Profile Text
Birth Name: Philippa Duke Schuyler
Date of Birth: August 2, 1931
Place of Birth: Harlem, Manhattan, New York City, New York, U.S.
Date of Death: May 9, 1967
Place of Death: Da Nang, South Vietnam
Ethnicity: * father – African-American [including Malagasy], 1/16th German * mother – English, some Scottish and Welsh
Philippa Schuyler was an American concert pianist, composer, author, and journalist. She was a child prodigy in live piano and radio performances.
Philippa was the daughter of Josephine Lewis (Cogdell), a white Texan from a wealthy family, and George Schuyler (George Samuel Schuyler), a prominent African-American writer, journalist, and social commentator, from Rhode Island. Her parents believed that interracial marriage could produce extraordinary offspring. Philippa was known as “the Shirley Temple of American Negroes,” and for her parents’ unusual upbringing methods. She spoke French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, and German, and was a practicing Catholic.
Philippa drowned after the U.S. Army helicopter she was traveling in crashed; during the Vietnam War.
Philippa’s paternal grandfather was George Francis Schuyler (the son of Anthony Schuyler and Phebe Ann Baltimore). George was born in Troy, New York, and was a chef. Anthony was the son of James “Jim” Schuyler and Diana. George’s grandfather was believed to be a soldier working for general and U.S. Senator Philip Schuyler, whose name, which is Dutch, he is said to have taken. Phebe was the daughter of Samuel Baltimore and Pheobe Close.
Philippa’s paternal grandmother was Eliza Jane Fischer/Fisher (the daughter of Philip Fisher and Helen Louisa/Louise Liedendraught). Eliza was born in New York. Helen was born in New York, New York, the daughter of a German ship captain from Bavaria and a Malagasy woman.
Philippa’s maternal grandfather was Daniel Crandall/Calhoun Cogdell (the son of Thomas Sutton Cogdell and Permelia F. Brown). Daniel was born in Wise County, Texas. Thomas was born in Sampson County, North Carolina, the son of Daniel Cogdell and Penelope “Penny” Sutton. Permelia was born in Lawrence County, Alabama, the daughter of John Brown and Elizabeth McCrary.
Philippa’s maternal grandmother was Lucy Norfleet/Norflut Duke (the daughter of William E. Duke and Sarah E. Norfleet). Lucy was born in Boston, Texas. Sarah was the daughter of Philip Ford/Norfleet and Elvira Cabel Hopson.
Sources: https://www.blackpast.org
Genealogies of Philippa Schuyler – https://www.wikitree.com https://fr.findagrave.com https://www.geni.com