Print Lisa Robinson, WBAL-TV 11
For years, Jim Crow laws kept Black people from opportunities in education and professional careers, among other fields.
In the 1940s, the Peabody Institute turned Black people away, telling them they couldn t learn music there. So, the students organized their own school at 811 W. Lanvale St. called the Baltimore Institute of Musical Arts.
At 82, Daniel Comegys can still belt out a song. His voice reflects the years he spent perfecting his craft and performing. His musical career started at the Baltimore Institute of Musical Arts when he was just 12 years old. Black students were unable to go to the Peabody Conservatory of Music, and so the teachers from the Peabody Preparatory Department taught us, Comegys said.
For years, Jim Crow laws kept Black people from opportunities in education and professional careers, among other fields.In the 1940s, the Peabody Institute turned Black people away, telling them they couldn t learn music there. So, the students organized their own school at 811 W. Lanvale St. called the Baltimore Institute of Musical Arts.At 82, Daniel Comegys can still belt out a song. His voice reflects the years he spent perfecting his craft and performing. His musical career started at the Baltimore Institute of Musical Arts when he was just 12 years old. Black students were unable to go to the Peabody Conservatory of Music, and so the teachers from the Peabody Preparatory Department taught us, Comegys said.Christopher Kojzar and Mollye Bendell, who are with Strikeware, a Baltimore-based art collective, have been researching the school. There was just no place for Black students to go and learn under the tutelage of composers or people who had a high standing in the music