Lillian Burkhart Goldsmith

Lillian Burkhart Goldsmith (February 8, 1871 — February 25, 1958) was an American vaudeville performer, clubwoman, and businesswoman, based in Los Angeles.

Lillian Burkhart Goldsmith, in a 1922 publication.
Lillian Burkhart, from a 1901 publication.

Early life

Lillian Burkhart was born in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, the daughter of Adolph Burkhart and Rosalie Cirker Burkhart. Her parents were both Jewish immigrants: her father was born in Russia, and her mother was born in Germany. Lillian trained as a teacher in the Pittsburgh area.[1]

Career

In her early years, Lillian Burkhart produced and performed in more than two dozen one-act sketches, and was remembered as "the foremost comedienne in vaudeville".[2][3][4] After she married her second husband and moved to California, she continued giving recitations and dramatic readings,[5] often for community groups,[6] and she produced "municipal pageants" and theatrical events, including a benefit show for the victims of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, and the Los Angeles pageant marking Shakespeare's tercentenary.[7][8][9][10]

In Los Angeles she was an officer of the Ebell Club, the founder and first president of the Philanthropy and Civics Club (beginning in 1919),[11] and the president of the Los Angeles chapter of the National Council of Jewish Women (from 1924 to 1930).[12] She developed a successful career of buying and improving property in the growing city,[13] and funded the building of clubhouses for several of philanthropic organizations.[1] She established the first Girl Scout Council in Los Angeles, and was its first commissioner.[14] She began and funded the Lillian Burkhart Fund, which supported college scholarships for disadvantaged students.[15]

Lillian Burkhart Goldsmith lectured against prohibition.[16] She was monitored and questioned by the U. S. Justice Department during World War I, because her mother was German and because she gave a lecture, "What the World is Thinking and Feeling", which was perceived as possibly influencing clubwomen against the American war effort.[17]

Personal life

Lillian Burkhart was married to a fellow vaudeville performer, Charles Dickson, in 1891; the couple appeared in shows together.[18][19] She married George Goldsmith in 1903. They had a daughter, Rosalie Faith Goldsmith, born in 1904. Lillian was widowed in 1928,[14] and died in 1958, aged 87 years.[20]

References
  1. Katy Lain, "Lillian Burkhart Goldsmith: Shaping the City" Southern California Quarterly 89(3)(Fall 2007): 285-306.
  2. "Lillian Burkhart, Who Came Back and Who Also Was 'Born Again'" Los Angeles Times (June 21, 1911): II14.
  3. "Lillian Burkhardt's Art; The Favorite Actress of the Vaudeville Stage Wins a Warm Welcome In a Bright Little Comedy" Los Angeles Herald (December 3, 1901): 9; via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
  4. "Vaudeville Stage: A Gifted Comedienne" New York Dramatic Mirror (March 13, 1897): 18.
  5. "Shakespeare Club Hears Fairy Stories: Mrs. Lillian Burkhart Goldsmith Entertains Club in Charming Way Yesterday" Pasadena Star (April 15, 1914): 9.
  6. "Lillian Burkhart Goldsmith to Entertain at Informal Gatherings Next Month" Los Angeles Herald (September 25, 2011): 5; via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
  7. Paul Henry Dowling, "The Masque of the Nativity: A Triumph of Municipal Pageantry" The American City 15(December 1916): 655-657.
  8. "Of Thee We Sing, Hannah!" Long Beach Independent (January 25, 1948): 16. via Newspapers.com
  9. "Pretty Flower Girls Capture Much Coin" Los Angeles Herald (May 4, 1906): 8. via Newspapers.com
  10. "In Remembrance of Shakespeare: Los Angeles to Join in Nationwide Celebration; Lillian Burkhart Goldsmith Asked to Take Charge of the Pageant Commemorating the Tercentenary of the World's Greatest Dramatist in April" Los Angeles Times (January 26, 1916): I12.
  11. Louis Lyons and Josephine Wilson, eds., Who's Who Among the Women of California (Security Publishing Company 1922): 133.
  12. Myra Nye, "What Women are Doing: Lillian Burkhart Goldsmith" Los Angeles Times (August 16, 1925): D9.
  13. "Lillian Burkhart Goldsmith Tells How She Converted City Lot into Retreat for Herself and Daughter" Los Angeles Herald (November 26, 2010): 4; via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
  14. Myra Nye, "Club Leader Carrying On: Mrs. Lillian Goldsmith Combats Grief" Los Angeles Times (June 24, 1928): C29.
  15. "Miss Burkhart Has a Mission" Minneapolis Star (November 25, 1922): 8. via Newspapers.com
  16. "'Wet' and 'Dry' Cross Swords" Los Angeles Times (October 9, 1914): II3.
  17. William H. Thomas, Unsafe for Democracy: WOrld War I and the U. S. Justice Department's Covert Campaign to Suppress Dissent (University of Wisconsin Press 2009): 51. ISBN 9780299228934
  18. Charles Musser, "The May Irwin Kiss: Performance and the Beginnings of Cinema" in Vanessa Toulmin and Simon Popple, eds., Visual Delights Two: Exhibition and Reception (John Libby Eurotext 2005): 107. ISBN 9780861966578
  19. Robert Grau, "The Growth of Vaudeville" Overland Monthly (October 1914): 392.
  20. "Mrs. Lillian Goldsmith, Civic Worker, Dies; Founder-Member of the Hollywood Bowl, She Was Also Active in Philanthropies" Los Angeles Times (February 26, 1958): A10.
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