Elizabeth Casterton
MENC President 1913-1914
Born 1877, Parnassus, Pennsylvania
Died November 5, 1946, Medina, New York
Work:
Supervisor of music, Bay City, Michigan
Supervisor of music, Rochester, New York, 1907-1916
Instructor, summer sessions of American Institute of Normal Schools, Boston,
Massachussetts, 1906-1908
Professional Accomplishments:
Member, Board of Directors Music Supervisors National Conference, 1909-1915
Delegate, Music Teachers National Association, 1915
Elizabeth Casterton participated in the Music Supervisors National Conference (MSNC) from 1909 through 1917, and she was also active in the National Education Association (NEA) and the Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) during this time. At the 1913 MSNC meeting in Rochester, she directed a 1,500-voice children’s choir from several local schools and the Young People’s Choral Union from East and West High Schools in Rochester, both with instrumental accompaniments.
In her writings and speeches, Casterton supported musical activities for all school children, the use of music in conjunction with other school subjects, and the study and performance of American music. After attending both the MSNC and MTNA conventions in 1915, Casterton expressed support for a joint meeting of the groups to initiate cooperation in the musical education of youth. She encouraged teachers to use music specifically in the study of nature, geography, history, and literature, and to perform and promote American music whenever possible.
When Casterton married in 1917, she resigned her music post in Rochester and apparently stopped participating in national music education activities. In 1919, she moved to Medina, New York with her husband and became involved in community musical events, serving as president of the Handel Choral Society, which presented the Messiah each year at a local church. She also worked in the Parent Teacher Association, presiding over the local branch one year and serving as a vice-president of the state organization.
Personal Biography:
Married Dr. Donald F. McDonnell 1917
Children: Gertrude Case, John D. McDonnell
Quotes:
“Music is the thing that, deeper far than all others, sinks into the heart of the child and touches it, touches it and moulds it as nothing else can.”
Elizabeth Casterton, “Correlation of Music with Other Branches of the School
Curriculum.” School Music Monthly 5 (September-October 1905): 24.
“The claim has been made for a long time that the music supervisors have been worshipping the fetish of foreign music and foreign composers. . . . It has occurred to me that it might be very well to set aside a portion of the year in which to concentrate upon the study of such American music as would be available and appropriate for our classes.
. . . By all means let us devote some definite consideration to the Home Made Product this year. What we do may be one of the greatest contributions that could be made toward the future American music and American Music Public.”
“After the many days that have elapsed since the Minneapolis meeting, certain impressions have so intensified themselves as to stand out as high lights of the meeting, so to speak. Was not the feeling of goodwill and good-comradeship that prevailed everywhere, one long to be remembered? Every session, every discussion, whether formal or otherwise, seemed permeated with an attitude of good fellowship.”
(January 1915): 18.
Sources Used:
Casterton, Elizabeth. “Correlation of Music with Other Branches of the School
Curriculum.” School Music Monthly 5 (1905): 24-28.
________. “From Our Retiring President.” Music Supervisors Bulletin 1, no. 3 (January 1915): 16, 18, 20.
Griffen, Sister M. Raymond Joseph. “Elizabeth Casterton: A Musical Tale of Two
Cities,” unpublished paper at the MENC Historical Center, University of Maryland, 1971.
Howe, Sondra W. “Leadership in MENC: The Female Tradition,” Bulletin
of the Council
for Research in Music Education 141 (Summer 1999): 59-65.
MENC Elizabeth Casterton biography file, Special Collections in Performing Arts,
University of Maryland.
Submitted by Kaye Ferguson, November 2002.