Chappell, Pearl Wallace
Biographical / Historical Note
Pearl Wallace Chappell, a teacher of oratory and expression, and a poet and writer, was born near Hot Springs, Arkansas in 1889 to Jesse M. Wallace, a Methodist Circuit Rider, and Belle Harrell Wallace. Pearl Wallace Chappell finished high school in Calvert, Texas and attended Southwestern University at Georgetown, Texas. She married Frank W. Chappell, a consulting engineer in Dallas, Texas. The couple had three children: Frank W. Chappell Jr., a writer, Wallace Edwin Chappell, a preacher, and Ethel Chappell Glenn, a teacher and play director.
During grammar school, high school, and college, Pearl Wallace Chappell gave recitals throughout southern Texas. In 1917, she started giving private lessons in Expression at her home in Oak Lawn before moving to a studio in downtown Dallas, Texas, which became known as the Oak Lawn School of Expression. In 1922, to reflect the school’s growth, its name was changed to The Dallas Academy of Speech and Drama. During the school’s early years, from 1917 to 1940, its curriculum focused on expression, readings, recitals, and individual student programs. During this period, the student body was primarily female. The Dallas Academy of Speech and Drama expanded in the 1940s and 1950s when it received approval for tuition payment from the G.I. Bill. During these years, the school hired additional teachers and supported an increase in play productions. One of the school’s longest-standing productions was the Laurel Land Easter Pageant, which began in 1934 and was produced through the late 1960s. Pearl Wallace Chappell authored several textbooks for the school, including Chappell Normal Course of Expression. She also published short plays and poems. The Dallas Academy of Speech and Drama operated continuously until 1965. Pearl Wallace Chappell died at the age of 80 in 1969.