Charles M. Dennis
President of MENC 1948-50
Work: Director of music for the San Francisco Public Schools
Specialty areas: Music education, music
administration, choral music, curriculum
Publications:
Dennis, Charles M. “Are We Vulnerable?”
Music Educators Journal. (September 1937):
23.
-----. “Better Music Education for
More Children.” Music Educators Journal (April
1949):
15-17.
-----. “The Brussels Conference in
Retrospect.” Music Educators Journal. (January
1954):
33, 35.
-----. “California Parent-Teacher
Association Mothersingers.” Music Educators Journal.
(November-December
1954): 45.
-----. “A Changed Emphasis for
Music Education.” Music Educators Journal.
(September-October
1944): 16-17.
-----. “The End of an Era?” Music
Educators Journal. (April 1945): 15.
-----. “Facing the Fifties.” Music
Educators Journal. (February-March 1950): 19.
-----. “Russell V. Morgan.” Music
Educators Journal. (January 1953): 23, 36.
-----. “Shop Talk.” Music
Educators Journal. (February-March 1948): 19. (November-
December
1945): 17.
-----. “Those MENC—GI Letters.” Music
Educators Journal.
-----. “A Toast to Mary Ireland!” Music
Educators Journal. (November-December 1941):
10.
-----. “Training for Leadership
through Music.” Music Educators Journal. (May-June
1943):
26-27.
-----. “What Do I Get Out of My
MENC Membership?” Music Educators Journal.
(February-March
1956): 49.
-----. “What of Our Future?” Music
Supervisors Journal. (March 1932): 51.
Professional
Accomplishments:
1944 –1949 - Chairman of the
Editorial Board of the Music Educators Journal
1948-50 - MENC President
Member of the Music Education
Research Council
Chairman of the International
Conference for Music Education in Brussels
Conductor, National High School Chorus
Charles M. Dennis Memorial
Scholarship, San Francisco State University
Chairman of the Committee for
Senior High School Curriculum
Biography:
Charles M. Dennis was
president of the MENC from 1948-50. He was director of music for the San
Francisco Public Schools until his retirement in 1955. In a tribute written
upon the event of his retirement, Meyer M. Cahn stated, “His musical standards
are high. He does not surrender to the false values of virtuosity, flamboyance,
and colorism. He knows that music has more to give than these qualities, and he
wants the children to know this, too.”[1]
Dennis served willingly within MENC. He followed Birge as chairman of the
editorial board of the Music Educators Journal in mid-1944, at a time
when the Conference was operating under wartime restrictions, including a paper
shortage, handing over the chair to Marguerite Hood in 1949 to devote his
energies to his presidency. Apparently Dennis appeared at all six division
conventions during his first year in office. A footnote to the above article
states, “Charles M. Dennis’ name for years has been virtually a household word
in the MENC family. He is always a willing Conference choir boy. No assignment
has been too lowly for him to accept and discharge with efficiency and
dispatch. He has also held with equal credit to himself the most important
responsibilities his colleagues can bestow upon him… (footnote by C.V.B.).”[2]
Quotes:
It
might well be that the growth of music education of necessity has been along
certain lines. Social conditions largely determine the direction of much of
education. At least let us assume that the form of our development was
inevitable under the conditions of our American type of existence during the
first third of this century. Many of us can recall those years as a period of
comparative relaxation. On the contrary, life in these days is so different, so
frightening, so complex that we are forced to reexamine our attitudes, our
intentions, our achievements and ask ourselves if these are worthy or even
adequate.
Let us consider three phases of life where these changes
are most apparent and directly affect our field – educational, political,
spiritual. It is, of course, impossible to isolate them from each other; they
are interdependent, but each demands consideration.[3]
In
education let us do less teaching of music and more teaching of children.[4]
Originally
printed anonymously over a period of years, this appeared at the end of
“Charles M. Dennis, Music Educator”:
“What
do I get out of my MENC membership?”
A clear conscience…By
being a member I drop isolationism and join thousands of my colleagues
throughout America who are trying to advance the purposes of our profession. I
find no fun in being a lone wolf and I don’t like the implication of being a
“free rider” or enjoying advantages which the energy and cash of others have
made possible.
Professional stimulation…Contact with school musicians, particularly in fields
other than my own, has done much to broaden my conception of music education and
deepen my conviction of its value. My own work has improved because of the
ideas picked up in observing good results achieved by others. I’ve also
discovered a number of swell people who otherwise would have remained
strangers.
Professional pride…The
American school music movement is a phenomenon in educational history. Other
nations are sending their experts to learn how we do it so that they can
develop along similar lines. There may be little I can admire in my own
accomplishments, but my associates throughout the country are doing such
astounding things that I am proud to be a part, to any degree, of an
organization which has changed the musical culture of the United States within
a few decades. There are times when everyone should “stand up and be counted.”
To be a member of MENC requires little courage and less than a half-day’s pay.
Professional recognition…The conference offers me abundant opportunity to
contribute services for which I may be uniquely equipped. In this way others
may learn of my abilities and evaluate them justly. I have observed non-members
with fine talent and successful in their jobs, who, when seeking advancement,
found themselves passed over primarily because they were unknown to the
profession-at-large. If school administrators favor applicants who “rate” with
their colleagues why should I ignore such an opportunity to prove my mettle to
those outside my own locality?
A member of the MENC [5]
From “The End of an Era”:
Music
has become such a vital part of American education it cannot escape the
obligations to analyze its weaknesses and adjust to new conditions and new
demands.[6]
Sources Used:
Arneson,
Arne Jon. The Music Educators Journal Cumulative Index 1914-1987. Stevens
Point, Wisconsin: Index House, 1987.
Cahn, Meyer M. “Charles M. Dennis,
Music Educator.” Music Educators Journal
(February-March)
1956): 48-49.
Charles M. Dennis Memorial
Scholarship, San Francisco Sate University.
www.sfsu.edu/~finaid/scholarships/search/42.htm.
Dennis, Charles M. “Better Music
Education for More Children.” Music Educators
Journal
(April 1949): 15-17.
-----. “The End of an Era?” Music
Educators Journal. (April 1945): 15.
-----. “What Do I Get Out of My
MENC Membership?” Music Educators
Journal. (February-March
1956): p. 49.
Mark,
Michael L., Charles L. Gary. A History of Music Education. Reston, VA:
The
National Association for Music Education, 1999.
For more information,
consult the following sources:
Cahn, Meyer M. “Charles M. Dennis,
Music Educator.” Music Educators Journal
(February-March)
1956): 48-49.
Mark,
Michael L., Charles L. Gary. A History of Music Education. Reston, VA:
The
National Association for Music Education, 1999.
--Submitted by Diana Hollinger,
December 2002