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The National Guild of Community Music Schools records were received as a gift from the National Guild of Community Music Schools in June and July of 1970 and in January of 2002, by vote of the Guild's board of directors. Contacts made by University of Minnesota graduate student, Nicholas J. Cords, whose dissertation focused on the community music school movement, played an important role in the Board's consideration and eventual approval of this action.
An inventory of the records was prepared by Katherine Ewald in December of 1980.
The National Guild of Community Music Schools records have been arranged into 5 series:
Unpublished inventory available. Please
Settlement houses, in particular the National Federation of Settlements (NFS) and its member houses, often promoted appreciation of the arts and encouraged participation in cultural activities. This effort frequently took the form of a settlement music school, which offered instruction on both the social, recreational and professional levels. The Great Depression and the consequent infusion of New Deal programs in the area of settlement and community schools created tensions within the Music Division of the National Federation of Settlements over the issue of quality in musical education. Feeling that there was no longer a specific place in settlement music for the more specialized and highly developed music schools and centers, several leading schools withdrew from the federation and, in 1937, founded the National Guild of Community Music Schools.
Despite the fact that the National Guild of Community Music Schools was formed by separating from the National Federation of Settlements, a close tie remained between the two organizations. Guild schools drifted in and out of the Federation and music educators participated in the activities of both organizations, sometimes simultaneously. The goals of placing music study within the reach of all and maintaining a balance between professional and recreational music study also continued to be shared by both.
From its inception, the Guild replaced the Music Division of the NFS
as the major coordinator of approximately thirty community schools throughout
the country. The Guild developed strict membership requirements and offered
member schools a curriculum of comprehensive courses from preparatory to
advanced levels. It published a news bulletin,
The Guild was administered by a president, one or more vice presidents, a secretary, and a treasurer. These officers, all of whom were unsalaried during the period documented by these records, met in executive session four times a year and were assisted in their operations by an advisory council of distinguished musicians and community leaders. Member schools were non-profit, autonomous organizations, supported by income from tuition, contributions, endowments, grants, and parent-student associations. They offered music lessons and classes, as well as joining with city-wide and neighborhood organizations to coordinate musical activities and provide cultural centers. While equipped to develop the individual student to the professional level, the musical needs of the non-professional student were stressed. Extra-curricular courses and activities, such as chorus, orchestra, chamber music, opera workshops, music appreciation classes, and lectures were offered. Student and faculty recitals and concerts were a regular part of school programs.
The Guild continues to operate as the
Note: An in-depth discussion of the circumstances surrounding the Guild's formation may be found in: Cords, Nicholas J. Music in social settlement and community music schools, 1893-1939 : a democratic-esthetic approach to music culture /. A copy is available in the Social Welfare History Archives.
The National Guild of Community Music Schools records contain correspondence, memoranda, studies, project reports, and recital and concert programs documenting the ongoing and special activities of the Guild and its member schools from 1946 to 1955. These records document the schools' activities in music education, musical therapy, and sponsorship of neighborhood and city-wide musical activities. Files from studies of community music school administration and teaching and on relations with other musical organizations, particularly the National Music Council, are also included. Guild officers Richard Egan, Ruth Kemper, Grace Spofford, Howard Whittaker, and Harold Zipper are the individuals whose activities are documented most extensively in the collection. There are no records from the first ten years of the Guild's existence nor are there any board of directors minutes, annual reports, or annual meeting records.
This National Guild of Community Music Schools records are indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the University of Minnesota Libraries. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these headings.
The Administration and General Correspondence series includes
organizational and official papers, committee reports, speeches, copies of
Series 2 documents various Guild studies related to such issues as the structure of a community music school, curriculum, theory, personnel practices, and salaries. The Guild sponsored such special projects as the First National Student Competition, held at Turtle Bay School. It also sponsored the Randolph Series in a joint venture with commercial radio. The series was later used as the cornerstone of a fund-raising project. The Guild also kept pace with developments surrounding the federal government's role in the arts. The folders are arranged alphabetically by project title.
The Guild itself was a member of the National Music Council and worked with other organizations, such as the American Symphony Orchestra League, Arts and Audiences, Jeunesses Musicales, the National Association of Schools of Music, UNESCO International Music Council and Young Audiences. The materials in Series 3, which are arranged alphabetically by name of the organization, indicate the Guild's widespread involvement in and commitment to the arts.
Arranged alphabetically by name of school, the files on individual schools in Series 4 contain correspondence with both member and non-member schools concerning membership, meetings, curriculum, administration, and local activities. Included are a variety of school materials such as newsletters, syllabi, and programs for recitals and concerts.
Series 5 consists of reports from field visits to schools in six cities.