Dawn Carroll is dedicated to helping revitalize the legacy of opera pioneer Mary Cardwell Dawson and helping preserve the historic National Negro Opera House (Mystery Manor) in Pittsburgh. Her mission ties into broader themes of historic preservation, mentorship, and education, inspiring future generations through music and educational initiatives – continuing Dawson’s legacy.
Carroll, a stone designer and co-founder of the Over My Shoulder foundation with singer Patti Austin, unexpectedly encountered the dilapidated former home of Dawson while searching for antique theaters to save. She felt a “supernatural” connection to the project, recognizing Dawson as an amazing, largely forgotten role model.
OperaWire visits more with Carroll to learn about Dawson’s life and how to support a legacy that must be preserved and shared with future generations to come.
OperaWire: What drew you to learn more about Mystery Manor, where Mary started the National Negro Opera Company (NNOC) of Pittsburgh in 1941?
Dawn Carroll: There’s something mystical about this project. While learning this history I also learned a lot about myself. I thought I was going to help save a house but the house kinda saved me. I was going through a huge career change and I kept asking myself, “how am I going to ‘rebrand’ at this old age?” I realized if Mary Cardwell Dawson could do it with so many odds against her, this should be simple for me to do. Mary became a powerful mentor to me.
The project happened because I have this little nonprofit with the singer Patti Austin called Over My Shoulder. We got involved helping with the 100th birthday celebration of the Cabot Performing Arts Center in Beverly, Massachusetts. My friend, designer Jean Verbridge, was behind the renovation effort and Patti and I were eager to help. Patti did a concert to help raise more funds to finish the restoration and here we fell madly in love with antique theaters. Our foundation seeks unique ways to fuse music, mentoring, and design together. Patti wanted to do a tour to help save these architectural gems. We were both really excited. She went to Russia to do a concert and I went home to research. As I googled, this house just kept showing up on my screen. I kept deleting it thinking, “I’m not looking for a house. I’m looking for a theater.” But the house kept appearing, like it was trying to tell me something. And then, holy cow, Mary Cardwell Dawson chimed in and I became obsessed. When I found this story… correction, when this story found me… hardly anyone knew about Mary: she was lost in time. I called Patti who is also a human encyclopedia on music history: she had not heard of Mary either. The remarkable thing is, Patti’s parent’s probably hung out in this house with Mary because they had Pittsburgh ties at the same time – Patti’s father was a popular and brilliant session musician, and this was where every musical legend hung out.
