Philippa Schuyler

Schuyler became famous in the 1930s for her talent, intellect, mixed race parentage, and the eccentric parenting methods employed by her mother.

Hailed as "the Shirley Temple of American Negroes," Schuyler performed public piano recitals and radio broadcasts by the age of four.

She performed two recitals at the New York World's Fair at the age of eight.

Schuyler won numerous music competitions, including the New York Philharmonic Young People's Concerts at Carnegie Hall.

At 11, she became the youngest member of the National Association for American Composers and Conductors.

Schuyler encountered racism as she grew older, and had trouble coming to terms with her mixed-race heritage.

Philippa Duke Schuyler (August 2, 1931 – May 9, 1967) was an American concert pianist, composer, author, and journalist.

A child prodigy, she was the daughter of black journalist George Schuyler and Josephine Schuyler, a white Texan heiress.

Philippa Duke Schuyler was born in Harlem, New York on August 2, 1931.

She was the only child of George Schuyler, a prominent black essayist and journalist, and his wife Josephine Schuyler (née Cogdell), a white Texan and one-time Mack Sennett bathing beauty and the granddaughter of slave owners.

Her parents believed that intermarriage could "invigorate" both races, produce extraordinary offspring, and help solve social problems in the United States.

For three years before Schuyler's birth, her mother ate only natural and raw food, avoided meat, and went on a body- and mind-preparing regime to cleanse her system and prepare to bear a "superior" child.

Mrs. Schuyler believed that genius could best be developed by a diet consisting exclusively of raw foods.

As a result, Philippa grew up in her New York City apartment eating a diet predominantly of raw carrots, peas, and yams and raw steak.

She was given a daily ration of cod liver oil and lemon slices in place of sweets.

"When we travel," Mrs. Schuyler said, "Philippa and I amaze waiters. You have to argue with most waiters before they will bring you raw meat. I guess it is rather unusual to see a little girl eating a raw steak."

She was recognized as a prodigy at an early age.

In 1933, a New York Herald Tribune writer called her the "Negro Baby."

Schuyler reportedly knew the alphabet at 19 months and was able to read and write at the age of two.

By four years old, she could play compositions by Schumann and Mozart and was writing her own.

Her intelligence quotient (IQ) at the age of six was found to be 185.

Schuyler's mother was an overbearing stage mother who entered her into every possible music competition.

In June 1936, four-year-old Schuyler won her first gold medal at the annual tournament sponsored by the National Guild of Piano Teachers, where she performed ten original compositions.

She won eight consecutive prizes from the New York Philharmonic Young People's Concerts at Carnegie Hall, then was barred from competing because the other children had little chance to win against her.

She also won gold medals from the Music Education League and from the City of New York.

Schuyler's piano recitals and radio broadcasts attracted press coverage.

Among her admirers was New York Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia, who visited her at home on more than one occasion.

He declared June 19, 1940, "Philippa Duke Schuyler Day" at the New York World's Fair, where she performed two recitals.

At nine, Schuyler became the subject of "Evening With A Gifted Child", a profile written by New Yorker correspondent Joseph Mitchell, who heard several of her early compositions.

He noted that she addressed both her parents by their first names.

Schuyler completed the eighth grade at the age of 11 and by the age of 14 she had composed 200 musical selections.

She became the youngest member of the National Association for American Composers and Conductors in 1942.

By the time she reached adolescence, Schuyler was touring constantly in the United States and overseas.

At 15, Schuyler graduated from Father Young S. J. Memorial High School, the Schola Cantorum of Pius X School of Liturgical Music.

She performed with the New York Philharmonic at Lewisohn Stadium.

Schuyler continued her studies at Manhattanville College.

Her talent as a pianist was widely acknowledged, although many critics believed that her forte lay in playing vigorous pieces and criticized her style when tackling more nuanced works.

Acclaim for her performances led to her becoming a role model for many children in the United States, but Schuyler's own childhood was blighted when, during her teenage years, her parents showed her the scrapbooks they had compiled recording her life and career.

The books contained numerous newspaper clippings in which both George and Josephine Schuyler commented on their beliefs and ambitions for their daughter.

She later became a journalist and was killed in a helicopter crash in South Vietnam in 1967.