Cleota Collins was an American soprano and music educator, who was also one of the founding members of the National Association of Negro Musicians (1919). Born in Cleveland, Ohio, she studied music at The Ohio State University and later in France and Italy. She studied voice with E. Azalia Hackley. She toured as a recitalist, performing primarily at schools across the South. Her major recital tours took place in 1924, 1936, and 1938. During this time, she taught at a number of institutions, including Florida Baptist Academy, Sam Houston College, Tuskegee Institute, and Virginia State College. Like many performers she opened her own music school, named the Lacy School of Music. She was active primarily in Chicago, Cleveland, and North Carolina.

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For further information on this artist:

• The African American Art Song Alliance. “The African American Composers and Performers of Art Song: The 19th and 20th Century—Stage 4 and 5 Development. https://artsongalliance.org/pages/stage-four. Accessed May 19, 2024.

•  Nettles, Darryl Glenn (2003). African American Concert Singers Before 1950. McFarland & Co., pp. 50-51.

• J. Southern. “Cleota Collins.” The Black Perspective in Music, Autumn, 1976, vol 4, no. 3 (Autumn, 1976), pp. 344-345.

• Ellistine Perkins Holly: “Black Concert Music in Chicago, 1890 to the 1930s.” Black Music Research Journal, Spring, 1990, vol. 10, no. 1 (Spring, 1990), pp. 141-149.