Narcissa Yager

Narcissa Yager
Narcissa Yager, from a 1917 publication
Born
Narcissa Elizabeth Harrison

(1875-08-05)August 5, 1875
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.
DiedSeptember 8, 1945(1945-09-08) (aged 70)
Oak Park, Illinois, U.S.
OccupationsClubwoman, arts patron, suffragist

Narcissa Elizabeth "Bess" Harrison Yager (August 5, 1875 – September 8, 1945) was an American clubwoman, arts patron, and suffragist, active in the General Federation of Women's Clubs and the Daughters of the American Revolution. She was president of the American Opera Society of Chicago and the Illinois Federation of Music Clubs.

Early life

Yager was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the daughter of Williamson Riddle Harrison and Anna Eliza Griffin Harrison.[1] She was raised in Canton, Ohio, where she studied with Anna Meller Sheib.[2] She also studied in Chicago with Samuel Kayser.[2]

Career

Yager was a church soloist,[2] and represented Oak Park, Illinois, at the national conference of the Daughters of the American Revolution in 1908.[3] Also in 1908, she was a soloist at a performance of Handel's Messiah in Ohio.[4] She was active in the cause of women's suffrage; she sang at the 1912 banquet of the Chicago Political Equality League,[5] and she was a delegate to the NAWSA national convention in 1917.[6]

Much of Yager's clubwork was focused on music.[2] She was second vice-president of the Chicago Woman's Music Club when it was founded in 1914,[7] and president of the Illinois Federation of Music Clubs, and she was active in the General Federation of Music Clubs. She chaired the federation's national contest for young artists in 1917 and 1921.[8][9] During World War I, she directed the federation's community singing events.[10]

Yager was a founder and president of the American Opera Society of Chicago in the 1920s, working with Marion Mitchell Ochsner, Edith Rockefeller McCormick, and other clubwomen to promote English-language opera productions.[11][12] She was in charge of music at the Chicago World's Fair in 1933.[13]

Yager sold her quilt collection to Andrew and Mary Dole in 1938.[14]

Personal life

Harrison married insurance executive Louis Eugene Yager in 1897. They had three daughters.[15] Her husband died in 1936,[16] and she died in 1945, at the age of 70, in Oak Park.[10][13][17] Her Queen Anne-style home is now known as the Purcell-Yager House, and is a designated historic landmark in Oak Park.[18]

References

  1. ^ Daughters of the American Revolution (1916). Linage Book of the Charter Members of the Daughters of the American Revolution (revised). pp. 80–81. Archived from the original on 2025-12-19. Retrieved 2025-12-16.
  2. ^ a b c d deYoung, Ruth (1935-09-22). "Civic Music Work Keynote of Mrs. Yager's Career". Chicago Tribune. p. 95. Retrieved 2025-12-16 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "Credential List, Seventeenth Continental Congress, National Society, Daughters of the American Revolution". American Monthly Magazine: 135. April 1908. Archived from the original on 2025-12-19. Retrieved 2025-12-16.
  4. ^ "Akron Soloists Make Hit in Massilon". The Akron Beacon Journal. 1908-12-29. p. 7. Retrieved 2025-12-16 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "News Notes". The Public: 112. February 2, 1912. Archived from the original on December 19, 2025. Retrieved December 16, 2025.
  6. ^ National American Woman Suffrage Association (1916). The Hand Book of the National American Woman Suffrage Association and Proceedings of the ... Annual Convention. p. 239. Archived from the original on 2025-12-19. Retrieved 2025-12-16.
  7. ^ "Chicago Women Form New Music Club". Musical Monitor & World. 4 (2): 49. October 1914.
  8. ^ "National Federation Contest for Young Artists" Archived 2025-12-19 at the Wayback Machine Musical Monitor 6(8)(April 1917): 439.
  9. ^ "Chairman Young Artists' Contests". Quad-City Times. 1921-06-10. p. 5. Archived from the original on 2025-12-20. Retrieved 2025-12-16 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ a b "Mrs. L. E. Yager, American Music Promoter, Dies". Chicago Tribune. 1945-09-09. p. 34. Archived from the original on 2025-12-19. Retrieved 2025-12-16 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "Establish Opera in English". Music Magazine. 3 (3): 37. May 1928. Archived from the original on 2025-12-19. Retrieved 2025-12-16.
  12. ^ "American Opera Co.'s Home in Chicago". Music Magazine. 3 (5): 4. August 1928. Archived from the original on 2025-12-19. Retrieved 2025-12-16.
  13. ^ a b "Mrs. Louis E. Yager Dies Suddenly". The Telegraph. 1945-09-08. p. 2. Archived from the original on 2025-12-19. Retrieved 2025-12-16 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ Narcissa Yager Quilt Collection Photograph Album, Baltimore Museum of Art.
  15. ^ Leonard, John W.; Marquis, Albert Nelson (1917). Who's who in Chicago and Illinois. A.N. Marquis Company. p. 748.
  16. ^ "Louis E. Yager Dies in Chicago Hospital Today; Was Member of Prominent Old-Time Alton Family". The Telegraph. 1936-12-29. p. 2. Retrieved 2025-12-16 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ^ "Narcissa Harrison Yager (death notice)". Chicago Tribune. 1945-09-09. p. 34. Retrieved 2025-12-16 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ^ Purcell-Yager House, Historic Landmark Nomination Report Archived 2025-12-19 at the Wayback Machine, Oak Park Historic Preservation Commission.
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