Manuscripts Collection
The Minnesota Music Teachers Association was organized on June 27, 1901 under the auspices of the Professional League of St. Paul, and is affiliated with the Music Teachers National Association. Clarence A. Marshall was the first president of the MMTA. According to the Association's constitution, it was organized to "promote the true culture of music by the interchange of ideas, to advance the interest of musical art, and to foster professional fraternity." Active members were professional teachers of voice, musical instruments, or "any subject pertaining to the theory of music."
The MMTA held annual conventions which included concerts, business meetings, papers, round table discussions, and workshops. Conventions were held in cities throughout Minnesota. In 1913 the MMTA began testing teachers for the Certificate of Licentiate in an effort to standardize music education in the state. Candidates were expected to pass examinations in their musical specialty, music theory, and the history of music. In 1970 the MMTA created a syllabus for student examinations, which further standardized the teaching of music in Minnesota.
In the season of 1928-1929 the MMTA began sponsoring a concert by student winners chosen in statewide competition. In 1936 the MMTA developed a program of ten-piano concerts, given by winners of regional piano tryouts. The Ten-Piano Concert evolved into twelve, then twenty pianos, and later became the State Honor Student Concert or Honors Concert.
The collection documents the administrative and programmatic activities of the Minnesota Music Teachers Association, 1913-2003. The records include incorporation papers, the constitution and bylaws, minutes, annual convention proceedings, correspondence, membership lists and directories, calendars, examination syllabi, programs, newsletters, photographs, and anniversary scrapbooks.
There is information on conventions, elections, and other routine activities; relations with the Canadian Federation of Music Teachers' Associations; proposed legislation, particularly to create a national bureau of fine arts (1939) and national excise tax exemptions for symphony orchestras (1951); examinations given to applicants for membership; and musical education in the public schools.
Correspondents include several members of Congress and a number of professional musicians, especially Paul M. Oberg and Frances Clark.
These documents are organized into the following sections:
John G. Hinderer papers, 1908-1962 are in the Minnesota Historical Society manuscript collections.
Records of the American Guild of Music Teachers are in the Minnesota Historical Society manuscript collections.
Robert Tallant Laudon,
Robert T. Laudon,
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the Minnesota Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should
Accession number: 7779; 8751; 16,028; 16,091; 16,246; 16,292; 16,393
Processing and cataloging of this collection was supported with a Basic Project
grant awarded by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission
Catalog ID number: 001731893
Constitution, bylaws, convention programs, correspondence files, meeting minutes, and transcripts of convention proceedings. A folder of convention reports consists mainly of speeches delivered at conventions and also a few financial reports. Minutes include meetings of the executive board, minutes of annual meetings, some correspondence, and minutes of the examining board, which reviewed applications to membership in the organization. There is a list of the presidents of the association from 1901-1948.
Contains bylaws and amendments to the constitution and revisions to the bylaws and constitution.
Contains data pertaining to the constitution and bylaws and the work of the Historical Committee's search for old MMTA records.
Includes a copy of the articles of incorporation (October 17, 1913), bylaws, and minutes (January 31, 1914-June 23, 1923). Minutes cover meetings of the membership, Executive Board, Board of Examiners, and annual conventions.
The correspondence relates to conventions and meetings of the association, ballots for the election of officers, rules for competitions held at annual meetings, and routine matters relating to the association. The papers are fairly complete for the 1930s. There is considerable correspondence on the following topics: the joint meetings of the association and the Canadian Federation of Music Teachers' Associations (1937); the agitations against the Coffee-Pepper Bill, which would have created a permanent Bureau of Fine Arts (1939); and letters on excise tax exemptions for symphony orchestras (1951). The correspondence contains a number of letters from prominent musicians and political leaders.
Musicians of national prominence included in the correspondence are Leopold Auer (1923), Cecil Burleigh (1938), F. Melius Christiansen (1925), Frances Clark (1952), Rudolph Ganz (1944), Percy Grainger (1936-1937), Frank Glazer (1952), Hazel Griggs (1942), Howard Hanson (1937), Franz Kneisel (1925), Paul Lemay (1938), Lilia Mackinnon (1934-1935), Dimitri Mitropoulos (1938), and Emil Oberhoffer (1923).
Minnesota musicians of note include Donald N. Ferguson, Paul M. Oberg, R. Buchanan Morton, and Mrs. Ernest Lachmund (of Duluth).
Minnesota political leaders include H. Carl Andersen, member of Congress, 7th District (1939); Richard T. Buckler, member of Congress, 9th District (1939); Herbert H. Humphrey, U.S. Senator (1951); Harold Knutson, member of Congress, 6th District (1939); Ernest Lundeen, U.S. Senator (1939); William A. Pittenger, member of Congress, 8th District (1939); John G. Rockwell, Commissioner of Education (1934, 1938); Henrik Shipstead, U.S. Senator (1939); and Edward J. Thye, U.S. Senator (1951).
Information on teaching methods, examination questions for students, rules for contests, history and programs of state honors concerts, and programs and publicity for ensemble festivals held throughout the state. One folder contains information compiled by Harry W. Ranks (1933?) on the granting of music credits to high school students for music lessons taken outside of school. There is a state-by-state compilation of data. There is also a folder containing questionnaires sent by the organization (1928) to public schools in Minnesota to determine the number of students in each school who were taking music instruction outside school hours.
Contains biographical data, obituaries, presentations, and documents concerning each presidential term, compiled mainly by Robert T. Laudon.
Negatives and/or prints for each president, individual, or event, compiled mainly by Robert T. Laudon. Many of the photographs were published in Laudon's history of the MMTA.
Includes photographs.
Includes photographs and newspaper clippings.
The clippings relate to annual meetings and conventions.