Lorene Harrison
Lorene Harrison | |
|---|---|
| Born | Lorene Cuthbertson 1905 Sterling, Kansas, United States |
| Died | 2005 (aged 99–100) Anchorage, Alaska, United States |
| Occupations | Singer Milliner Educator |
Lorene Harrison (1905–2005) was an American educator, singer, choir director, and milliner. In 2009, she was inaugurated into the Alaska Women's Hall of Fame.[1]
Early life and education
[edit | edit source]Lorene Cuthbertson was born in 1905 in Sterling, Kansas and attended Sterling College.[2][3] In 1928, she relocated to Anchorage, Alaska to teach music and home economics.[2] She married Jack Harrison, a railroad engineer, in 1930, in Estes Park, Colorado and the couple had two children: Carol Anne and Peggy.[2] She sang frequently, performing at private and public events like weddings and funerals.[3]
Work
[edit | edit source]Harrison raised her children and taught music and theater and privately tutored singers.[2][3] After Jack died in 1968, Harrison opened her own boutique in Anchorage, called Hat Box which sold women's clothing and hats.[2] She designed her own hats and she operated the store for 30 years. During World War II, Harrison worked with the United Service Organizations (USO).[3] Ruth M. Jefford played violin in the USO orchestra, after being recruited by Harrison.[4] At the war's end, Harrison started the United Choir of all Faiths which evolved into the Anchorage Community Chorus.[2][3] She worked with the Anchorage Concert Association, Anchorage Symphony Orchestra, and the Anchorage Opera. As a promoter of music and performer she worked with Eugene Ormandy, Leonard Bernstein, Marilyn Horne, George Szell, Van Cliburn, Fred Waring, and Isaac Stern.[3]
Later life and legacy
[edit | edit source]The Alaska Center for the Performing Arts named a lobby in Harrison's honor in 1988. During her later years, Harrison lived in the Anchorage Pioneer Home.[2] In 2000, she co-authored a biography with Dianne Barske titled, Mostly Music: The Biography of Alaskan Cultural Pioneer Lorene Harrison, which was written by Dianne Barske.[5] Before her death, a gala was held in her honor at the Alaska Center for the Performing Arts.[3] She died in 2005. She is buried in the Pioneer Tract area of the Anchorage Memorial Park.[2] In 2009, she was inaugurated into the Alaska Women's Hall of Fame.[1]
In 2001, the Anchorage Cultural Council instituted an award named in her honor, which it bestows for lifetime achievements in the arts. Harrison was its first recipient.[6]
References
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- 1905 births
- 2005 deaths
- American women centenarians
- American choral conductors
- American milliners
- Musicians from Anchorage, Alaska
- People from Sterling, Kansas
- Sterling College alumni
- 20th-century American singers
- Schoolteachers from Kansas
- Schoolteachers from Alaska
- 20th-century American women educators
- 20th-century American conductors (music)
- American women conductors (music)
- 20th-century American women singers
- 20th-century American educators
- 21st-century American women artists