Kathleen Kersting Memorabilia
Collection Summary
Title: Kathleen Kersting Memorabilia Call Number: MS 98-14 Size: 0.25 linear feet Acquisition: Purchased from Watermark West Processed by: DG, 5-13-1998; SMC, 11-18-1998; MN, 1999; MN, 12-6-2011
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Kathleen Kersting (1908-1965) was an internationally known soprano opera singer who spent her early childhood in Wichita. The collection contains photographs, unsigned affidavits attesting to her heritage, articles about her, and memorabilia of her performances in Wichita.
Kathleen Kersting was an internationally known soprano opera singer who spent her early childhood in Wichita. She was born in Enid, Oklahoma in 1908. Her family moved to Wichita the following year. In 1922, she was discovered by Madam Emma Calvé, an well-known opera teacher, and moved to Italy to train with Madam Calvé. She returned to Wichita for a sold out performance in 1928. She returned again in 1930 with the Chicago Civic Opera Company.
Ms. Kersting moved to Germany in 1932. After the rise of the Nazis she was refused permission to perform until she had proved she was not of Jewish heritage. She remained in Germany throughout the second World War, a fact which led to the U.S. government seizing her father's estate when he died in 1945. She returned to the United States and taught at the Wichita School of Fine Arts until 1950. During the 1950s she served the United States State Department as a cultural attache to Germany. She died in Salzburg, Austria, in 1965.
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Box 1 FF 1 |
Memorabilia of Wichita performances |
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Documents related to her residency in Germany |
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Photographs |
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Box 1 FF 5 |
Articles |
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Box 1 FF 6 |
Ephemera |
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FF 1 |
Brochure from Kathleen Kersting's Homecoming Concert at the Wichita Forum in 1928. Flyer from the 1930 Annual tour of the Chicago Civic Opera Company which featured a stop in Wichita. |
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Two unsigned affidavits attesting that Kathleen Kersting is not Jewish, April 1933. |
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Letter from Cordell Hull to Arthur Capper dated April 28, 1933 concerning Kathleen Kersting. |
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Four photographs of Kathleen Kersting taken by Daguerre of Chicago. |
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Parsons B& PWC (Business and Professional Women's Club) Convention Booster. Wichita-Sedgwick County Arts and Humanities Council Newsletter, June 1995. |
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FF 6 |
Chicago Public Library Card, 1932. Guest card to Crestview Country Club, Wichita. |