A Salute To My Father

Growing up in small-town Wake, Virginia, my dad, Emanuel Mansfield, had dreams of becoming a concert tenor despite being from a very poor family with eight living children. His mother had eighteen single births, ten of who died at birth. Before my dad was barely out of his teens, his mother was admitted to a mental institution, never to return home. That was life-changing for their entire family; they had to focus on survival. The residents in this town were either domestics, farmers, or fishermen. But my father had much bigger dreams! Dreams of any kind outside of the norm in Wake were audacious! 

Emanuel had a deep passion for singing his entire life.  In Wake, everyone called Emanuel "The Songbird." He and several of his siblings were always singing – at home and church. But his gifted singing ability was different, and everybody acknowledged that. So, with little more than this dream and his fierce determination, Emanuel left Wake and made his way, turning what had been just a dream into his reality. He became a world-renowned singer dubbed as the second Roland Hayes. 

Newspaper article regarding, Emanuel Mansfield. Article courtesy of Pauline Mansfield.

My father was silent most of the time and shared very little about his inner thoughts or past life. He traveled the world, living out his dream for a good chunk of my life. But when he was home, there was music, always music, in our home till evening fell. After singing professionally for over thirty years, he finally returned home and now had to find his place in this new world. He transitioned from being a world-traveled concert tenor to being a father, a church choir director, a community activist, and a writer for our local African American newspaper. He never once spoke about his life as he traveled across the United States, Canada, and the Caribbean. Without any exciting revelations, life moved on until he died in 1978. 

In 2015, thirty-seven years after my dad’s death, I was led, after a series of serendipitous connections, to tell the story of this passionate singer who I never really knew until after I wrote this book titled “Songs of a Father – I Never Really Knew.” Writing this book was a transformative experience and a very cathartic one for me. I found parts of myself that were missing because I knew nothing about my Mansfield roots. For most of my life, not learning about my dad's family created a void. I have always been deeply aware that our roots, like the roots of trees, often determine what we are to become and how we can withstand the storms of our lives. Taking this journey to discover my father's entire life story introduced me to a man with extraordinary courage and determination. 

Photo courtesy of Rhodes College.

When my dad left his hometown with little more than his dream, he had not finished high school, and college seemed like a very remote possibility. However, he forged ahead with a warrior's spirit, even getting a college education over fifteen of the thirty years he traveled as a singer. In one news article I read about my father, it said, “He sings with power and resonance in his voice; distinguished by warmth and expressive power; a gift well trained…”  He did have a gift, one that seemed to bring him so much joy. 

My family is very proud of my father's extraordinary accomplishments as a singer. Fatherhood was not a space where he felt most comfortable because we were moving into our teens when he came home to begin his next life, and he seemed to have missed his opportunity to connect with us. He was most comfortable with what he loved – music. 

These flowers may be a bit late, but I am glad I could finally salute my dad by sharing his remarkable gift with the world when I wrote about his life in this book. Discovering his family story has undoubtedly been a gift for my family and me for generations to come.