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Theodore Presser
This publication provides biographical and related material concerning Theodore Presser.
In 1870, Ohio Northern University's first president, Henry Solomon Lehr, hired a young Theodore Presser as the institution's first music instructor. Although his stay at Northern was brief, he maintained cordial relations with Lehr. Years later, when Presser had become successful in the world of music publishing, he established the Presser Foundation. Part of the foundation's funds were used to construct music education facilities on various college campuses including Northern's own Presser Hall.
Biography
A twelve-part biography of Theodore Presser, which originally appeared in The Etude in 1948
and 1949, has been reproduced with permission of the publisher.
Additional ResourcesPersons interested in Presser's student days at Mount Union College may wish to consult
A Select School; the History of Mount Union College and an Account of a Unique Educational Experiment, Scio College
Theodore Presser also taught at Ohio Wesleyan University, the history of which is detailed in
Ohio Wesleyan's First Hundred Years, by Henry Clyde Hubbart
His contributions to the world of music education, music publishing and philanthropy are discussed in
Theodore Presser, Educator, Publisher, Philanthropist : Selected Contributions to the Music Teaching Profession
in America / by Chris Yoder
Information on the Music Teachers' National Association, which he helped to found, can be found in:
A Centennial History of the Music Teachers National Association.
Historical Handbook of the Music Teachers' National Association, 1876 - 1893, by Henry S. Perkins.
Internet SitesTheodore Presser Company home page
Presser Hall buildings were constructed at:
| Agnes Scott College | |
| Berea College | |
| Bethany College | |
| Illinois Wesleyan University | |
| Ohio Northern University | |
| Randolph-Macon Women's C | |
| Stetson University | |
| Temple University | |
| University of Mary Hardin Baylor | |
| Western College for Women (later incorporated in Miami University, Oxford, Ohio) |
