Mary Cardwell Dawson

Mary Lucinda Cardwell Dawson was born on February 14, 1894 in Madison, North Carolina to James Abraham "J.A." Cardwell and Elizabeth Webster Cardwell. She is the third of six children and spent the majority of her childhood and adolescence in Homestead, Pennsylvania which is a suburb of Pittsburgh.

Growing up in Homestead, Mary Lucinda attended Homestead Grammar School and was surrounded by music. She participated in the music ministry at her home church Park Place A.M.E. Church (formerly known as Gladden A.M.E. Church). And engaged in various musical endeavors around the Pittsburgh Area. by 1914, she began to teach music and voice lessons.

In 1920, Cardwell left home for Boston, Massachusetts where she studied music at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston and Central Evening High School. She earned her high school diploma on April 11, 1924 and graduated from New England Conservatory of Music on June 23, 1925 with a teacher's diploma. She continued her studies at the Chicago Musical College and The Metropolitan Opera Studios in New York City.

In 1927, Madame Dawson married Walter Dawson, a master electrician.