Spofford, Grace Harriet, 1888-1974

Elizabeth Couler and Grace Spofford in Atlantic City, 1918

Grace Spofford was born in 1887 in Haverhill, MA. She studied piano from age seven and entered Mt. Holyoke College in 1905, transferring after one year to Smith College. After receiving an A.B. from Smith in 1909, Spofford taught piano at Heidelberg College in Tiffin, OH, and gave recitals in small towns in the midwest. In 1912, she went to Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore, MD, where she studied piano and organ, taught piano, wrote music criticism for the Baltimore Evening Sun, and published A Guide for Beginners in Piano Playing (1916) with her lifelong friend Elizabeth Coulson. An injury combined with a love of administrative work led to jobs as Executive Secretary at Peabody (1917-24) and first Dean of the newly established Curtis Institute of Music (1924-31) in Philadelphia. After moving to NY in 1931, she worked as Associate Director of the NY College of Music, Executive Secretary of Layman's Music Courses, and manager of the Curtis String Quartet. In 1935 Spofford became Director of the Music School of the Henry Street Settlement where she worked to de-professionalize music and encourage widespread participation in music "shared as a common experience of life." After her retirement in 1954, Spofford represented the U.S. at many national and international music and music education conferences, was a delegate to the International Music Council of UNESCO, and served on the International and National Councils of Women. She died in 1974.

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