James Elmer Spyglass (November 1, 1877 – February 16, 1957) was a singer, who lived most of his lifetime in Europe and later worked for the Consulate General of the United States, Frankfurt.

[5] At the Carnegie Music Hall in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, he accompanied a 25 piece orchestra and a 200-member choir in singing Strauss's "An der schönen blauen Donau".

In Frankfurt he performed at the Klein cabaret (formerly Zu den bösen Buben, 'To the bad boys') in Kaiserstr., the Intimes Theater and the Trocadero.

[6] He continued to live freely in Germany during the war,[7] although he was an "enemy" as an American and as a person of color he was considered to be an "inferior race" by the Nazis.

Lang mentions that the consul general, Sidney B. Redecker, was one of the few people who addressed the "colored man" by his first name, Elmer.

The American Consul General, John Burns,[8] the mayor, councilors and many of Schwalbach’s citizens attended his memorial service.

[10] On January 8, 1995, a student in Schwalbach was the first to receive the "James Elmer Spyglass Prize" for contributions to intercultural relations.