Alice Keith Explained

Alice Keith
Birth Name:Ruth Alice Keith
Birth Date:February 24, 1890
Birth Place:Galesville, Wisconsin, U.S.
Death Date:December 24, 1962 (aged 72)
Death Place:Washington, D.C., U.S.
Occupation:Pianist, music educator

Ruth Alice Keith (February 24, 1890 – December 24, 1962) was an American pianist and music educator. She was supervisor of music appreciation in the Cleveland Public Schools, founder of the National Academy of Broadcasting, and director of CBS's The American School of the Air.

Early life and education

Keith was born in Galesville, Wisconsin, the daughter of Lincoln Sidney Keith and Cora Alice Cain Keith. Her parents were both born in Maine; her father was a school superintendent.[1] She graduated from the University of Wisconsin in 1916, with a bachelor's degree in music.[2] [3] "There isn't a passing week in which I do not fall back on my college experience in drama, music, and writing for the college papers," she told an interviewer in 1937.[4]

Career

Keith was a pianist and a music educator. She taught in La Crosse and Madison as a young woman.[5] In 1919, she directed community pageants in New England.[6] She was assistant director of a large pageant in Chicago in 1921, to mark the 50th anniversary of the Great Chicago Fire.[7] She was supervisor of music appreciation in the Cleveland Public Schools.[8] She edited the Music Appreciation section of Music Supervisors Journal.[9] She chaired the standing committee on music appreciation at the Music Educators National Conference in 1928.[10]

Keith took particular interest in using radio as an educational medium.[11] She worked with the Cleveland Orchestra to create radio programs for music appreciation classes in the 1920s,[12] [13] and worked with Walter Damrosch on a similar national program in New York.[14] [15] While the programs were aimed at schoolchildren, her radio broadcasts also found a large adult audience.[16] She wrote articles for the Cleveland Plain Dealer, advising adults on how to purchase the music they heard, and what to expect in upcoming concerts.[17] [18]

Keith founded and presided over the National Academy of Broadcasting, was director of educational programs for RCA, and director of CBS's The American School of the Air.[19] [20] In the 1930s, she traveled in Europe studying adult education programs on radio.[21] In 1944, she received the Theta Sigma Phi Headliner Award. She testified before a Congressional hearing on radio and television programs in 1952.[22] In 1961, she was named head of the radio and television division of the Armed Services Writers League.[23]

Publications

Personal life

Keith died from cancer in 1962, at the age of 72, in Washington, D.C.[30] Her papers, including recordings, correspondence, scrapbooks, and manuscripts, are held in the Wisconsin Historical Society.[31]

Notes and References

  1. News: 1963-05-21 . Alice Keith . 2024-06-16 . The La Crosse Tribune . 14 . Newspapers.com.
  2. Book: Keith, Ruth Alice . English Folk Song . 1916 . University of Wisconsin--Madison . en.
  3. News: 1922-03-16 . Alice Keith Coaches Gun and Blade Play . 2024-06-16 . Wisconsin State Journal . 4 . Newspapers.com.
  4. Branch . Zelda . February 1937 . Alice Keith and her Radio Academy . The Matrix . 22 . 3 . 9, 18.
  5. News: 1944-12-03 . Alice Keith Wins Theta Sigma Phi Award . 2024-06-16 . Wisconsin State Journal . 13.
  6. News: 1919-08-07 . Miss Alice Keith Stages Pageants in Exclusive Boston . 2024-06-16 . The La Crosse Tribune . 10 . Newspapers.com.
  7. News: 1921-09-04 . Alice Keith is Engaged for Big Job in Chicago . 2024-06-16 . The La Crosse Tribune . 6 . Newspapers.com.
  8. Howe . Sondra Wieland . 2003 . The NBC Music Appreciation Hour: Radio Broadcasts of Walter Damrosch, 1928-1942 . Journal of Research in Music Education . 51 . 1 . 68 . 10.2307/3345649 . 3345649 . 0022-4294.
  9. Keith . Alice . October 1929 . Music Appreciation Department . Music Supervisors' Journal . en . 16 . 1 . 39 . 10.2307/3383420 . 3383420 . 1559-2472.
  10. Book: Music Educators National Conference (U.S.) . Yearbook . 1928 . Music Educators National Conference. . 315 . en.
  11. Dunbar . Julie . 1998 . Art Music on the Radio, 1927-37: Conflicting Views of Composers and Educators . The Bulletin of Historical Research in Music Education . 19 . 3 . 165–176 . 10.1177/153660069801900301 . 40214965 . 0739-5639.
  12. "Educational News and Notes" Cooperative School Bulletin 6(December 1927): 24.
  13. Book: Keene, James A. . Giants of Music Education . 2010 . Glenbridge Publishing Ltd. . 978-0-944435-68-7 . 58–60 . en.
  14. Book: Howe, Sondra Wieland . Women Music Educators in the United States: A History . 2013-11-07 . Scarecrow Press . 978-0-8108-8848-7. 134-135 . en.
  15. Glenn . Mabelle . January 1929 . Making the Most of Radio: How the Damrosch Symphony Broadcasts Should be Conducted . Musical Observer . 28 . 1 . 48.
  16. News: 1926-04-11 . Music Lessons on WTAM Draw Huge Audience . 2024-06-16 . The Plain Dealer . 93 . Newspapers.com.
  17. News: Keith . Alice . 1926-02-21 . Listen for 'Language of the Emotions' in Music Radio's to Bring . 2024-06-16 . The Plain Dealer . 92 . Newspapers.com.
  18. News: Keith . Alice . 1927-10-16 . Music Brings Message of Season to School Children in Appreciation Series . 2024-06-16 . The Plain Dealer . 82 . Newspapers.com.
  19. News: 1931-10-10 . Music Study Club Proves Popularity; Galesville Group is Flourishing After Ten Years . 2024-06-16 . Leader-Telegram . 6.
  20. Book: McChesney, Robert Waterman . Telecommunications, mass media, and democracy : the battle for the control of U.S. broadcasting, 1928-1935 . 1994 . New York ; Oxford : Oxford University Press . Internet Archive . 978-0-19-509394-0 . 116.
  21. News: 1934-01-12 . Miss Keith Contrasts Policies of British Radio with America's . 2024-06-16 . The Standard-Star . 6 . Newspapers.com.
  22. Book: United States Congress, House Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce . Investigation of Radio and Television Programs: Hearings Before a Subcommittee of the Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce House of Representatives Eighty-Second Congress Second Session . on H. Res. 278, June 3, 4, 5, 26, September 16, 17, 23, 24, 25, 26, December 3, 4, and 5, 1952 . 1952 . U.S. Government Printing Office . 393–396 . en.
  23. News: 1961-08-12 . Defense Writer Post Given Alice Keith . 2024-06-16 . The Plain Dealer . 8 . Newspapers.com.
  24. Book: Yearbook of the Music Supervisors National Conference . 1927 . 254–257. Music Educators National Conference. . en.
  25. Book: Cleveland (Ohio) Board of Education, Bureau of Educational Research . For the Teacher . 1928 . en.
  26. Keith . Alice . October 1928 . Radio in the School . Sierra Educational News . 24 . 8 . 57.
  27. Keith . Alice . November 1928 . Pacific Coast School Radio . Sierra Educational News . 24 . 9 . 39.
  28. Keith . Alice . January 1932 . Radio and International Understanding . The American Teacher . 16 . 4 . 10 . Internet Archive.
  29. Keith . Alice . February 15, 1932 . Utilizing Radio in the Classroom . Journal of Education . 115 . 7 . 174–175 . 10.1177/002205743211500707 . Internet Archive.
  30. News: 1962-12-27 . Alice Keith . 2024-06-16 . The Washington Daily News . 47 . Newspapers.com.
  31. Web site: Alice Keith Papers, 1906-1962 . 2024-06-16 . Archival Resources in Wisconsin: Descriptive Finding Aids.

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