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Biography · Education & Scholarship

Helen Elise Smith Dett

1888–1950

United States

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Biography

Helen Elise Smith Dett (April 1888 – 2 October 1950) was an American pianist and music educator, the wife of composer Robert Nathaniel Dett. She was the first black graduate of the Damrosch Institute of Musical Art (now Juilliard School) and co-founder of the Martin-Smith School of Music in New York.

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Biography text · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source checked 2026-10-13

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