MacDowell Clubs facts for kids

The MacDowell Clubs were groups started in the United States around the early 1900s. They were created to honor Edward MacDowell, a famous American composer. These clubs were part of a bigger movement to help music and other art forms grow and become popular across America.

History

The very first MacDowell music club began in 1896 in Boston. It was started by students of Edward MacDowell, and was called The MacDowell Club of Boston. Edith Noyes Greene was one of its founders. More clubs soon followed: one in Providence, Rhode Island in 1901, and others in Baker City, Oregon and Conneaut, Ohio in 1903. The MacDowell Club of Canton started in 1908. Its members helped pay for the Gail Watson Cable Recital Hall. The MacDowell Club of Allied Arts of Los Angeles was formed in 1918. In Cincinnati, a group called the Cincinnati MacDowell Society began in 1913. This group had strong connections with the MacDowell Colony, a special place for artists.

At their most popular, before and during World War II, there were about 400 independent MacDowell Clubs across the country. In 1955, Marian MacDowell (Edward MacDowell's wife) wrote that there were probably still 300 clubs. Later, as more women started working and society changed, fewer people joined the clubs. Also, with better transportation and communication, the clubs became less important as places for social gatherings and entertainment. By 2008, about fifteen MacDowell Clubs were still active. These included clubs in Altus, Oklahoma; Dyersburg, Tennessee; Jackson, Mississippi; Louisville, Kentucky; Canton, Ohio; Chickasha, Oklahoma; Janesville, Wisconsin; and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. As of 2015, some clubs like the MacDowell Club of Mountain Lakes in New Jersey (started in 1916) and the MacDowell Music Club in Janesville, Wisconsin, were still running.

A typical small club meeting might include private talks, piano music, and singing by local performers. Bigger clubs could organize public lectures, concerts, and art shows. They also held private dinners and dances. Many clubs, including those in New York City, Los Angeles, Austin, Illinois, and Canton, Ohio, created student funds and scholarships for young people. They also started Junior MacDowell Clubs and continued to support the MacDowell Colony financially.

Some clubs formed their own singing groups, like in New York City, Boston, and Milwaukee. The MacDowell Club Orchestra in Boston was made up mostly of amateur and semi-professional female musicians. They performed in Copley Hall. The MacDowell clubs in New York, Milwaukee, and Los Angeles also had their own orchestras. These orchestras often had famous conductors, such as Georges Longy and Arthur Fiedler in Boston. In New York, an orchestra started in 1929, led by David Mannes. They held concerts in famous places like Madison Square Garden and the Metropolitan Opera House.

Each club made its own rules. Some clubs only accepted musicians, like the MacDowell Club of Green Bay in Wisconsin. Others, like the MacDowell Club of New York City, welcomed people from all arts, including music, literature, and painting. Some clubs were strictly for women, such as the MacDowell Club of Mountain Lakes and the MacDowell Club of Los Angeles. However, other clubs, like those in Boston and New York, accepted men. Most MacDowell clubs were "female-only organizations." Many clubs also joined the National Federation of Music Clubs.

MacDowell Club of New York

The MacDowell Club of New York City was active from 1905 to 1942. It was one of the largest clubs honoring Edward MacDowell and supporting the MacDowell Colony. The MacDowell Colony is a special place for artists in Peterborough, New Hampshire. The New York club helped fund scholarships for artists to stay at the Colony and gave regular financial support.

The club's main goals were:

To discuss and demonstrate the principles of the arts of music, literature, the drama, painting, sculpture, and architecture, and to aid in the extension of knowledge of works especially fitted to exemplify the finer purposes of these arts, including works deserving wider recognition, and to promote a sympathetic understanding of the correlation of these arts, and to contribute to the broadening of their influences; thus carrying forward the life purpose of Edward MacDowell.

In just a few years, the club grew to 600 members. Members included writers, musicians, artists, actors, sculptors, and architects. Some famous members were Hamlin Garland, John Dewey, Robert Henri, and George Bellows.

Facilities

166 East 73rd Street

The MacDowell Club first met in a studio at Carnegie Hall (1905-1909). Then, they moved to the old Metropolitan Opera House (1909-1911). In 1911, the Club moved to a large building at 108 W 55th Street, which had a big, arched gallery.

In 1924, the MacDowell Club bought an old stable building at 166 East 73rd Street. This building was originally designed by Richard Morris Hunt in 1883 for an art collector. Later, it was owned by Joseph Pulitzer, who published the New York World newspaper. A fire in 1935 damaged the building and destroyed some art.

MacDowell Chorus

The MacDowell Chorus was formed in November 1909, led by Kurt Schindler. Just two months later, Gustav Mahler, who conducted The New York Philharmonic Orchestra, invited the chorus to perform with his orchestra. In 1912, Schindler changed the chorus's name to Schola Cantorum. Schindler continued to lead the group until 1926. Later, Hugh Ross became the director of the chorus.

Student Fund Committee

The MacDowell Club created a scholarship fund to help talented young artists. They also funded a scholarship for a drama workshop at Harvard University and a fellowship at the MacDowell Colony.

Notable art exhibitors

In 1911, John White Alexander, the club's second president, made an important change. He started an "open exhibition" policy, meaning artists could choose works for the galleries themselves without a jury. This gave many talented but unknown artists a chance to show their work. Some of these artists included Stuart Davis, Edward Hopper, and Yasuo Kuniyoshi.

Some notable artists who exhibited their work were:

• Edward Hopper, 1912
• Colin Campbell Cooper, 1912
• George Bellows, 1917
• C.K. Chatterton, 1917
• William Laurel Harris, Saint Francis de Sales before Pope Clement VIII
• Helen Farnsworth Mears, one of 3 bronze bas-reliefs of Edward MacDowell
• Abraham Jacob Bogdanove, 1918

Presidents

• Eugene Heffley
• John White Alexander
• Frederick Stokes
• Ernest Peixotto
• Frederick S. Dellenbaugh
• Benjamin Prince
• Cecil Smith
• Hartwell Cahell

Charter members

• Kate Sara Chittenden
• Mrs. Edgar L. Street (born in Somerset, Pennsylvania; died 1935 in New York City)