Ralph Ellison's 1975 Curtis Commencement Speech
On Saturday, May 13, at 11:00 a.m. in Field Concert Hall, Curtis will present its 2023 Commencement Ceremony. Each year the school awards degrees, diplomas, certificates, and special prizes to its extraordinarily talented graduates, celebrating their achievements as these young musicians embark on the next chapter of their lives and careers.
To mark this occasion, the ceremony features renowned guest speakers. In 1975, Curtis invited legendary American author, literary critic, and scholar Ralph Ellison, best known for his National Book Award-winning 1953 novel, Invisible Man, to give the commencement address.
In a letter written in August of 1975 to Peter J. Schoenbach, then dean of the school, Mr. Ellison, a former trumpeter and lifelong jazz aficionado, included an edited copy of his speech and thanked the staff, board, and director Rudolph Serkin for the opportunity to have participated in that momentous occasion. As Curtis prepares for its next Commencement, the school looks back at a historic address from one of the greatest writers of the 20th century, one that ultimately became his most famous essay, “The Little Man at Chehaw Station.”
Click HERE to read Ralph Ellison’s commencement address.
Learn more about the 2023 Curtis Commencement HERE.
Photo credits: 1.) Banner image part of the public domain. 2.) Ralph Ellison poses for a portrait in Harlem, New York, 1966. Photograph by David Attie / Getty 3.) A 1952 portrait of Ellison captured by Gordon Parks, featured on first editions of Invisible Man; courtesy of the Gordon Parks Foundation.
