Zelma Watson George (December 8, 1903 – July 3, 1994) was an African-American philanthropist who was famous for being an alternate in the United Nations General Assembly and, as a headliner in Gian Carlo Menotti's opera The Medium, the first African American to play a role that was typically played by a white actress.

[3] After graduating from Topeka Public Schools, George enrolled at the University of Chicago and obtained a bachelor's degree in sociology in 1924.

She then went on to Northwestern University and studied the pipe organ from 1924 until 1926, and in 1925 enrolled as a voice student at the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago until 1927.

[5] She sang in church groups, directed choirs, appeared on lecture programs, and studied singing.

After completing her study, she wrote the musical drama Chariot's A'Comin!, which was locally aired on television in Cleveland in 1949.

She went on to be cast as the first African-American woman to act in a typically White role, in Gian-Carlo Menotti's opera The Medium at the Karamu Theater in Cleveland and the Edison Theatre in New York City.

George was later cast in Gian-Carlo Menotti's The Consul and Kurt Weill's The Three Penny Opera.