him from purchasing tickets because of his race. Theatre management gave in to this demand and for the first time an integrated audience attended the National Theatre.
He continued desegregation efforts during his returns to Kentucky for performances in the 1950s, where he refused to perform to segregated audiences in his home state. In Somerset, he insisted that black audiences, who had always been forced to the back of the theatre, sit in the front during his shows.

He taught at Howard University for over 50 years during which time he continued to tour as a soloist with concert pianist William Allen. He led a career as a concert singer with over 2,000 performances in 56 countries. In 1978, the Washington Performing Arts Society presented his 75th birthday gala. In 1984, he was awarded the George Peabody Medal of Music from the Peabody Conservatory of Music of Johns Hopkins University. Other awards he received include a Medal of Honor from Haiti, an NAACP award, the Donaldson Award, the New York Drama Critics' Award, and honorary doctorates from Valparaiso University and Butler University.

After retiring from Howard University, he opened his own voice studio, teaching privately and giving periodic recitals. He inspired other black vocal artists to walk through the doors that he had helped open to them.  Today, many of the black stars of American opera list themselves as among the first, second or third generation vocalists taught by Robert Todd Duncan.

Reportedly, there was a student downstairs waiting for a lesson when Mr. Duncan, 95, died upstairs at his Washington D.C. home on Feb. 28, 1998, of a heart ailment.
The state human rights commission introduced the Gallery poster and bookmark series in 1970, to recognize the achievements of African Americans neglected in traditional histories of the state and to introduce Kentucky African American history into classrooms. The series helps the commission in its task to raise awareness of human and civil rights in the commonwealth.

Educators and libraries use the colorful, biographical-style pieces as teaching tools. Free posters and bookmarks are available to the public.

The KCHR is the state government agency that enforces The Kentucky Civil Rights Act and the policies of federal civil rights laws.  It receives initiates, investigates, conciliates and rules upon jurisdictional complaints.  The KCHR has jurisdiction in housing, employment, public accommodations, financial transactions, and private clubs. The Kentucky Civil Rights Act prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, familial status in housing, disability, age (40 or over) in employment, and smoking status in employment.  Complaints not dismissed, settled or conciliated go to administrative hearing where commission decisions have the authority of a court of law.