Catharine Smiley Cheatham (1864 – January 5, 1946) was an American singer and

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Early life

Cheatham was born in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

in 1864. Her father,

Richard Boone Cheatham Richard Boone Cheatham (December 8, 1824 – May 7, 1877) was an American politician based in Nashville, Tennessee. He was serving as the mayor of Nashville, Tennessee, during the opening years of the Civil War. After the war he served as alderma ...

, was a Tennessee politician who was the

mayor of Nashville The Mayoralty in the United States, Mayor of Nashville is the chief executive of the government of Nashville, Tennessee. The current mayor is Freddie O'Connell. Each mayor serves a term of four years, with a limit of two consecutive terms, unless ...

from 1860 to 1862, and her mother was Frances Ann Bugg. Cheatham began her career in music at age 14 by performing at First Presbyterian Church in Nashville. She later went on to study in New York City, Paris, and

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Career

As a vocalist, she gave her debut international performance in London, England in 1904 where she performed renditions of African-American folk songs. She is credited with having helped preserve these traditional songs and bring them to European audiences. While in London, she was introduced to and befriended members of the

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, for whom she would go on to perform many times. However, it is her contributions to

children's music Children's music or kids' music is music composed and performed for children. In European-influenced contexts this means music, usually songs, written specifically for a juvenile audience. The composers are usually adults. Children's music has hi ...

for which Cheatham is best known as a musician, as she became popular throughout the world by performing

children's song A children's song may be a nursery rhyme set to music, a song that children invent and share among themselves or a modern creation intended for entertainment, use in the home or education. Although children's songs have been recorded and studie ...

s and stories. During her career, she performed for thousands in England, France, Germany, and the United States, and organized children's concerts for the

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and the

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. She published two collections of her songs, ''Kitty Cheatham: Her Book'' in 1915, and ''A Nursery Garland'' in 1917. Her repertoire included over 1,000 songs in nine languages. Many of the songs she sang expressed themes of Christianity and

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. A member of the

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(and a friend of its founder,

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), Cheatham was highly religious, and she wrote a number of religiously and patriotically oriented publications. Cheatham was also a speaker who created a series of "illustrated lectures" which focused on her travels throughout Europe. On June 28, 1930, she was invited by

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, the parliament of

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, to give a speech at their country's Millennial Celebrations. She also spoke before the delegates of the International Women's Congress, of which she was the honorary vice-president, in

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in 1937.

Personal life and death

Cheatham married William Henry Thomson on June 9, 1894. Cheatham died on January 5, 1946, in

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. She was buried in Mount Olivet Cemetery in

References

External links

Photos of Kitty Cheatham
from the NYPL Digital Gallery {{DEFAULTSORT:Cheatham, Kitty American pacifists American women singers American religious writers American women religious writers American children's musicians American Christian Scientists Musicians from Nashville, Tennessee 1864 births 1946 deaths Monologists Converts to Christian Science from Presbyterianism Cheatham family Columbia Records artists