Identity area
Type of entity
Person
Authorized form of name
White, Portia
Parallel form(s) of name
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Other form(s) of name
Identifiers for corporate bodies
Description area
Dates of existence
1911-1968
History
Portia May White was born in Truro, NS on June 24, 1911. She was raised in a large family. Her father was a minister and was the first black graduate with a Doctorate of Divinity from Acadia University. He was also the only Black Canadian chaplain during WWI. Portia grew up in Halifax and attended Dalhousie University in 1929, then found a teaching job. She worked as a schoolteacher in Africville and Lucasville, NS. She was a great singer and always performed in her father’s church. In 1941 she made her first national debut in Toronto. In 1944, she made her international debut, performing at Carnegie Hall in New York City. She then toured the world performing. She retired early after some health problems, and settled in Toronto in 1952 to teach singing. She was a singing coach for the first cast of the stage show of Anne of Green Gables. She performed in 1964 for Queen Elizabeth II in PEI. Portia died from cancer on February 13, 1968 at the age of 56. She has been named a person of national historic significance in Canada (1995) and had a commemorative postage stamp made in her honour for the millennium. The Portia White Prize in Nova Scotia also exists in her honour.