Ada Birdsall Turner Kurtz (January 2, 1878 – January 3, 1947) was an English-born American singer and voice teacher from Philadelphia. She entertained American troops in France and Belgium during World War I, earning the nickname "The Sunshine Lady."

Ada Turner Kurtz
A smiling white woman wearing a uniform-style cap and coat, over a collared shirt and necktie
Ada Turner Kurtz, from a 1919 publication
Born
Ada Birdsall Turner

January 2, 1878
Stanningley, Yorkshire, U.K.
DiedJanuary 3, 1947 (aged 69)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupation(s)Singer, voice teacher

Early life and education

edit

Turner was born in Stanningley, Yorkshire, the daughter of Jotham Harrison Turner and Mary Hannah Birdsall Turner. She moved to Philadelphia as a young child.[1]

Career

edit

Kurtz was a concert soloist and voice teacher in Philadelphia and New York.[2][3] Kurtz was head of the vocal department at the Philadelphia Conservatory of Music.[4][5] In 1911, Kurtz sang a YMCA event in Atlantic City.[6] Later that year, she was aboard a hot air balloon, attempting to achieve a women's distance record, when it was tugged by boat up the Delaware River.[7]

During World War I, Kurtz spent a year in France and Belgium[8] with the YMCA, entertaining American troops and acting as an informal chaplain, billed as "the Sunshine Lady".[9][10][11] "Probably no woman in France is better known to the soldiers than Mrs. Ada Turner Kurtz," reported Musical America in early 1919.[12] She taught at a summer training school for church song leaders in Indiana in 1920 and 1921.[13][14] She gave a concert in Indiana in 1922.[15] She taught voice students and gave performances at her own studio in Los Angeles in the 1930s.[16][17][18]

Kurtz's students included Kathryn Meisle[19][20] and gospel singer Homer Rodeheaver.[21][22]

Personal life

edit

Ada Turner married American manufacturer Frederick Gross Kurtz in 1900; they had sons Robert and Allen, and they divorced in the 1910s. She died in 1947, in Los Angeles, at the age of 69.[23]

References

edit
  1. ^ Birthplace and father's name confirmed in passport applications dated August 14, 1918 and July 14, 1924, via Ancestry.
  2. ^ "Prof. Caveny at the Broadway M.E." Courier-Post. 1907-04-06. p. 5. Retrieved 2024-06-05 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "Ada Turner Kurtz Moves Philadelphia Studio" Musical America 44(September 18, 1926): 27.
  4. ^ Conservatory of Music" (advertisement), Philadelphia Orchestra concert programs, 1917-1918.
  5. ^ Philadelphia Conservatory of Music (1917). School catalog, 1917-1918. University Libraries University of the Arts (Philadelphia). Philadelphia, PA: Philadelphia Conservatory of Music. p. 15.
  6. ^ "Grand Affair at Y.M.C.A.; Annual New Year's Reception of Association Proves to be a Great Success". Press of Atlantic City. 1911-01-03. p. 2. Retrieved 2024-06-05 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ Times, Special to The New York (1911-05-10). "Tug Tows Balloon Adrift; Rope Thrown to Boat When Philadelphia II. Is Becalmed Over the Delaware". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2024-06-05.
  8. ^ "Hollywood Singer Speaks in Church". The Register. 1936-12-08. p. 13. Retrieved 2024-06-06 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ The Musical Blue Book of America. Musical Blue Book Corporation. 1919. p. 304.
  10. ^ "Woman in Tribute to Doughboys". Los Angeles Evening Express. 1919-07-25. p. 19. Retrieved 2024-06-05 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "Coming Coming The Sunshine Lady Madame Ada Turner Kurtz". The Press Herald. 1923-11-16. p. 1. Retrieved 2024-06-05 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "Ada Turner Kurtz, a Favorite of Boys in France". Musical America. 29: 41. February 1, 1919 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ "Ministerial Summer School" New Era Magazine 26(February 1920): 86.
  14. ^ "Bigger and Better" Herald of Gospel Liberty 113(April 7, 1921): 334.
  15. ^ "Madame Ada Kurtz to Appear Here in Recital Tomorrow". Anderson Herald. 1922-01-03. p. 2. Retrieved 2024-06-06 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ^ "Icelandic Songs Revived Friday". Los Angeles Evening Express. 1931-11-14. p. 3. Retrieved 2024-06-05 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ^ "Performance to Open Series". The Los Angeles Times. 1931-09-13. p. 45. Retrieved 2024-06-06 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ^ "Benefit Music Program Staged". The Register. 1933-07-18. p. 7. Retrieved 2024-06-06 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. ^ "Winners in National Musical Contest" Musical Courier 71(July 7, 1915): 26.
  20. ^ "Miss Kathryn Meisle, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania" The Musical Monitor 4(10)(June 1915): 421.
  21. ^ Mungons, Kevin; Yeo, Douglas (2021-06-15). Homer Rodeheaver and the Rise of the Gospel Music Industry. University of Illinois Press. ISBN 978-0-252-05274-3.
  22. ^ "Meisle's Voice Teacher Here; Ada Turner Kurtz in Demand for Technic and Repertoire". Los Angeles Evening Express. 1931-07-04. p. 11. Retrieved 2024-06-05 – via Newspapers.com.
  23. ^ Ada Turner Kurtz in the 1910 U.S. Census, and Ada Kurtz in the California, U.S., Death Index, 1940-1997; via Ancestry.