Born: 20 June 1899, United States
Died: 28 July 1972
Country most active: United States
Also known as: NA
The following is republished from the Library of Congress. This piece falls under under public domain, as copyright does not apply to “any work of the U.S. Government” where “a work prepared by an officer or employee of the U.S. Government as part of that person’s official duties” (See, 17 U.S.C. §§ 101, 105).
1899 June 20 Born Helen Francesca Traubel in St. Louis, Missouri
1912 Began vocal studies at age thirteen with Vetta Karst, her only teacher
1923 Married Louis Franklin Carpenter
1925 Concert debut in St. Louis
1926 Debut performance in New York at Lewisohn Stadium
Offered contract with Metropolitan Opera; Traubel felt she was too young and needed further training, so she returned to St. Louis to study and perform
1937 May 12 Debut performance at Metropolitan Opera in The Man Without a Country
1938 Divorced Carpenter and married William Bass
1939 December 28 Performed as Sieglinde in Die Walküre, her first performance as a regular member of the Metropolitan Opera
1941 Kirsten Flagstad left the Metropolitan Opera and Traubel became her successor in the Wagnerian roles of Brünhilde, Elisabeth, Elsa, Kundry, and Isolde
1947 Received honorary doctorate from the University of Southern California
1948 Received honorary doctorate from the University of Missouri
Became vocal teacher to Margaret Truman, daughter of President Harry Truman and First Lady Bess Truman
1950 First contract dispute with new Metropolitan Opera manager, Rudolph Bing
Stopped teaching Margaret Truman
Purchased stock in the St. Louis Browns baseball team
1951 Appeared on the 4-Star Revue television show with Jimmy Durante
Appeared at the Grand Ole Opry
Published the mystery novels The Metropolitan Opera Murders and The Ptomaine Canary
1953 Concert tours of the Philippines, Southeast Asia, and London
Resigned from the Metropolitan Opera because of dispute over her nightclub appearances
1954 April Appeared in the film Deep in My Heart
1955 December Debut performance on Broadway in Pipe Dream
1959 Published autobiography St. Louis Woman
1972 July 28 Died of a heart attack in Santa Monica, California