Professor Nickerson's Orchestra: Music Education and the Advancement of Higher Education in New Orleans, Louisiana, 1880–1916

• In Event: 33.030 - Case Studies of Educators: Interrogating the Role of the Individual

Abstract

William J. Nickerson has been documented as an influential participant in the musical genealogy of New Orleans, Louisiana. However, his contributions to higher education in New Orleans, Louisiana have been understudied. William Joseph Nickerson studied and taught at three institutions of higher education in New Orleans between 1880 and 1916—Straight University, Southern University, and Xavier University. Nickerson’s experiences at these institutions can illustrate how music education encouraged, and in some instances, stabilized the development of higher education for black Americans in New Orleans. This proposal will chronicle the educational and teaching history of Nickerson in order to provide an example of how a dedication to higher education helped students and teachers persevere through the most egregious circumstances of society.

Author

• Berlisha R. Morton, Colgate University