Geoffrey O'Hara



GEOFFREY O'HARA (1882-1966), born in Chatham, Ontario, joined Lew Dockstader's Minstrels in 1904, sang light opera at Daly's Theatre in New York, and "travelled the Lyceum and Chautauqua vaudeville circuits as a singer, lecturer and community song leader." (EMC 2, 962) As instructor of Native music for the US Secretary of the Interior, he collected and recorded many native American songs. As singing instructor and morale builder, he visited military camps during World War II. He wrote over 500 hymns, patriotic songs and popular tunes, as well as 12 operettas.