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Emma Lucy Gates was born in 1880 in St. George, Utah, the daughter of Jacob F. Gates and Susa Young Gates. Her mother, a daughter of Brigham Young, was an accomplished woman in many spheres of activity, and expected excellence in her children. She was seldom disappointed. Emma Lucy's father, Jacob, was evidently a good and kind man who supported his wife and family in a complete and loving manner.
In 1885 the family moved to the Sandwich Islands where Susa and Jacob served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Of Emma Lucy, or Lulu, as she was called by those close to her, the legend is that she began picking out chords on the piano at two years of age and was playing tunes at four. Shortly after their arrival in Hawaii, Lucy sang, danced, and played the ukelele for Queen Kapiolani.
Emma Lucy's musical training originally emphasized the piano. At the age of fourteen, she won the Welsh Eisteddfod, a piano competition held in the Salt Lake Tabernacle, the youngest person ever to win the award. In 1899 Lucy's sister Leah, and her husband John A. Widtsoe, went to Germany in order for Widtsoe to continue his education. Arrangements were made for Emma Lucy to accompany them so that she might study piano in Goettingen, Germany. Lucy Bigelow Young, wife of Brigham Young, later joined her granddaughter as chaperone and companion.
Shortly after her arrival in Germany, Lucy decided, or was persuaded, to change her musical emphasis from piano to voice. As a result, she left Goettingen to enter the Berlin Conservatory which she left within a year in favor of private instruction.
Her first official concert was given in the Salt Lake Tabernacle in 1901 on a program with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Over the next few years, Emma Lucy continued her musical education, studying for varying lengths of time in New York, Paris, and Germany. Her voice has been described as a sweet, clear, high soprano, but without the consistently strong magnitude and volume of some of her contemporaries. However, her extensive training proved profitable when she was offered a five-year contract by the Royal Opera House in Berlin. She left the Royal Opera after only two years, however, when the Royal Opera House of Cassel, Germany made her its prima donna. In 1914, after seven years in Germany, Emma Lucy returned to the United States. While she was in New York, the war began in Europe and she deemed it advisable not to return to her position in Cassel, despite repeated requests from the management there.
In 1915, near the beginning of her career in the United States, Lucy, with her brother B. Cecil Gates, organized the Lucy Gates Grand Opera Company which toured the country extensively for several years. In 1916 she signed a recording contract with Columbia Graphophone Company (now Columbia Records). In this venture, she was very successful. There was a time, in fact, when she sold more records than any other singer of her type.
On 30 July 1916, Emma Lucy Gates married the prominent lawyer Albert E. Bowen, a widower with two sons. He evidently was an enthusiastic supporter of his wife's career. Lucy Gates Bowen continued an active concert, recording, and opera career through the 1920s and 30s. She began curtailing these activities about the same time her husband was called as one of the Apostles in the Council of the Twelve of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1937. But she continued teaching aspiring opera stars until her death. Lucy Gates gave her last formal public appearance in 1948 at a testimonial concert in her honor. She died at home in Salt Lake City on 30 April 1951.
The Emma Lucy Gates Bowen Collection could be considered an extension
of the Susa Young Gates Collection (
I am thoroughly convinced that I have found a teacher who will correct in a very short time the faults that have stood between me and the ultimate success that my gifts and past study really entitle me to. (2/23/18)
And again, in an undated letter to her parents, Lucy is exceedingly adamant about her decision to study in Europe.
Where would I have been studying at home--J. Reuben Clark, Reed Smoot, and everyone else. No one ever amounts to anything in the eyes of the "Brethern" [sic] until some one else away from home has seen and acknowledged their worth.
But Emma Lucy was also devoted to her church. Several clippings quote her defending polygamy, as a granddaughter of Brigham Young, and her letters frequently contain allusions to the importance of the church in her life. One telegram sent to Jacob Gates illustrates her spiritually practical nature.
Remember us especially this morning in temple Cecils music and my records being gone over by deciding committees we fasting here have been blessed greatly so far and are so anxious to have things terminate successfully if our fathers will having wonderful time don't mention telegram. (3/14/24)
The collection includes biographical material on Emma Lucy and family and correspondence--each section arranged chronologically. The bulk of the personal correspondence is between Susa Young Gates, Emma Lucy, and Leah E. D. Widtsoe, Lucy's sister. Following these sections are scrapbooks, generally reviews of concerts. The next case contains concert and opera programs and some catalogs and advertisements from Columbia Records. These are arranged chronologically by year, month, and day and include not only Lucy's programs, but also those of concerts attended by her. Newspaper clippings comprise the last major division of the collection. These begin in 1898 and continue through the mid-1930s. They are arranged by year only and are generally reviews of performances, although there are numbers of items which were evidently clipped out of personal interest. Many of the earlier programs, and clippings, are in German, reflecting the time Lucy spent in that country.
The Emma Lucy Gates Bowen Collection provides valuable insight on one of the more prominent Utah women and the environment and times in which she lived. In addition to its worth as a separate entity, the collection can also be utilized to provide additional light on the Susa Y. Gates and John A. Widtsoe families, both of which played a prominent role in the history of Utah.
Emma Lucy Gates Bowen Papers, 1897-1939, Utah State Historical Society.
Gift of G. Homer Durham, Eudora W. Durham, and Anna W. Wallace
The Emma Lucy Gates Bowen Papers are the physical property of the Utah Historical Society, Salt Lake City, Utah. Literary rights, including copyright, may belong to the authors or their heirs and assigns. Please contact the Historical Society for information regarding specific use of this collection.
Photographs have been removed to