Lulah McEwen Hedgeman

Lulah McEwen Hedgeman (1938–1997) was an American musician and educator in Tennessee who taught at Memphis' Overton High School for Creative and Performing Arts. Hedgeman built a concert choir, a chamber group, and a jazz show choir and took her singers to the level of international competition. For this she received a cash award and a paid trip to Hollywood for her 31-member chamber singers, whom she conducted in a Disney Channel program called "American Teacher Awards". In 1994 she was given an "Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts" degree by Rhodes College. She was subsequently called "Dr. Hedgeman" even though the title was an honorary one. Hedgeman died suddenly on December 8, 1997, after an apparent heart attack at age 59.