History of the St. Louis Symphony Volunteer Organization  

We are 100 years old! And unlike the human body, we aren’t wearing out or suffering from a gradual decline in vitality. We’re still growing and learning, changing, and adapting. Indeed, there are times when it feels like we’re just getting started.

According to published synopses of our organization, the dates of our founding vary. As many sources state, women had been involved in supporting the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra (SLSO) since its inception in 1880. There is an occasional mention of a Women’s Committee being founded in 1900. However, a 1917 report to the St. Louis Symphony Society noted that two-year-old plans for a Women’s Committee had not yet come to fruition.

This series of articles will use information obtained from our archival material housed at the Missouri Historical Society’s Library & Research Center as well as the Mary Kimbrough papers held at the Saint Louis Public Library to date our founding to 1925.

It’s generally agreed that throughout our existence, we’ve always been involved in fundraising, education, and general support of the SLSO. But the what and how of those activities have evolved to meet changes not only in the Symphony but also in society. What hasn’t changed is our love for music, especially the musicians of the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra. They are the reason we exist, and they—and the music they share—are the reason we serve.

PART 1: The Early Years (1925-1950)  

A Mirror of Society

Before looking at an overview of what these women contributed to the SLSO, it’s worth noting that they, as well as the women—and men—who came later, weren’t isolated people living in a bubble. They lived in a time, place, and culture that changed and shaped how they functioned. Studying the papers they’ve left behind (meeting minutes, newspaper articles, programs, and other artifacts) reflects that reality.

Many times, the clues are subtle. For example, before the Depression, the Women’s Committee paid a typist to handle written material like minutes, correspondence, and invitations. For most of the 1930s, all minutes were handwritten, an indication they’d cut expenses to continue their core purpose.

A single line in minutes from an annual meeting shows their compassion for those around them: the 1931 Guarantee Fund Drive was postponed in deference to the Citizen’s Relief Fund Drive. A small receipt dated January 8, 1943, shows them working toward the greater good beyond the SLSO: the St. Louis Symphony Society had received from The Women’s Association of the St. Louis Symphony Society a $1,000 War Bond to deposit for safekeeping in the Society’s safe deposit box.

For more than 40 years, the names of married members were recorded only in relation to their husbands (e.g., Mrs. Max Goldstein).^[1] Even when change came in the mid-1960s, the woman’s first name was still only a parenthetical after her husband’s [e.g., Mrs. Max (Leonore) Goldstein)].

Even where members lived mirrored societal changes. Starting in 1928, members were encouraged to also form local groups, which elected their own chairs (who automatically became members of the Executive Committee of the Women’s Committee). The location of these vicinity groups parallels shifts in the region’s population geographically: initial vicinity groups were mostly in and close to the city (e.g., Clayton, Ladue); over the next few decades, the groups’ locations reflect the expansion of the city into an ever-expanding ring of suburbs, as well as the increasing impact of Illinois residents.

It All Started with Four Women

“…the telephone rang one evening in my home at 50 Kingsbury Place, and Emily Lewis (Mrs. Joe Lewis) said to me, “This afternoon Leanor[e] Goldstein, May Rice, and I were discussing the formation of a Women’s Society to popularize and promote the Symphony. We want you to be Temporary Chairman and organize such a Committee.” —Kate Ratcliffe, First President, Women’s Committee of the Saint Louis Symphony Society

Several years later, President Ethel Sprague noted that the original group of women had recently carried on a drive for the orchestra (presumably the Guarantee Fund).

Who They Were

According to the Constitution, the purpose of The Women’s Committee was to “promote the interests of the St. Louis Symphony Society.” Membership was open to any woman who contributed to the Guarantee Fund, held season tickets, or rendered service to the St. Louis Symphony Society.

Many of the founding mothers were wives of prominent St. Louis professionals and businessmen, women like:

Their residential addresses—which included Lindell Boulevard, Kingsbury Place, McPherson Avenue, Pershing Avenue, Portland Place, Waterman Avenue, and Westmoreland Place—were also a testament to their financial standing in the community.

During its first two years, the Committee’s membership grew to 165. In 1927, the group decided they wanted to create more interest in the orchestra, expand their membership, and have as large a representation of women as possible. They sent invitations to women’s clubs in the city, giving them representation on the governing board of the Committee. By 1928, membership included 426 individuals and 23 clubs. The numbers dipped slightly during the Depression (down to 404 in 1930), but then steadily increased to 626 in 1941. In 1950, the Advisory Committee boldly suggested making a concerted drive to have 1,000 members.

A Few Fun Facts
Did you know that we …

• Advised Leonard Bernstein on how to “sell out the house” when he was having trouble filling City Center early in his career.
  • This wasn’t the only time New York consulted us about how to replicate our successes. In 1945, our Young Artists concerts had achieved such fame that a group in New York wrote asking us for information about this program, hoping to create one themselves.
• Helped pay the salary of the Symphony’s new Music Supervisor.
  • Beginning in 1926, Agnes Moore Fryberger gave informative music appreciation lectures in area schools, spoke at PTA meetings, and arranged for the Symphony to give numerous concerts in the schools. She also worked with art teachers in the schools to have students draw pictures relating to the music they heard (foreshadowing our own Picture the Music!).
• Were thrilled when our third president became a renowned author (with multiple editions of her book still in print).
  • In our official records, she’s Mrs. Edgar R. Rombauer, but she’s best known as Irma Rombauer, author of the seminal cookbook, Joy of Cooking. Its first edition came out in 1931, shortly after the end of her presidency.
• Organized the first national meeting of Symphony Women’s Committees.
  • In 1935, we started writing letters to more than a dozen major U.S. orchestras attempting to set up a national organization of their volunteer associations. In March 1937, members of our Executive Board and delegates from seven other symphony volunteer associations met in St. Louis to have “a free interchange of ideas, methods and experiences growing out of symphony volunteer efforts.” The St. Louis group’s May Rice became its first president.
  • Now known as the Association of Major Symphony Orchestra Volunteers, the organization continues today with a membership that includes over 40 volunteer organizations associated with 19 major symphony orchestras across North America. Conferences are held every two years in a member-host city. For many years, either our President or President-Elect or the Chair of our Junior Division attended the biennial conferences.
• Hosted weekly radio shows.
  • For at least a dozen years starting in 1936, the women secured sponsors for radio shows. Banks were frequently sponsors,and the radio stations varied.(Always keeping an eye on the bottom line, in 1937 they noted that KSD and KWK charged half the amount KMOX did.) Over the years, the shows included interviews with Women’s Association members, SLSO musicians and staff, and guest conductors and artists. In the early 1940s, they created a Music of the Masters program, with scripts written by Women’s Association members. In addition to their radio shows, the women also placed spot announcements about the annual Guarantee/Maintenance fund and Season Ticket Sales Drives.

And One Important—But Often Overlooked—Fact

• It was more than just a name change.
  • Many sources note the change of the group’s name from the Women’s Committee to the Women’s Association. However, that change represented much more than a simple name change. In 1936, the attorney for the Saint Louis Symphony Society advised the Women’s Committee to incorporate separately. In preparation for that incorporation, in January 1937 the name was officially changed from the Women’s Committee of the Saint Louis Symphony Society to the Women’s Association of the Saint Louis Symphony Society, and the Association became a separate 501c3. That organizational structure continued for decades.

What They Did

 

Let the Women Do the Work 

“Without reservation, complete credit [for the major increase in season ticket subscribers over the last two years] is given to the women—about 500 of them—who belong to an organization called the Woman’s [sic] Committee.” —George A. Leighton, Columnist, The Cincinnati Enquirer 

Trust in the women’s ability to secure season ticket holders continued. In 1942, they were asked to accept full responsibility for season ticket sales. (They accepted that year but declined to continue to do so the following year.) Reflecting similar statistics from previous years, more than 20% of the 1949-1950 season ticket sales were made by the Women’s Association.

Every year, the Committee/Association presented SLSO season tickets to outstanding high school music students. The students were selected by school principals and the music supervisor. Eventually, students who had benefited from the tickets—many of whom had ambitions of becoming symphony players themselves—formed a club which met monthly.

• Music Camp Scholarships. Starting in the 1930s, the organization paid for an annual scholarship for one or two student musicians to attend a prestigious summer music camp. Scholarship recipients were chosen by audition. Some years the organization was also able to give students a stipend for expenses beyond the scholarship that paid their fees. In 1942, the program was put on hold for the war, but it returned by 1946.

Initially, students were sent to Interlochen, but by 1950 the Association was sending them to Tanglewood as it was considered to be for more advanced musicians and had the advantage of being less expensive. Those lower costs meant that in addition to the fees involved, the Association could pay for most of a student’s room and board.

• Other Scholarships. Whenever possible, the women also paid for other types of student activities. For instance, in 1938 they received this letter of thanks from a student:
  • “Thank you very much for having chosen me to benefit of Mr. Krohns [sic] lectures in Musicology. … I think that such a course is a necessity for every well-rounded musical education and, as that is my ambition aside from conquering the mechanics and literature of my own particular instrument, I am doubly thankful.” —Joseph Bakelor
• Distributing Unused Tickets. Although the funds for these tickets were not provided by the Association, the labor needed to administer the program was. (And working without the advantage of modern cell phones and computers, the labor involved was intensive.)

Every October, the program’s existence was published in area newspapers. Prospective recipients filled out questionnaires, including information about their musical background and financial status. Eligible recipients included music students, unemployed musicians, and prospective teachers.

Throughout the concert season, more than 600 single tickets were donated by subscribers who at the last moment were unable to attend a concert (and “last minute” often meant less than 30 minutes before the start of a concert). Subscribers called the Association’s program administrator and gave her their name and the location of the seat(s) being donated. The administrator then notified an eligible recipient (who hopefully had a telephone). Next, the administrator either took a duplicate ticket to the auditorium herself or sent it by messenger to be distributed to its recipient just minutes before the concert began.

Nerve-wracking as it might have been, the program was quite valuable. According to one year’s chair,

“…quite a few of our own orchestra men heard symphonic music for the first time thru this means.” —Mrs. David Kriegshaber

For each concert of the 1936 season, The Women’s Committee put together a list of recommended books about the composers and their compositions featured on that week’s programs. This list was published in the concert program, and the books were available by request at the public library.

JUNIORS (1931-1942)

In October 1930, about a dozen younger women expressed interest in forming an auxiliary group of their peers who were also interested in supporting the SLSO. During an exploratory meeting, they agreed one of the qualifications for membership would be age: after a member turned 30, they would move their membership to the Women’s Committee.

By early 1931, The Junior Women’s Committee of the Women’s Committee of the St. Louis Symphony Society had been established. In 1933, they changed their name from the Junior Committee to the Junior Division. At that point, they had 107 members.

Juniors elected their own officers, and their Chair and Vice-Chair served on the Women’s Committee Board. They functioned under the same Constitution as the Women’s Committee. They also paid the same individual dues as members of the Women’s Committee. Initially, those dues were handled by the Women’s Committee’s treasurer and were shared 50/50 by the two Committees. Eventually, the Juniors felt their activities were being limited by a lack of funds and requested first a 75/25 and then a 90/10 split. Their elders granted both requests.

Many of the Juniors’ activities involved helping the Women’s Committee with its fundraising, education, and hospitality activities. They helped solicit donations to the Maintenance Fund and sold season tickets. When the Women’s Committee was approached about concerns over the behaviors of some students at education concerts, they delegated members of the Juniors’ Education Committee to sit in the boxes as chaperones, both to stop unwanted disruptions and “by their conduct, to serve as examples to the younger girls.”

Education Work

Soon after their exploratory meeting in 1930, the Women’s Committee established a poster contest for students who attended the Symphony’s school concerts and asked the Juniors to manage the contest. A blank sheet was inserted into each program, and students were asked to describe the concert. At the end of the school year, the Women’s Committee paid for and awarded prizes for the best notes submitted.

Like the Women’s Committee, Juniors were also interested in understanding more about the classical music the Symphony played. By 1932, they were arranging their own Friday morning pre-concert lectures. Members took turns presenting the lectures, sometimes using Victrola records to illustrate their discussions.

It wasn’t just their own education they were interested in, however. They purchased season tickets, then distributed them to various schools, including institutions for the blind. They even gave at least one of their pre-concert lectures at the Blind Girls’ Home.

Young Artists

By far, the activity those early Junior Division members were most proud of was their annual Young Artists’ Concerts. Started in 1936, young St. Louis area musicians competed for the chance to play on a concert sponsored by the Juniors. (“Young” was defined as 19 and younger for piano and strings and 21 and under for voice.) Fifty-eight musicians competed in the second annual concert in 1937, which had an audience of about 500.

Over the next few years, the requirements for auditions became more stringent. Pianists had to play one number from the classical, the romantic, and the modern periods; vocalists were required to sing one aria in a foreign language and one in English; and strings were asked to play one movement of any standard concerto or sonata and one modern number. Previous winners or anyone who had been engaged for a fee by the Symphony were ineligible.And foreshadowing modern-day symphony auditions, judges listened to contestants behind a screen.

Of all their winners, none delighted the Juniors more than “their” discovery of nine-year-old cellist Bobby La Marchina. After his appearance at the 1938 concert, they held benefit concerts to help pay for his education. When he was 12, the benefit concert helped fund a summer of lessons with a renowned teacher in California. [Those lessons were obviously fruitful. By the time he was 16, he was the first cellist with the NBC Symphony Orchestra under Arturo Toscanini. Eventually, he had a career as a cellist and symphony conductor, playing with and conducting such notable orchestras as the Chicago Symphony and the Los Angeles Philharmonic—including a stint as guest conductor of the SLSO!]

The Junior Division disbanded during World War II.Its bank account was closed, and it was made a part of the Women’s Committee, becoming simply the Young Artists Committee.

Moving Forward

By 1950, the Depression and World War II were in the past, and like most of the country, the Women’s Association flourished. The Junior Division returned, and the number of both groups’ independent fundraising projects—and their financial contributions to the SLSO—expanded tremendously. We also started several signature education projects. But that’s a different chapter for another day.

^[1] Whenever possible, I’ve chosen to acknowledge each woman as a person in her own right by using her first name.