This comprehensive survey of the history of music education in the USA is told through the stories of women who studied, taught, performed and wrote about music. It covers the colonial and revolutionary period, expanding opportunities in the late 19th century, the public school programmes and community music in the 20th century, and finally to developments post World War II until the present. The book is enhanced by a fine selection of photographs, providing a visual record of this history.
In Antebellum America (1790–1860), musical ‘accomplishments’ continued to be important for middle-class women through to the early 19th century. They were encouraged to play ‘appropriate’ instruments such as the piano, guitar and harp. Whilst most private music instructors were men, teaching gradually became a more acceptable career for women. Significantly, Howe makes the point that whilst men were frequently called ‘professors’ and were involved with instrumental music, women were called ‘lady teachers’ and taught mainly vocal music.
For most of the 19th century music in the home centred around pianos and small organs. Howe provides an intriguing symbol of the close association between women musicians and domesticity in the 1860s; the combination sewing machine and melodeon in the shape of a parlour sideboard. It comprised two pedals, one to operate the sewing apparatus and one to pump the organ, so that the lady of the household could combine household chores and musical interests. It even spawned its own periodical first published in 1880: the Musical and Sewing Machine Gazette.
After the Civil War there were more opportunities for middle-class women to obtain training in music. Consequently, by the late 19th century women comprised a significant percentage of musicians and music teachers; 43% according to the 1880 census. However only a minority were in leadership roles in schools. In 1885 the US Bureau of Education surveyed 96 schools with reference to the instruction of vocal music: of the 107 individuals styled ‘chief music teacher’, only 26 were women.
During the period between 1900–1945 several prominent women music educators with international reputations came to the fore. Particularly influential were Frances Elliott Clark (1860–1958), Satis Coleman (1878–1961), Ruth Crawford Seeger (1901–1953) and Frances Densmore (1867–1957). Their contributions to music education were notable: Clark was an authority on the use of the phonograph to teach music to school children and became Director of the Victor Education Department; Coleman pioneered a creative approach to music making through her work at the progressive Lincoln School in New York, culminating in her doctoral dissertation and book A Children's Symphony (1931); Crawford Seeger, a distinguished modernist composer, meshed the values of progressive education with the urban folk revival movement and authored the influential collection American Folk Songs for Children (1948); Densmore, a pioneer ethnomusicologist devoted to the music of many Native American tribes, provided materials to help music educators understand Indian traditions.
In the last part of the book, dealing with music education post-1945, Howe pinpoints the influence of the ‘new methodologies’ pioneered by Dalcroze, Orff, Kodály and Suzuki, much in evidence after the Second World War. Although pioneered by men, women were very involved in the development and expansion of these ideas in the USA. For example, the New York Dalcroze School of Music, the first official Dalcroze training school in the USA, was founded in 1915 by Suzanne Ferriere, assisted by Marguerite Heaton. A founding member of the American Orff-Schulwerk Association was Grace Nash, who influenced Orff teaching in the USA from 1960 until 1990. Katinka Dániel was involved with the Kodály concept of music education for over sixty years, and worked on creating a Kodály curriculum for American children using American folk songs. Many women have had long careers teaching the Suzuki approach, notably Margery Aber who studied with Suzuki in Japan and developed the first American Suzuki Summer Institute in 1971.
In her Postlude, Sondra Howe tackles the problems of discrimination. Certainly there was blatant discrimination in the earlier periods where women were denied positions in symphony orchestras, in some band organisations, and on university faculties. More subtle discrimination ensured that women were encouraged to teach younger children but not high school students, singing but not band, and were restricted in the musical instruments they might play. Hidden discrimination occurred when women were not encouraged to become leaders in all organisations, and when they lacked mentors in all specialities of music teaching. But discrimination still exists in many areas of the professional lives of women music educators. One concerns the leadership of high school bands and marching bands. It appears that male conductors continue to recruit and mentor directors who are like themselves. Howe's message to women in music teaching is on the need to reflect on the subtle areas of discrimination that may hinder their progress toward reaching their goals.
In reading the book I wondered what these women music educators actually thought and felt about their work. Howe does admit that her focus is upon the ‘activities’ of women music educators, but that it was difficult to find the ‘viewpoints’ of women throughout history. This is reflected in her reliance upon published primary sources and secondary works, rather than archival research. It leads to a descriptive rather than an analytical approach. Future research might well probe into what comprised the fundamental beliefs, motivations and working lives of women music educators.
Women Music Educators in the United States: A History is a foundational reference text in the field, with its encyclopaedic range of topics including the contribution of women to music in churches, music in schools, music and music education organisations, and music in higher education, to name but a few. It is a worthy testament to Sondra Howe's assiduity and to her dedication to this field of historical research.
