Arts & Culture
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Clara Louise Kellogg, said to be the first American-trained prima donna, was born near here in 1842. Her family later moved to New York, where at age 14 she began to study voice, making her debut four years later. She soon became world famous as a leading operatic soprano in America and abroad, singing in cities such as London, Vienna, and Saint Petersburg. In 1873, she helped organize the English Opera Company, one of the earliest attempts in this country to produce opera in English. At the height of her career, she included her native Sumter on a concert tour. In 1887, she married her manager, Carl Strakosch, and withdrew from public life. She died in New Hartford, Connecticut, in 1916.
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Sumter, South Carolina · United States
