African American opera diva of the 30's honored at Lincoln Theater COLUMBUS, OH (WCBE) - Long before Denyce Graves, Leontyne Price or even Marian Anderson, there was Ruby Elzy. A star of the concert stage, radio, film, and a big hit on Broadway, Elzy was one of the country's first African American opera stars. This weekend, the Lincoln Theater honors the Mississippi-born, Ohio State-trained star, with a program of some of her best known songs. David Weaver, author of the biography "Black Diva" tells Alison Holm that Elzy was discovered by OSU professor C.C. McCracken during an accreditation tour of black colleges in the south. © Copyright 2012, WCBE