The MacDowell Clubs in the United
States were established at the turn
of the twentieth century to honor
internationally recognized American
composer Edward MacDowell. They
became part of a broader social
movement to promote music and
other art forms in America.
MacDowell was first established in 1896 as a
music club in Boston
by the students of Edward MacDowell.
History of MacDowell Clubs
The concept of the MacDowell Music Club quickly spread
to Providence, Rhode Island in 1901, then to Oregon,
Conneaut Ohio in 1903. The MacDowell Club of Allied
Arts of Los Angeles was established in 1918. Then, In
Cincinnati, not a club, but the Cincinnati MacDowell
Society was founded in 1913, and formed significant ties
with the MacDowell Colony.
At the peak of their popularity before and during the
World War II, there were about 400 independent clubs
functioning across nation. A typical small club gathering
would feature a privately held meeting with invited
talks, piano and vocal solos and duets of local
performers. Bigger clubs were able to organize
academic lectures, concerts, recitals and art exhibitions
opened to the general public, as well as private dinners,
pageants, and balls.
The Clubs were functioning more as both social hubs
and entertainment venues. However as the times
changed the Clubs diminished and by 2008, there were
only fifteen MacDowell Clubs that continued to operate.
Many of the clubs joined the National Federation of
Music Clubs.
Originally, some were operating strictly as women's
clubs, while other accepted men, most of the MacDowell
clubs were "female-only organizations. All clubs were
responsible for adopting their own bylaws and acted
differently in defining their membership: some were
accepting musicians only, other subscribed to an allied
arts organization philosophy championed by Edward
MacDowell.
Several organizations established student funds and
scholarships for youth and developed outreach
programs through Junior MacDowell Clubs while
continuing to support financially the MacDowell Colony.
Several clubs established their own choruses, as in New
York City, Boston and Milwaukee; other — vocal
ensembles. In Boston, the MacDowell Club Orchestra
consisting mainly of amateur and semiprofessional
female musicians gave performances in Copley Hall; the
MacDowell clubs of New York, Milwaukee, and Los
Angeles also formed their own orchestras. All employed
well-known conductors, such as Georges Longy, and
Arthur Fiedler in Boston; in New York, orchestra was
formed in 1929, led by David Mannes, a concertmaster
of the New York Symphony Orchestra, and held concerts
in Madison Square Garden and the Metropolitan Opera
House.
Edward MacDowell
Marian Macdowell with pianist Lillian
Ssteuber with a score of Edward
MacDowell’s.