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
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
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
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
- ^ a b "Lorene Harrison". Alaska Women's Hall of Fame. February 28, 2011. Archived from the original on 5 November 2013. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Harrison, Bessie and Sullivan, Daily". Alaska History. Archived from the original on 5 November 2013. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
- ^ a b c d e f g Baechtel, Mark (October 22, 2005). "A pioneering music to the very end - Anchorage arts patron and musician dies at 100" (PDF). Anchorage Daily News. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
- ^ Sumner, Sandi (1 January 2005). Women Pilots of Alaska: 37 Interviews and Profiles. McFarland. p. 31. ISBN 978-0-7864-1937-1.
- ^ Harrison, Lorene C. (1 February 2000). Mostly Music: The Biography of Alaskan Cultural Pioneer Lorene Harrison. Publication Consultants. ISBN 978-1-888125-61-0.
- ^ "Prior Honorees, Mayor's Awards for the Arts". Anchorage Cultural Council. Retrieved 5 November 2013.