MAGAZINE PORTRAIT INSCRIBED AND SIGNED BY PIANIST, COMPOSER AND ETHNOMUSICOLOGIST JOHN POWELL.

Circa [1930].. [1930].. Good. - An oval, sepia-toned magazine portrait, 3-7/8 inches high by 3-1/8 inches wide, is mounted on a piece of cream card, approximately 6-1/4 inches high by 3-5/8 inches wide. Inscribed in black ink on the mount below the portrait: "To Seymour Halpern, / with best wishes, / John Powell". The mount is lightly soiled & there is some black staining to the blank verso. Good. <p>The head-and-shoulders portrait depicts a handsome young Powell in profile, wearing a suit and tie.<p>John Powell [1882- 1963], an American pianist, composer and ethnomusicologist, was born and brought up in Virginia. He was one of the founders of the White Top Folk Festival, held in Grayson County, Virginia, which promoted the music of the people in the Appalachian Mountains. A firm believer in segregation and white supremacy, Powell helped found the Anglo-Saxon Clubs of America, which soon had numerous posts in Virginia.<p>The Queens, New York Republican Congressman Seymour Halpern (1913-1997) started his political career as a campaign aide to New York's powerful mayor Fiorella La Guardia and first served in New York's State Senate for 14 years before seeking a seat in the U.S. Congress. In Albany Halpern sponsored 279 bills that became law, including measures on schools, housing, civil rights, nutrition and mental health. A Liberal, he was something of an anomaly as the lone Republican representative from New York City, and generally garnered support from Labor Unions and endorsement from the Liberal Party. Yet he never even considered switching parties as he considered membership in the Republican Party a family tradition and commitment. While he found ample time for his private pursuits, including painting and collecting autographs, he took his legislative duties very seriously. Of these, he was proudest of his co-sponsorship of the 1964 Civil Rights Act and of the original 1965 Medicare legislation.