Ga-mta.org
Title
Welcome to Georgia Music Teachers Association
Description
The history of the Georgia Music Teachers Association actually began with a letter from Duane Haskell, Chairman of the States and Divisions for Music, Teachers National Association, to Michael McDowell, Chairman of the Department of Music, Agnes Scott College. The letter was a request that Mr. McDowell accept the responsibility of organizing a Georgia Music Teachers Association which would be affiliated with the national association. According to the letter, this was not the first attempt to organize such a group. After the responsibility was accepted, there were a number of letters exchanged to explain the work and to offer suggestions about how to begin. Since Mr. McDowell was not a member of MTNA and had no knowledge of its workings there was much to be learned. Mr. Hugh Hodgson, Head of the Department of Music, at the University of Georgia and a member of MTNA already, was helpful also. Between them, it was agreed that Mr. McDowell would have charge of sending out letters to a large group of teachers and generating some publicity and that Mr. Hodgson would provide a constitution for the association.
The organizational meeting took place at a dinner held at the Georgian Hotel in Athens on April 9,1954, with Mr. McDowell presiding as chairman of the group. After dinner, the first subject to be dealt with was the adoption of a constitution. The constitution presented was the actual work of Dr. Barrett Stoup, of Louisiana State University, who was also a past president of MTNA. With a number of changes, duly voted upon, the constitution was adopted. The report of the nominating committee announced Mr. Hodgson as the choice for president. Mr. Hodgson, however, refused to allow his name to be placed in nomination. Nominations from the floor followed and Mr. Michael McDowell was elected as GMTA's first state president. There were thirty-five teachers present.
The constitution provided that at least one business meeting must be held each year, either as a part of the conference or held separately, and plans were immediately begun to organize a conference. The first annual conference was held in January of 1955 at Agnes Scott College. Without much knowledge and experience for guidance, it is significant that the format of activity was something of a model for later conferences. Registration began at 3:30 on Sunday, January 23 in the lobby of Presser Hall, followed by a reception at 4 o'clock, sponsored try Decatur Music Teachers Association. The activity for the day ended with a program of music performed by the Agnes Scott Music Department faculty and the Agnes Scott Glee Club at 5pm. On Monday, January 24, the opening session in Maclean Auditorium included an address of welcome by Dr. Wallace Alston, president of Agnes Scott College. Guest artists included Dr. Edwin Gerschefski, Beverly Wolff Dwiggins, and Robert Harrison. The conference came to a close with a banquet at the Candler Hotel in Decatur, with the Atlanta Music Teachers Association as sponsors and the Atlanta Symphony String Quartet providing a musical program.
Contact
- Georgia Music Teachers Association
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- Dacula GA
- United States 30119
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- +1.9999999999
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