User:Ashlar/King's School of Oratory

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King's School of Oratory, or the Byron W. King School of Oratory, was a fine arts school in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

It was well regarded[1] and considered one of the largest[2] and most well-known institutions of its kind[3] It conferred degrees as well as operating short courses. Speech therapy was open to all ages.

The largest school of speaking arts in the United States[4]

Years of operation[edit]

  • 1888[5]
  • 1891 - first newspaper accounts
  • 1929 - it's 35th year[6]
  • or or after 1939
  • still open in 1948[7]

Location[edit]

  • in Sept 1891, moved to (the old) University Building, Diamond Street, opp. Court House
  • in 1896, Heeren Building, Penn Ave and 8th St
  • in 1922 (numerous ads), Mt Olvier/Oliver
  • from 1924, at the corner of Grimes and Zara St, Knoxville (pretty sure this is 302 Zara St)
  • in 1929, Mt Oliver Station

Founder[edit]

The school was founded by Byron Wesley King who had stammered himself in his youth to be come a reknowned orator. King taught speech and drama at Curry College before opening his own school.[8]

King died unexpectedly in 1924[9] during his return from a speaking engagement. His widow continued to run the school until at least 1948[10]

"Byron King first taught speech and drama at Curry College in downtown Pittsburgh, then opened his own school of oratory, elocution, and dramatics. He purchased the building at the corner of Grimes and Zara in 1912 and remodeled it to hold an auditorium, studios, and a dormitory. The school continued to function after King’s 1924 death until at least 1939. The date it closed is not known."[8]

A.M. Ph.D

Died 1924

Subjects[edit]

1891 - literature, French and German, Delsarte old schools and modern systems

  • Public Speaking[11]
  • dramatics[11]
  • voice production (singing and speaking)[11]
  • physical culture[11]
  • Shakespeare[11]
  • cure of speech defects (speech therapy)[11]
  • story telling[12]
  • Elocution and Speech Arts[13]

Director/Principal[edit]

- 1891 described as manager

  • James M. Wisman, associate manager, 1891
  • Miss Bertha Fuhrer, 1924 (for years)
  • Prof John Chambers, about 1907

https://www.newspapers.com/image/297462231/?terms=%22king%20school%20of%20oratory%22&match=1

Teachers[edit]

  • Dr. Nathan Nesbitt Keener, teacher for 23 yrs, Dean of Oratory in 1934, 1938, in 1941; possibly also a student - graduated in 1907, starting teaching at the school in 1929
  • Frank S. Fox, associate teacher (1892), teacher, reader, impersonator, and lecturer
  • Professor Pips, head of the dramatic department (1907)
  • Dr R H Hipps, 1932
  • Frank Hipps, head of the drama dept 1925, president 1931, 1933, 1936
  • Pearl Hamilton Hipps, 1922
  • Carl/Karl Emerson Williams; possibly also a student - graduated in 1929 and started at the school in the same year
  • Esther Dugate
  • Jean Craddock
  • Adlyn Keffer, member of the summer faculty circa 1925
  • Rev. Lawson S. Laverty, Dean of the Academic Dept, professor of music and languages from Sept 1922, former instructor at the
  • William H. Stevenson
  • Michael Meyer Jr, cornet soloist, instructor
  • Harry Manlove, guest speaker(?)
  • L. Donald VanOsdol, graduate and instructor
  • J Emerson Nye, public speaking
  • Eleanor Lilley
  • Flora Fritz

Notable alumni[edit]

  • Irving C Stover, professor of speech, Stetson University
  • Ruth Mougey Worrell
  • Edward Sylvanus Williams

Other alumni[edit]

  • Prof Adam Vietch
  • Agnes Burkett Noel
  • Aileen Perkins
  • Alberta Renshaw
  • Alta Weir
  • Amanda Oury Wear Pearson
  • Anna Grimes
  • Anna Louise Kahl
  • Anna L. Jarrett (c/o 1921)
  • Annabel Lee Ralston
  • Anna Marie Truxell Beale
  • Anne Tennant
  • Artie Lehman
  • Beatrice Mills
  • Belle Mohney Shields
  • Belle Weinberg
  • Bernice C. Mills (c/o 1921)
  • Bertha Dobbick/Dobbrick
  • Bertha Graham McCullough
  • Bertha Kinsey
  • Bertha McKinley Gibson
  • Betty Gertrude Rowland
  • Bess Shaulis (c/o 1924)
  • Bessie H. Wilts
  • Blanche Helena Rankin White
  • Blanche Fowler
  • Blanche Grant
  • Prof. B. D. Smucker
  • Carl C. Bullock
  • Carl H. Tompkins
  • Carol Poling (c/o 1924)
  • Catherine King
  • Charles M McKelvey
  • Charles Scott (c/o 1924)
  • Charlotte Brightbill
  • Clara M. Haunch/Hauch
  • Clare W. H. Bangs (b 1890)
  • Claris Munn Fleming
  • Clifford Close
  • Miss Dade G. Kennedy
  • David Terry Martin, professor of speech at Oklahoma State University
  • Delilah Porter
  • Della Singleton Royer
  • Don L. Davis
  • Donald Van Osdol
  • Donald Day
  • Dora Marshall, daughter of KS state senator TL Marshall
  • Dora Zimmerman
  • Doris Mae Baldinger
  • Dorothy Isabelle Scofield, graduated June 1922, father J W Scofield
  • Dorothy (or Dortha) Rathleen Fretts, graduated June 1922, from Coshocton Ohio (sister, Emma; mother, Mrs. E. E. Farrar)
  • Dorothy Hollinger
  • Dorothy Shemwell
  • Dorothy Sauers/Souers
  • Dortha Rathleen Fretts
  • Lt. Dutton S. Peterson of Millerton, PA
  • David Summerville/W D Summerville
  • E G Parker
  • Edna Greene of Benton
  • Edna Blanche Gain
  • Edna Spencer, opera singer
  • Edna Stricker
  • Edwin Roux
  • Edward Sylvanus Williams
  • Effie June Breimeier Dentzer
  • Eileen Anderson
  • Eleanor Lilley
  • Eleanor Mowry of Chestnut Street, Latrobe PA (c/o 1924)
  • Eleanor Williams, broadway star
  • Elizabeth Graf/f
  • Elizabeth Hastings
  • Elizabeth M. McGarvey
  • Elizabeth Geddes Neer (c/o 1924)
  • Elizabeth Helferstay
  • Elizabeth Wilson
  • Elizabeth Graf (c/o 1921)
  • Ella Swearingen Taylor
  • Ellen Lightfoot (c/o 1924)
  • Eloise Coleman (c/o 1924)
  • Elsie B. Walton
  • Elsie Frugate
  • Emmett Stewart (c/o 1924)
  • Emily Cary
  • Emily Johnston (c/o 1924)
  • Emma Arter Bailey
  • Emma E. Coffman
  • Emma L. Zoller
  • Emma C. Schremp (c/o 1921)
  • Erma Bower
  • Ernest Brown
  • E Ray Skinner
  • Estelle Hackius Beahm
  • Ethel Mae Haas
  • Ethel Salisbury Hanley
  • Etta Freeman Lane
  • Eula Shryock
  • Eva Wiliamson (c/o 1924)
  • Father Eugene Becker
  • Fanny Diehl
  • Fannie Jane Allison (c/o 1921)
  • Felix Grisette
  • Miss Freddie Bryan
  • Sgt Frank Burwell Crayne
  • Frank Hyde
  • Flora Fritz
  • Florence Irene Roycroft Dodds
  • Florence Lemon Green/e, soprano, from Benton KY
  • Florence Roycroft
  • Florence A. Wolf (c/o 1921)
  • Frederick Perry High, writer
  • Frances Straw Craig, attended Lakeland High, Stetson, King's
  • Frances W. Huff (c/o 1921)
  • Gail Wilson
  • George Manner Schrack
  • Georgia Lyons Unvwrzagt
  • Georgia Hood
  • Gerda K. Lawrence
  • Gerda Krantz
  • Gertrude Cogan
  • Gertrude Knott
  • Gertrude Margaret Minteer
  • Gertrude E. Huth (c/o 1921)
  • Gertrude Walthers
  • Gladys May Bangs (b 1892)
  • Gladys E. Rice (c/o 1921)
  • Grace Harriet McKay Egan
  • Grace Harriett McKay Fox
  • Grace Watson Griffith, faculty at Stetson University, Deland FL, later Limestone College, SC
  • Harold Bradshaw Barth
  • Harry Gordon Bond
  • Hazel M. Smyly (c/o 1921)
  • Helen Louise Ogline Hoover
  • Helen Virginia Parkerson Cannon (c/o 1921)
  • Helen Shalala
  • Helen McNeal
  • Helen S. Wiseman (c/o 1921)
  • Herman Gorman (c/o 1924)
  • Homer T. Middleton
  • Hortense Klein
  • Ilavere B. Carnes
  • Irene Askue (c/o 1924)
  • Irene Owens
  • Irene Ruby Fisher
  • Ivy Myrtle Bell
  • Ivy D. Merill
  • Iva Keefer
  • Jane Ellen Ball
  • Prof. J. Will Irvin
  • J. W. Fulton
  • Jeanette Stout
  • Jeanne O. Hays (c/o 1921)
  • Sgt. Jefferson Franklin Gray
  • Jennie Dickson of Morristown Mississippi
  • Jocelyn Price Hendricks
  • John Brink Girton (c/o 1924), worked previously at the Morning Press, left to work and study at the KSO
  • John Franklin Chambers
  • Joseph E McCormick Sr.
  • Juanita Richardson
  • Juanita Abigale Silvers
  • Julie Kahn of Ardmore, OK
  • E. June Frymire
  • June G. Groff (c/o 1924)
  • June Thomas (c/o 1924)
  • Katherine Fisher (c/o 1924)
  • Kathryn Barry
  • Katharine L Cumpston Maillot
  • Katharine Wood
  • Katherine Resley (c/o 1924)
  • Katheryn Rothermel
  • Kathryn M. Carney
  • Katherine Leora King
  • Kathleen Tannyhill of Larue, OH
  • Laura Belle Kooser Herrington
  • Laura Leota Quigley (c/o 1921)
  • Laura Tidd Foglesong
  • Laurabelle Herrington
  • Lawrence James Quinn
  • Laverne G. Ogden
  • L. Donald VanOsdol
  • Leah Schaup (c/o 1924)
  • Leah Robins
  • Lelan Stewart Chappelear
  • Lelia Williams (c/o 1924)
  • Leona Bigbee, degree of Bachelor of Oratory
  • Leon Hartman, son of T A Hartman
  • Leonora Shaw
  • Lenore Gillis
  • Lewis Todd
  • Lillian B. Hudson
  • Lillian Agelia [sic] Weed
  • Lillian Canuti
  • Lorraine Hyer, daughter of Irvin Hyer of Salem Ave, Dayton
  • Lorette Hruely, wife of J. W. Dickson[15]
  • Louise Baker
  • Louise Bonnell, educator
  • Louise Reinsel, see also Mary/Marie Louise Reinsel
  • Louise Hileman of Wilkinsburg
  • Lucille Scott
  • Lula E Wire
  • Lulu Beery
  • Lulu Melick Duvall
  • Lulu Shuman
  • Lydia Muriel Jones Quinn of Scranton, m. Quebec
  • M. R. Kuehn
  • Mabel (née Reddig) Eshleman
  • Mabel Hawk
  • Mabel Reddig Eshleman of Terre Hill, Ephrata, PA
  • Margaret Clayton Reeder
  • Margaret D. Gardner
  • Margaret Ellen Reed Ehlers
  • Margaret Fleeger (c/o 1924)
  • Margaret K. Fox
  • Margaret Jones (daughter of David Jones of Wilkes-Barre, PA)
  • Margaret McDermott
  • Margaret Reed
  • Margaret Neel
  • Margaret Louise Gates
  • Margaret Lyon Smith, weekly children's hour in Knoxville c. 1923
  • Margaret Elizabeth Henry
  • Margaret E. Lyons (c/o 1921)
  • Margaret Starr
  • Marguerite Pierce
  • Marie Shields Warner
  • Marion Laing
  • Marjorie LaClair Patterson
  • Majorie Kostenbader
  • Martha Blanton Blondheim
  • Martha Jane Perrin/e, soprano, Upper Sandusky, Ohio
  • Mary D Gardner Strahl
  • Mary E. Scully (c/o 1924), Head of Expression and Physical Culture at Elon College from fall 1924.
  • Mary E. Townsley
  • Mary F. Golden
  • Mary Louise Speer Sieber
  • Marie Louise Reinsel/Mary Reinsel
  • Mary Morrison
  • Mary Murray
  • Mary Sue Noles/Nolles Liady
  • Mary Catherine Garrett
  • Mary Silvia
  • Mary Andrews of Wellsville
  • Maude Keller
  • May Sue Noles
  • Mazelle Perrine (c/o 1924)
  • Michael Meyer Jr.
  • Mildred Bair
  • Mildred Slonaker Bradley East
  • Mildred Irene Prentiss
  • Minnie Gran? (Grant/Granl?)
  • Minosaku Toshi Yamamoto, writer, journalist
  • Miriam McCool
  • Myrtle M. Stephens (c/o 1921)
  • Nancy Kerr
  • Nancy Kerr Teed
  • Naomi Perry
  • Nathan Wade
  • Nathan N. Kenner, instructor at Susquehanna University
  • Nelle Cook
  • Nella Bowman Slayton
  • Nina Milligan
  • Noah Beilharz, character artist
  • Norma L. Shaw
  • Nora O'Connor
  • Oita McCarty
  • Olive Hope Kunde
  • Olive Schillinger
  • Oliver Johnson, minister of religion
  • Onedia Easlick Kitchen
  • Opal Myers Welshimer (c/o 1924)(husband, Earl W.)
  • Ora Miller Parker
  • Owen B. Hunt, State Insurance Commissioner (honorary degree?)
  • Pansey Lucile Robbins
  • Pat Dunnigan Shread
  • Paul A. Showalter
  • Pauline Rightmire (c/o 1924)
  • Pearl Miller Powlas Perry
  • Percy E. Berninger
  • Preston Fletcher Brown, banker
  • Rebecca Beatrice Anderson
  • Renna Klinetob Macnair
  • Richard Yehl
  • R L McCormick
  • Romaine Schmid
  • Rose Fox
  • Rose Eibel
  • Ross Lyman Mitchell
  • Ruth Aline Day Miller
  • Ruth A. Geiger Ward
  • Ruth Chilcote
  • Ruby Cooper (c/o 1924)
  • Ruth Fulton
  • Ruth Hollinger
  • Ruth Loveland
  • Ruth M. Scoggin
  • Ruth Rollins
  • Ruth Whisler
  • Sally Ann Miller
  • Sara/h Gertrude Knott
  • Sarah Maury (c/o 1924)
  • Selma Leonhardt
  • Sue Fay Nall, speech teacher
  • Sue Hall Pleasants
  • Thelma Richardson Phillips
  • Theodora Marshall
  • Mr. Tracy Berninger of Franklin Township
  • Dr. Thomas H. McDill
  • Thomas Sweeney
  • Thornton W. Chappelear
  • Velma Hess of Berwick PA (c/o 1924)
  • Venzella N. Jones, first black graduate, only black graduate as at June 1923
  • Vera Bell
  • Vernice E. Barbour Burke
  • Violet R. Schmaltz
  • Virginia Baldwin
  • Vivien McQuiston
  • Prof W J Swigart, Juniata College
  • W. Poe Maddox
  • W. Powell Hale
  • W. A. Myers
  • Miss Waive King (c/o 1921)
  • Walfred Lindstrom
  • Walter Hardy of Bryant
  • Walter E Tressel Jr.
  • Wayward Richard/son
  • Wilda Smith (c/o 1924)
  • Wilma Claire Vance (gold medal graduate!)
  • Zoe B. Burger Sherman
  • Zoice Reider Baer
  • Zelia Wilbur


  • Miss Kale
  • Mrs A J Wright
  • Mrs H B Weaver
  • Mrs Harry Gill
  • Mrs Joseph E Thomas
  • Mrs Jospeh Orr (née Morrow) of NYC (1920) ex Beaver Falls, PA
  • Mrs M L Hendricks, Louisville Road
  • Mme. Hooper, Houston Conservatory of Music
  • Mrs H L Kendrick/Hendrick/s, Bowling Green, Kentucky
  • Mrs Norbert R. Murphy
  • Mrs S M Flanegin, 545 East Main Street
  • Mrs William D. Yingst
  • Mrs. Edgar S Stem
  • Mrs. Dutton S. Peterson
  • Mrs. T. P. Jimison
  • Mrs. T. J. Dygard of Hutchinson, graduate also of Colty College Conservatory
  • Mrs. Daniel Cronin
  • Prof. Muir
  • Rev. Esther Blews
  • Rev. H. Kilson Siebler
  • Rev. Harry W. McConnell
  • Rev. John J. Parsons, Baptist pastor, lived in Jacksonville and St Augustine, Florida and Richmond, Virginia
  • Rev. Newton Moore
  • Rev. Oliver Johnson
  • Rev. Richard Fortran
  • Mr. Close of Scranton YMCA, graduated in or before 1922

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Impersonator". The West Schuylkill Press and Pine Grove Herald. Tremont, Pennsylvania: 1. February 17, 1906. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  2. ^ "Noted Orator Coming". The Times Leader. Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania: 20. November 15, 1921.
  3. ^ "Want to learn how to orate?". The Richmond Item. Richmond, Indiana: 8. August 19, 1916.
  4. ^ "Feast of Buffalo Meat for Family at Wrightsville". York, Pennsylvania. York Daily Record. 12 Jan 1924. p. 6.
  5. ^ "Oratory School Head Dies Here". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. 12 May 1924. p. 7.
  6. ^ "King School to Open". Warren, Pennsylvania. Warren Times Mirror. 19 Sep 1929. p. 16.
  7. ^ "Charleroi Thespians in 'Ladies in Retirement'". Monongahela, Pennsylvania: The Daily Republican. 8 March 1948. p. 3.
  8. ^ a b JA Belfast and JP Greenawalt for Michael Baker Intl Inc, A Bamberg for Clio Consulting, and Cosmos Technologies Inc. Architectural Inventory for the City of Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania Planning Sector 6: Mt. Washington and Hilltop West Allentown and Knoxville Neighborhoods Report of Findings and Recommendations. City of Pittsburgh in cooperation with the Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission and the Pennsylvania State Historic Preservation Office. p. 17.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  9. ^ "Dr Byron W. King Died Suddenly in Hospital". The Morning Press. Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania. 13 May 1924.
  10. ^ "Charleroi Thespians in 'Ladies in Retirement'". Monongahela, Pennsylvania: The Daily Republican. 8 March 1948. p. 3.
  11. ^ a b c d e f United States Bureau of Education (1914). Report of the Commissioner of Education Made to the Secretary of the Interior for the Year Ended June 30, 1913 with Accompanying Papers, Volume 2. U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 407.
  12. ^ "King School has Story Telling Department". The Pittsburgh Press. 10 August 1918. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  13. ^ "Presbyterian of the South". 94 (29). 21 July 1920: 12. Retrieved 5 June 2022. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  14. ^ United States. Office of Education (1916). Statistics of Land-grant Colleges and Universities, Volume 5, Issues 40-50. U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 134. Retrieved 5 June 2022.
  15. ^ "Coronado Eagle and Journal". 30 (46). Coronado, California. 12 November 1942: 4. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)

External links[edit]


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