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Emma Carus

German-born American singer (1879-1927)

Correspondence, annotated notebooks and portrait silhouettes prepared for research
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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionFeb 2, 2026
Entity authorityQ5372754
Source-derived summary

Emma Carus (March 18, 1879 – November 18, 1927) was an American contralto singer from New York City who was in the cast of the original Ziegfeld Follies in 1907.

She frequently sang in vaudeville and sometimes in Broadway features. One columnist described her as "a sort of combination of Sophie Tucker and Fay Templeton with a little of Eva Tanguay and Eddie Foy thrown in for good measure."

Vocalist in theater

She appeared in the drama Rally Round the Flag at the Union Square Theatre in August 1897. The venue at 50 East 14th Street was owned by Benjamin Franklin Keith and Edward Franklin Albee II, who purchased the theater in 1893 to host vaudeville performances. Carus was described as a

ballad singer prior to her performance at the Olympia Roof Garden, Broadway (Manhattan) between 44th Street and 45th Street, in September 1897. The following month she shared a program at the Pleasure Palace with the Dunbar Sisters and Henry E. Dixey. The entertainment hall was managed by Frederick Freeman Proctor and was located on East Fifty-Eighth Street between Third Avenue (Manhattan-Bronx) and Lexington Avenue (Manhattan).

A varied lineup of acts was presented by Sam T. Jack's Theatre, Madison Street (Chicago), State Street (Chicago), Chicago, in June 1898. Carus joined Troja, Jennie Yeamans, and the Washburn sisters on a bill.

In October 1905 Carus appeared on Broadway at Proctor's Fifth Avenue (Manhattan) Theatre.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Emma Carus” as german-born American singer (1879-1927). This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Emma, Carus and German-born.

Editorial reviewA productive starting point for separating a subject’s documented career from later reputation and commemoration. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1879, 1927, 1907, 1897—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1879-03-18. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Emma, Carus and German-born providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Emma Carus”, the useful work is to connect “german-born American singer (1879-1927)” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Feb 2, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q5372754. VIAF identifies the subject as 24359136. The Library of Congress control number is no2006087586. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1879, 1927, 1907 and 1897.

Critical limits

Later biographies can compress uncertainty and repeat inherited reputations, so apparently settled claims may still require comparison. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.

Best used for
  • Establishing names and roles
  • Building a first chronology
  • Locating cited institutions
Verify next

Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Emma Carus”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Emma Carus primary sources, Emma Carus archive and Emma research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Emma Carus”?
  2. Which primary records establish identity, chronology and institutional ties?
  3. Which claims depend on a single source or contested interpretation?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Emma Carus” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.