Eighteen-year old Clara Louise Kellogg made her operatic debut as Gilda in Verdi's Rigoletto at the New York Academy of Arts in New York City. Born in South Carolina but educated in the music schools of New England, she went on to become the preeminent American soprano for the next two decades. She performed extensively in Italian opera in Europe and founded her own touring opera company in 1874. She retired and married Carl Strokosch in 1886. She died in New Hartford, Connecticut in May 1916. (By John Osborne)