HISTORY
NOTES
Newsletter
of the MENC History Special Research Interest
Group
Summer,
2006
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Editor: Dr. James T.
McRaney, National Chair Email:
jmcraney@aol.com
IN THIS
ISSUE …
> Report from National Chair
> New National Chair and Chair-elect
> Highlights from Salt Lake City National Conference
> Biennial business session
> Hall of Fame Liaison Committee
> MENC/HSRIG Symposium (Centennial)
> Other Research Interests and Opportunities
> Special FEATURE ARTICLE
> HSRIG Officers (Advisory Council)
FROM THE HSRIG NATIONAL
CHAIR
EDITOR’S NOTE: More than 230 copies of this newsletter are
being sent via the internet. A hard copy of HISTORY NOTES
will be provided to the MENC Archives at the University of
Maryland. Electronic versions of this newsletter may be
added to any interested website. In the event you are aware
of a need for a hard copy, please share that information
with the editor. I will also forward any specific needs to
the new National Chair (editor) for future service. Thank
you … JTMcR
The revision of the History SRIG Bylaws (National
Conference, 2006) extended the current term of office
through June, to cause our election procedure to correspond
with the other SRIGs under the Music Educators Research
Council handbook guidelines. On July 1, the role of
National Chair of the History SRIG passes to Dr. Jere
Humphreys of Arizona State University. Jere is a
distinguished researcher - I have been honored by his
support and input during these two years. I wish to express
gratitude to the members of the History SRIG for this
special privilege of serving as National Chair. There are
so many who are truly committed to historical research –
and its dissemination – who have provided helpful advice
and counsel during these months. Please accept my deepest
personal appreciation for this opportunity and for your
wisdom and contributions.
What an exciting biennium in which to have served. The past
two years have been the planning phase for the celebration
of MENC’s centennial. President David Circle has strongly
supported the HSRIG in planning for the 2006 national
conference and our six sessions, and has worked with the
planning committee in developing plans for the 2007 History
Symposium which is being hosted by the HSRIG (detailed
information below).
INCOMING NATIONAL
CHAIR
Dr. Jere Humphreys is a professor at Arizona State
University in Tempe. Even as he assumes the duties of
National Chair, he will be attending the International
Society for Music Education conference in Malaysia, and
will follow that with a guest lecturing visit to Argentina.
We are fortunate to have a leader of his experience filling
this position.
Jere has taught, presented, consulted, and written on a
wide variety of topics related to music and arts education
and business—work that has taken him to six continents. He
has served as an Academic Specialist for the U.S. State
Department, and as a research team member for projects
sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts, European
Union, and other agencies. He is a Senior Fulbright Scholar
and just this past April received the 2006 MENC Senior
Researcher Award at the Salt Lake City conference.
As Chair-elect, Jere has guided the planning for a special
centennial symposium – Keokuk II – to be held May 31-June
2, 2007. Detaisl and a call for papers are included later
in this newsletter. This promises to be an exciting and
significant effort by HSRIG to promote historical research
in music education.
INCOMING
CHAIR-ELECT
Dr. Alan Spurgeon was elected HSRIG Chair-elect at the Salt
Lake City meeting. Alan is Director of Music Education and
Coordinator of Graduate Studies in Music at the University
of Mississippi. He is also co-editor of the Southern Music
Education Journal. Prior to coming to Ole Miss, Alan taught
at Southwestern Oklahoma State University and served as
Southwest Division Chair for the History SRIG.
Alan is a native of the area near Keokuk, Iowa – the
birthplace of MENC. He has also served on the planning
committee for the History SRIG 2007 symposium and has been
extremely instrumental in our efforts to locate the seminar
in Keokuk. He will serve as National Chair beginning in
July, 2008.
“HIGHLIGHTS” FROM 2006
MENC NATIONAL CONFERENCE
Our primary initiative during the past two years has been
the History SRIG’s role at the national conference of MENC
in Salt Lake City this past April. I would like to express
my utmost appreciation to those who have been so helpful
and supportive of this effort, particularly to all who
served as speakers, session presiders, and session aides
for handouts. A special thank you to the division chairs
who took an active role in the business session by hosting
breakout sub-groups in an effort to improve communication
among HSRIG members within our divisions. Also thanks to
the past national chairs for their input and for attending
the conference for our special recognition of HSIRG
leadership over its first 25 years. This was the most
significant involvement of HSRIG in a national conference,
and those who attended will long remember the contributions
of these faithful members.
The History SRIG organized SIX sessions focused on
“kicking-off” the celebration of MENC’s centennial. Many
thanks to MENC President David Circle for encouraging HSRIG
to develop this series to provide an in-depth review of
music education in American society over the past 100
years, with significant attention to the role played by our
association.
Four sessions titled CENTENNIAL PROFILE (I – IV) pinpointed
segments (i.e., quarter-century periods) of the past
century and included major presentations by respected music
educators/HSRIG members. Each session was opened with a
unique sing-along of classroom music, using examples chosen
from textbooks from each respective quarter-century era,
led by James T. McRaney. The major presenters were:
I : 1907 – 1932. Dr. William R. Lee, University of
Tennessee at Chattanooga
A New Look at a Significant Cultural Moment (1907-1932)
II : 1933 – 1957. Dr. Carolyn Livingston, University of
Rhode Island
Survival through a challenging era – the depression, WWII,
and the cold war
III : 1933 – 1957. Dr. Michael Mark, Professor Emeritus,
Towson University
Against the backdrop of the cold war, technology, and the
civil rights revolution
IV : 1933 – 1957. Dr. Marie McCarthy, University of
Maryland
Widening horizons with a global lens: responding to the New
World Order
The “traditional” HSRIG research session included three
research presentations:
Dr. Alan Spurgeon, University of Mississippi - The
Beginning of MENC: Why Keokuk?
Dr. Patti Tolbert, Georgia College and State University -
Anne Grace O’Callaghan: Music educator, community arts
advocate and professional leader. (dissertation review)
Dr. Shelly Cooper, University of Arizona - Marguerite Hood:
Her life and contributions to music education.
(dissertation review)
Chair-elect Jere Humphreys concluded this session by
providing a review of the 2006 HSRIG centennial
presentations and a look toward 2007.
Attendance at the six sessions was “enthusiastic” -
considering that three of the six sessions were at 8:30
a.m.!!! Attendance reports (to MENC) ranged from 22 to 42
over the six sessions, with a total of 180 attending. HSRIG
was especially pleased and honored to have no less than
four (4) national presidents of MENC in attendance for our
final session of this centennial celebration inauguration.
These included current president David Circle and past
presidents June Hinckley, Willie Hill and Paul Lehman.
Historical research was “alive and well” even during our
visit to Salt Lake City. HSRIG member Nancy Vogan of New
Brunswick, Nova Scotia pursued a personal search to find
the local gravesite of MENC founder Frances Elliott Clark.
At week’s end, Nancy shared quickly developed photos of
Mrs. Clark’s marker at a HSRIG session.
Musical experiences at the 2006 national conference were
many …. but of special interest was the outstanding,
memorable Friday night concert by the Mormon Tabernacle
Choir with their guests, the Expressions of Silence (deaf
choir from Montana) and the Oak Ridge Boys quartet. If you
were not able to attend, you missed an unbelievable
spectacle of 21,000 audience members, LED BY the Mormon
Tabernacle Choir, as they stood clapping enthusiastically
and rhythmically to “Elvira” !!!
MENC announced broadcasting information about that concert:
“Two TV programs were created from the concert filmed in
April at MENC’s national conference in Salt Lake City.
‘Spirit of America’ highlights the Mormon Tabernacle Choir
and Orchestra at Temple Square and Expressions of Silence.
‘American Harmonies’ features the Oak Ridge Boys, the
official musical ambassadors of MENC’s National Anthem
Project. Both programs will air June 30 – July 6 ... for
airtimes in your area visit:
http://www.feedthechildren.org/site/PageServer?pagename=org_tv_schedule
HSRIG BIENNIAL BUSINESS
SESSION
The business session included recognition of past chairs of
HSRIG. Past chairs in attendance were Michael Mark
(1982-84), Mel Platt (1984-86), Bill Lee (1990-92), Mark
Fonder (1992-94), Sondra Wieland Howe (1996-98), Marie
McCarthy (1998-2000), and Carolyn Livingston (2000-2002).
Memorial tributes to past chairs George Heller (1978-1980)
and Charles Gary (1986-88) were given by Jere Humphreys and
Michael Mark.
Distinguished Service Award presented to Dr. Carolyn
Livingston
On the faculty of the University of Rhode Island since
1987, Carolyn is Director of Graduate Studies in Music. She
was named University of Rhode Island Humanities Faculty
Fellow for 2003-2004. She is a member of the editorial
committees of the Journal of Research in Music Education
(JRME) and the Journal of Historical Research in Music
Education (JHRME), and has been an invited presenter for
History SRIG sessions at three previous national
conferences. She also presented papers at Philosophy of
Music Education International Symposia II, III and IV.
Dr. Livingston is author of Charles Faulkner Bryan: His
Life and Music, published in 2003 by the University of
Tennessee Press. Her articles have appeared in numerous
professional journals, including JRME, JHRME, Bulletin of
Historical Research in Music Education, Philosophy of Music
Education Review, Music Educators Journal, Update,
Quarterly Journal of Music Teaching and Learning, American
Music Teacher, Choral Journal, Opera Journal, and British
Music. She chaired the History SRIG from 2000-2002 and
edited the HSRIG newsletter, HISTORY NOTES.
Other business included:
➢
Alan Spurgeon was elected to
serve as National Chair-elect.
➢
Significant revisions to
History SRIG Bylaws approved - the first since 1994.
➢
Bylaws revision established a
new HSRIG Liaison Committee to the MENC Hall of Fame (see
below).
➢
Breakout discussions led by
the HSRIG division chairs, including:
Patrick Jones (Eastern), Alan Spurgeon (Southern), Terese
Volk (North Central), George McDow (Southwest), Shelly
Cooper (Western). Patricia Shehan Campbell (Northwestern)
was unable to attend the session due to a recent
incapacitation.
NEW MENC HALL OF FAME
LIAISON COMMITTEE
Following the 2004 national conference in Minneapolis, MENC
Hall of Fame Committee Chair Paul Lehman requested the
HSRIG to look at ways it could provide additional research
investigation of nominees that have been submitted for
consideration to the Hall of Fame committee. The HSRIG
Bylaws revision of 2006 included the establishment of a
“liaison committee” for this purpose. HSRIG Chair Jere
Humphreys has appointed the following to serve: James T.
McRaney, chair (6 years); Michael Mark (4 years); Patti
Tolbert (2 years); Emery Warnock (6 years). The committee
will begin its work with Dr. Lehman in July.
2007 MENC/HSRIG
SYMPOSIUM
A special committee is planning a major history symposium
as part of the MENC centennial celebration in 2007. The
chair is Jere Humphreys, incoming HSRIG Chair. Members
include Mark Fonder; Sondra Howe; William Lee; Marie
McCarthy; James McRaney; Alan Spurgeon; and Terese Volk.
Here is their report:
CALL FOR PAPERS, PANEL
DISCUSSIONS, AND PERFORMANCES
Keokuk II: Centennial Symposium for MENC:
The National Association for Music Education
May 31-June 2, 2007
Keokuk, Iowa
This symposium will commemorate the founding of MENC: The
National Association for Music Education in Keokuk, Iowa in
1907. The symposium is being planned and administered by
the History Special Research Interest Group (SRIG) of the
MENC Society for Research in Music Education, with support
from MENC and the City of Keokuk.
The symposium planning committee welcomes submissions for
the following:
1. Scholarly papers suitable for reading (complete)
2. Panel discussions (an outline with names of
participants)
3. Performances (musical content, names of performers, and
any equipment needs)
All topics should relate in some way to music education in
the United States during MENC’s first century (1907-2007).
Materials must be submitted electronically in any standard
style format. Accepted scholarly papers will be considered
for publication in the Journal of Historical Research in
Music Education, which follows The Chicago Manual of Style,
15th ed. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2003).
Include the following information in the body of the
electronic mail message: Name, address, telephone,
affiliation, email address for further communication, and
title of the paper or proposal. Send all information to
Jere.Humphreys@asu.edu.
Complete papers and detailed proposals for other
presentations must be received no later than 11:59 p.m.,
February 15, 2007. Acknowledgement and notification (by
March 15) will be sent via return email.
Keokuk is accessible from airports in Burlington and Cedar
Rapids, Iowa, Quincy, Illinois, and St. Louis, Missouri.
The City of Keokuk hopes to provide ground transportation
from Burlington and Quincy. The main housing and symposium
venue will be the Holiday Inn Express in Keokuk.
The History SRIG, MENC, and City of Keokuk are planning
several activities that should be of interest to symposium
attendees, including tours, concerts, and an address on the
geographical area and period.
For further information, contact:
Jere T. Humphreys
School of Music
Arizona State University
Tempe, AZ 85287-0405 USA
Jere.Humphreys@asu.edu
OTHER RESEARCH
INTERESTS and OPPORTUNITIES
Journal of Historical Research in Music Education
Edited by HSRIG member Mark Fonder – jhrme@ithaca.edu
Southern Music Education Journal
Edited by HSRIG member Alan Spurgeon – aspurg@olemiss.edu
History of Music Education Website
Hosted by HSRIG member Bill Lee –
http://www.utc.edu/Faculty/William-Lee/
History of Music Education in Austrailia Website
Hosted by HSRIG colleague Robin L. Stephens at Deakin
University.
http://education.deakin.edu.au/music_ed/history/
Society for American Music (submitted by HSRIG member
Sondra Wieland Howe)
The Society for American Music (formerly the Sonneck
Society) will hold a joint meeting with the Music Library
Association in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, March 1-4, 2007.
Proposals for papers and lecture-performances are due July
1, 2006, submitted online. Check out the website at
www.american-music.org for details. For this conference SAM
is especially interested in topics on American music
collections and research on American music libraries, but
any other American topic is welcome.
FEATURE ARTICLE
LEGACY OF THE MENC GAVEL
James T. McRaney, National Chair, History SRIG
There exists – respectfully ensconced in a beautiful new
display case at the MENC Headquarters in Reston, Virginia –
a small piece of wood not significantly larger than most
plastic infant rattlers. THIS piece of wood, however, bears
reference to an historical event – a century of significant
heritage – a legacy of enrichment in the lives of countless
millions of Americans, and to some extent, the entire
world. Few are aware of this historical gem beyond those
who have the privilege of serving in elected positions at
the national and divisional levels of MENC: The National
Association for Music Education and the headquarters staff.
But the ramification of its legacy has had worldwide impact
on the course of music education throughout the 20th and
into the 21st centuries.
In July of even-numbered years, a ceremonial “passing of
the gavel” occurs as the duties of the MENC president are
transferred. “The Gavel” makes regular appearances to fill
its place of duty at meetings of the National Executive
Board in the Reston headquarters, scrutinized by photos of
all preceding MENC presidents that hang in respectful
esteem on the walls of the Board Room.
At the recent Salt Lake City national conference of MENC,
an informal discussion among History SRIG members indicated
that it is likely that only a relative few members of MENC
even know of the existence of a special “gavel” –
especially one bearing such significance to the founding of
our association. In anticipation of our approaching
centennial celebration, it was determined that the final
newsletter of this two-year term should carry the “story”
of the gavel.
Asked for information about “the gavel”, MENC’s Director of
Executive Operations Marlynn Likens, charged with the
household duty of its “safekeeping”, recently shared:
“In the late ‘90s (when MENC turned 90) the gavel stopped
traveling outside of Headquarters. We decided as we got
closer to the Centennial - maybe it should not be traveling
and so it was kept in its official case (a beautiful 1940s
hosiery box --quilted satin material on the outside -- it
is a treasure without the gavel inside! About three years
ago we built a display case in the lobby for it. This is
where it lives today instead of in a box.
“Today the gavel still serves the purpose of what I call
‘the changing of the guard’ -- Every two years when one
MENC National President leaves office, the official gavel
is passed to the incoming president. For example: from the
July, 2004 minutes,
‘Immediate Past President Willie L. Hill, Jr., called the
first session of the business meeting of the MENC National
Executive Board to order at 9:00 a.m., Friday, July 2,
2004, in the MENC Headquarters Board Room, Reston,
Virginia. As the first item of business, he transferred the
office of president to David E. Circle by presenting him
with the gavel.’ "
Harriet Mogge, a long-time staff executive at MENC
headquarters, responded:
“When I arrived at MENC, the President's gavel was in the
care of Charles Gary's office (Executive Secretary) and
after Charles resigned, the gavel shifted officially to
Gene Morlan's care (interim Executive Secretary) and he
charged me with it's safekeeping. It stayed with me until
Marlynn arrived (1979) and eventually felt comfortable
enough with MENC routine to take charge of it.”
Gene Morlan, former MENC interim Executive Secretary now
enjoying retirement in Virginia, was gracious to respond to
our inquiry for information with a concentrated act of
additional research:
“My first responsibility as a member of the MENC
Headquarters staff was to oversee the move of the
headquarters office from Chicago to the NEA Headquarters
building in Washington, D.C. On one of my trips I brought
the gavel back with me. Shortly after I joined the MENC
headquarters staff in December 1954 as the assistant
executive secretary to Vanett Lawler, who had recently
succeeded C.V. Buttelman in that position, she turned the
gavel over to me and I kept it in my desk drawer. It was in
a soft blue box, the kind in which hosiery is kept. I took
it with me to national conferences for the presidents to
use at the first general session. When I retired after 30
years with the Conference I turned it over to Marlynn
Likens.”
“I have a copy of Eugene Stoddard's dissertation on The
Life and Contributions of Frances Elliott Clark to Music
Education which he did in 1968 at Brigham Young University.
I remembered having read about the gavel, and will share
with you verbatim what is in the dissertation.
‘As you no doubt know the one hundred and four supervisors
of music who responded to the call for an organizational
meeting assembled in the Sunday school room of the little
Westminster Presbyterian Church in Keokuk, Iowa, April
10,1907. In her account of the organization of the Music
Supervisors Conference, Mrs. Frances Elliott Clark stated
she was informed by Mr. Hayden (Philip C. Hayden, who was
Secretary of the Music Section of the National Education
Association) while going up the steps that, in the absence
of President Hamlin E. Cogswell who was ill, she, as vice
president must preside.
‘Mrs. Clark found time for still other areas of Conference
activities. Always a careful custodian of MENC traditions,
she was largely responsible for having an official
president's gavel made of wood taken from the old church in
Keokuk, Iowa. She wrote the Minister of the Westminister
Presbyterian Church to secure suitable wood when the
building was razed in the late 1930's, and with the help of
T.P. Giddings decided upon a style and inscription. Prized
and protected, the golden oak gavel is now kept at the MENC
headquarters office and used only on most important
occasions. The inscription reads:
Presented 1938 to MENC
By Founders
Wood from First Meeting place
Keokuk Church
1907’ “
As we approach the centennial of our founding the gavel
continues as a symbolic image of the dedicated commitment
of not only the small group that met in the Westminster
Presbyterian Church in Keokuk in 1907, but of the thousands
who have followed in their footsteps to make MENC: The
National Association for Music Education a significant
force for music education in the world today.
In a few days, the gavel, with its full heritage and
significance, will pass from David Circle to Lynn
Brinckmeyer at the July meeting of the National Executive
Board. May its “voice” continue to resound with honor and
dignity throughout our second century!
Eds. Note: FOR THOSE WHO WISH TO SEE EXCELLENT PHOTOS OF
“THE GAVEL” SUPPLIED BY MARLYNN LIKENS AT MENC, PLEASE SEND
ME AN EMAIL. I DID NOT ATTEMPT TO “ATTACH” THEM TO THIS
NEWSLETTER SINCE A NUMBER OF EMAIL ADDRESSES AUTOMATICALLY
“BLOCK”ANY EMAIL WITH AN ATTACHMENT. JTMcR
<<< >>>
HSRIG OFFICERS (Advisory Council)
James T. McRaney, Chair (2004-06) Jere Humphreys,
Chair-elect (2004-06)
Adjunct Professor of Music Professor of Music
Reinhardt College, Waleska, GA Arizona State University,
Tempe, AZ
Email: jmcraney@aol.com Email: Jere.Humphreys@asu.edu
Division Chairs (2002-06)
Southern: Alan Spurgeon (Chair-elect Elect) North Central:
Teresa Volk
University of Mississippi, Oxford, MS Wayne State
University, Detroit, MI
aspurg@olemiss.edu ag7658@wayne.edu
Western: Shelly Cooper
University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ
ShellyCooper@cableaz.com
Division Chairs (2004-08)
Eastern: Patrick Jones Northwestern: Patricia Shehan
Campbell
University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA University of
Washington, Spokane, WA
pjones@uarts.edu pcamp@u.washington.edu
Southwest: George McDow
Boeme, TX
ghmcdow@prodigy.net