Composers
Blanche K. Thomas
1905 - 1977About
Blanche K. Thomas (1905-1977) composer, started The Thomas Music Study Club in New York, 1932. She was among the first Afro-American students to graduate from Juilliard having majored in Music Theory. Blanch was the wife of Joseph A. Thomas who was extremely supportive of his wife. They were happily married for over seventy years. Laverne, organist, played at St. James Church where they renewed their marriage vows for their 60th and 70th year on 141st Street, NY. One can assume they had renewed their vows in earlier years also. Mrs. Thomas had no children of her own but the students of her large studio filled that vacancy. They dearly loved her. Her studio was in the, still standing, 409 Edgecombe Avenue structure, on the fifth floor. That residence housed some very prominent personalities of that time, such as: Roy Wilkins, lawyer for NAACP; Walter White, NAACP's first president; Aaron Douglass, artist and educator; Thurgood Marshall, politician; and W. E. DuBois, author; to name a few. Needless to say, Blanch K. Thomas resided in good company. Prior to starting the music club, she was on the faculty of Hampton University.