Roberta Dodd Crawford (5 August 1897 – 14 June 1954) was an African-American lyric soprano and voice instructor who performed throughout the United States and Paris in the 1920s and 1930s.
When Houénou died in a French prison, Roberta was left without access to their marriage funds and returned to Paris where she lived through the Nazi occupation from 1940 until 1944.
[1][3] Her first major performance was on 15 April 1926 at Kimball Hall in Chicago where she sang pieces in five different languages and included songs by African American composers, like N. Clark Smith.
While in Paris in 1931, she met and began a relationship with Kojo Tovalou Houénou, a prominent African lawyer and writer who was related to the royal family of the kingdom of Dahomey (in present-day Benin).
[3][8] However, much of the later years were spent outside of Paris, in Dahomey, Senegal and other parts of West Africa as Houénou was continually harassed and arrested by French authorities for his political involvement.
[6] After Houénou's death, Crawford was unable to gain access to their shared property, which included her concert earnings, because they were all impounded by the French colonial authorities.