The Past

The Opera House is a Queen Anne style mansion built in 1894 on Apple Street in Homewood. Known as the Harris House, this location was the first home of the National Negro Opera Company organized by Madame Mary Caldwell Dawson. The company rehearsed on the third floor for approximately twenty years. The group started rehearsing under another name in an East Liberty building (now gone) before moving to Apple Street. The National Negro Opera Company went on to stage productions in Pittsburgh, Washington, Chicago and New York. Madame Caldwell’s idea of the National Negro Opera Company was motivated by the desire to create inspiration and incentive in young artists, and to contribute to the business and cultural life of the community.

Ahmad Jamal is one of the young artists inspired by Madame Dawson and the Opera Company. At the time, the house was owned by William A. "Woogie" Harris (brother of The Pittsburgh Courier photographer Teenie Harris), who bought it in the early 1930s. Later, in the 1950s, Harris would rent the house to celebrities such as Lena Horne, Roberto Clemente and Roy Jefferson of the Pittsburgh Pirates, John Nesby, and Marvin Woodson, all of the Pittsburgh Steelers. These prominent people were at the time restricted from accommodations in other parts of the city.

Designated with a Pittsburgh Historical Landmark marker on September 25, 1994 the Opera House is a pillar of the Homewood community.