GACA Collection 363. Gustavus Adolphus Conservatory of Music. Student Records of the Conservatory of Music, 1887-1923: Overview

To learn more about this collection please see the finding aid link found above, and/or visit the College and Lutheran Church Archives to use these primary sources.

Gustavus Adolphus Conservatory of Music.  Student Records of the Conservatory of Music, 1887-1923.  GACA Collection 363.  ½ Hollinger box and 1 flat box.

ABSTRACT:
The Gustavus Adolphus Conservatory of Music collection contains student records from the school.  Index cards, ledger sheets, and record books contain student names along with grades for the classes they were enrolled in.  Also included are records from music lessons and enrollment slips.  The Conservatory of Music began as the Music Department in 1887 and changed its name to the Conservatory in 1894.  In 1942 the Conservatory closed and Music became an academic department of the College.  For more information about student activities such as performance programs, please see the Department of Music collection.

Vocal music courses were introduced at Gustavus Adolphus College during the 1881-82 school year.  Instrumental courses were also offered starting in 1884.  Music classes were considered a normal part of the academic curriculum for all students.  During 1887-88 the Music Department became one of the College’s four departments.  The department gave the degree of Bachelor of Music to those students who completed courses in Piano Theory, History of Music, and Harmony and had taken the required Academic courses.  Those who completed courses in Pipe Organ Theory, History of Music, and Harmony, and passed the required Academic courses received a certificate as “organist och skollärare” (organist and teacher.) 

The Conservatory of Music began in autumn 1894.  The Conservatory offered three different courses: a five year course on the Piano-forte that led to a Bachelor of Music degree; a two year course on the Pipe Organ, which could be taken with the Normal course, fitting the student for the position of organist and school-teacher in public or parochial schools; and a two year course on the Cabinet Organ which gave a foundation for the course on the Pipe Organ.  Additional courses were added over the years.  The Conservatory of Music graduated its last students in May 1942.  The following semester, the Music courses were integrated into the College as one of its academic departments.

*Information was taken from course catalogs.