Marguerite Dunlap

Dunlap was born on July 20, 1887, in Camden, South Carolina[1][2] to Margaret Cunningham Dunlap and Charles J. Dunlap, a former Confederate Army surgeon. Her family subsequently moved to Atlanta.[1]

She married Joseph E. Garabrant,[1] a marine engineer,[3] and kept singing under her maiden name.[4] She had a daughter, Margaret G. Derr, and a son, Joseph E. Garabrant Jr. She moved to Montclair in 1920, and retired in the 1920s. Her last address was at 217 Montclair Avenue, Upper Montclair.[1] She was a member of St John's Episcopal Church in Montclair and the Upper Montclair Country Club.[4]

After an operation, she was ill for a long time, and she died at her home on January 7, 1959,[1] aged 71.[4] She had three grandchildren at the time of her death. She was buried in Bloomfield Cemetery,[1] after a service at the Van Tassel Funeral Home.[4]

78 rpm phonograph record of "Beautiful Ohio", ballad sung by Dunlap and Olive Kline[5]

Dunlap began to show singing talent early in life, becoming an expert pianist by the age of 16.[1] She sang alto with the First Baptist choir in Atlanta.[6] When she was 18 she went to New York City and in a competitive audition won a scholarship to the Metropolitan Opera school.[1] She studied with Madam Florence Manchester.[6] She made professional recordings as part of the Trinity Choir (at Trinity Church)[3] for Victor Talking Machine Co.[7][8] She would go on to record 360 records for Victor Records,[7] including being a contralto soloist.[9][1] In October 1913 she recorded a duet with the Canadian singer (and Victor Records manager) Harry MacDonough of "When It's Apple Blossom Time in Normandy".[10]

Dunlap had her debut at the Metropolitan Opera on January 18, 1907, in the first production of Manon Lescaut, composed by Puccini, with Enrico Caruso as the lead singer;[11] her last portrayal of this role was on March 2, 1907.[12] In 1911, she was one of the performers in the sextet for Lucia di Lammermoor in New York,[9] and also recorded "Mighty Lak' a Rose" ("Mighty Like a Rose") by Ethelbert Nevin in 1911.[13] In 1914, she was involved in a production of "Sextet from Lucia" for a record.[14] She performed in Arkansas in 1915, including songs such as "Mammy Song" by Harriet Ware, and "Mighty Lak' a Rose".[15] She and Olive Kline made one of the early recordings of "Beautiful Ohio" in 1919.[5][13] This song would become the official state song of Ohio.[16] Dunlap sang in the first radio broadcast of the AM radio station WEAF (later called WNBC) in New York in 1922.[1] Dunlap made recordings up to 1928.[7]