Dates

• Majority of material found within 1900 - 1970

Extent

1 box Linear Feet (John Wesley Neff (August 20, 1891-May 30, 1961) and his wife Gertrude Farrington Neff (May 14, 1904-January 24, 1992) were both natives of Missouri. John Neff was born in Redman, Missouri, and was the son of James Wesley Neff and Sara Frances Sharp Neff. Gertrude Farrington Neff was the daughter of Dr. Frank B. Farrington and Hattie Jane Hayes Farrington. John Neff was a veteran of World War One, had earned his BS at Kirksville State Teachers College in 1917, and received his MA in Education from Columbia University in 1925. John Neff was chairman of the Music Department from 1925 to 1937 at Indiana State Normal School, which became Indiana State Teachers College in 1927. He taught voice and choral conducting, and music education. After leaving the Music Department, John Neff became an insurance underwriter in Indiana, and he served on the ISTC Board of Trustees from 1937 to 1955. Gertrude Farrington Neff was born in St. Louis, and grew up in Kirksville, Missouri. She studied at Kirksville State Teachers College and in 1924 received a Music BA from the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago. Gertrude Neff went onto earn a BS from Kirksville State Teachers College in 1926. She studied piano in New York with Ernest Hutchinson and Ernesto Berumen at the LaForge-Berumen Studies, and she had recitals in Missouri, Pennsylvania, Chicago, and New York City. Gertrude Neff was a member of the ISTC Music Department Faculty from 1927 to 1935, and had a private piano studio in Indiana, Pennsylvania, from 1935 to 1979. She was an active member of the Monday Musical Club (Manuscript Group 54) from the 1920s to the 1960s. The collection contains newspaper articles, recitals, and publications collected by Gertrude Farrington Neff from her active role in the Monday Musical Club, and the Music Department at Indiana State Normal School (ISNS) and later the Indiana State Teachers College (ISTC). The content dates from 1927 to 1970. Gertrude Neff was an active member of the Monday Musical Club, serving as President in 1939-1940, and later serving as publicity chair. There are also newspaper articles and recital programs from performances by Gertrude Neff’s piano students. For more information about the Monday Musical Club, see Manuscript Group 54.)

Language of Materials

English