She moved to Atlanta where she taught at a historically Black college. She married and the couple returned to Little Rock. But a series of terrible racial incidents, including a lynching, persuaded the couple to move north to Chicago. Financial struggles and abuse by her husband followed, and she became a single mother to two daughters. She continued composing, indefatigably and made some income as a theater organist for silent films. She eventually met and was befriended by Langston Hughes and Marian Anderson, prominent arts figures who aided her success as a composer. She wrote symphonies and all manner of compositions, scores of them, and won some prizes and recognition. But not a great deal.

After her untimely death, Florence was largely forgotten, her music obscured by new styles and a fast-changing art world. Her music came ‘perilously close to obliteration.’ But 50 years later, as more African American women composers began to be recognized for their works, she began to be rediscovered. Then in 2009, miraculously, a substantial collection of her works was discovered in a dilapidated, abandoned old house in St. Anne, Illinois. That music is still being rediscovered, re-orchestrated, published, and performed. Without the abandoned house in St. Anne, the world would never have known. I’m so glad I came to know, by hearing this lovely, evocative little collection–Dances In The Canebreaks–on a Sirius channel. They are peaceful, and beautiful, with clear traces of African American, southern, and rural musical influences. A new favorite for me. May this music give you a few minutes of enjoyment, and perhaps even inspiration. Click the link to listen. (And don’t stop after the first one.)