Bessie Mecklem Hackenberger
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Draft: Bessie Mecklem Hackenberger
Bessie Mecklem Hackenberger (19 April 1876 – 5 June 1942) was one of the earliest American-born saxophone soloists. During the 1890s, when female woodwind and brass players were uncommon, she performed extensively throughout the northeastern United States with her father, harpist Henry Clay Mecklem (1841–1915). The pair appeared in a wide variety of venues popular during the Gilded Age including lyceum; YMCA and temperance organizations; meetings of fraternal societies, labor organizations, and civic groups; benefit concerts; solos with professional wind bands; and amusement parks. After her marriage in 1900 to Bertram Lyon Hackenberger, she ceased playing professionally, but continued to perform as an active participant in the Progressive-era women's club movement