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.