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Margaret Bradford Boni

Margaret Bradford Boni
A young white woman with dark hair, in an oval frame
Margaret Taylor Bradford, later Boni, from a 1917 advertisement
Born
Margaret Taylor Bradford

November 23, 1892
Birmingham, Alabama
DiedNovember 26, 1974 (age 82)
New York City
Occupation(s)Music educator, folklorist
RelativesIrita Bradford Van Doren (sister)
Albert Boni (brother-in-law)
Carl Van Doren (brother-in-law)

Margaret Taylor Bradford Boni (November 23, 1892 – November 26, 1974) was an American music educator and folklorist. She edited several books of popular music, including The Fireside Book of Folk Songs (1947). She taught music at the City and Country School from 1928 to 1954, where she worked with Pete Seeger in the 1940s.

Early life and education

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Bradford was born in Birmingham, Alabama, and raised in Florida, the daughter of John Taylor Bradford and Ida Henley Brooks Bradford. Her father was in the lumber industry; her older sister was editor Irita Bradford Van Doren.[1] She graduated from Florida State College for Women in 1909,[2] with further musical studies at the Juilliard School.[3][4]

Career

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Bradford taught piano and harmony at the Little Rock Conservatory and College for Women in Arkansas in the 1910s.[4][5] Boni was director of the music department at the City and Country School in New York City, from 1928 to 1954.[1] One of the other music teachers during her tenure was a young Pete Seeger, who taught at the school in 1949. She promoted the use of the recorder as a teaching instrument, and taught recorder classes at New York University.[3][6] Artist Julian E. Levi painted a portrait of Boni playing recorder in 1940.[7]

Publications

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Songwriter Billy Joel wrote in a 2020 essay that "The most important book I ever had in my life was my mother's copy of The Fireside Book of Folk Songs by Margaret Bradford Boni." He explained that the combination of music and lyrics and images caught his imagination as a small child, before he could read or play music.[8]

Personal life

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Bradford married Greenwich Village bookseller and publisher Charles Boni Jr. in 1931.[16][17][18] He died in 1969, and she died in 1974, at the age of 82, in New York City.[6]

References

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  1. ^ a b Bonner, David (2007-11-26). Revolutionizing Children's Records: The Young People's Records and Children's Record Guild Series, 1946-1977. Scarecrow Press. pp. 72–73. ISBN 978-1-4617-1938-0.
  2. ^ "Seniors of 1909". Tallahassee Democrat. 1959-11-12. p. 8. Retrieved 2024-03-02 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ a b "Boni, Margaret Bradford, 1893-1974". Alabama Authors. Retrieved 2024-03-02.
  4. ^ a b "Conservatory Has Selected Faculty". Arkansas Democrat. 1916-07-27. p. 5. Retrieved 2024-03-02 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "Concert by Pupils". Arkansas Democrat. 1913-06-10. p. 9. Retrieved 2024-03-02 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ a b "Margaret Boni, 82, a Writer on Songs". The New York Times. Retrieved 2024-03-02.
  7. ^ Ford, Virginia (1948-05-23). "Dominant Trend in Painting". Buffalo Courier Express. p. 46. Retrieved 2024-03-02 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ Bañagale, Ryan Raul; Duchan, Joshua S. (2020-08-10). "We Didn't Start the Fire": Billy Joel and Popular Music Studies. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-1-7936-0182-7.
  9. ^ Boni, Margaret Bradford (1938). How to play the recorder: selected tunes. Schirmer.
  10. ^ Boni, Margaret Bradford; Lloyd, Norman (1947). Fireside Book of Folk Songs: 147 of the Great Ballads and old favorites. Internet Archive.
  11. ^ Wilkin, Lucile (1948). "Review of Fireside Book of Folk Songs; Sing of America". Western Folklore. 7 (2): 200–202. doi:10.2307/1497426. ISSN 0043-373X. JSTOR 1497426.
  12. ^ Boni, Margaret Bradford, ed. The Fireside Book of Favorite American Songs. Simon and Schuster, 1956.
  13. ^ Boni, Margaret Bradford, and Norman Lloyd. Fireside Book of Love Songs, arranged for the Piano by Norman Lloyd. Simon and Schuster, 1954.
  14. ^ Boni, Margaret Bradford, ed. Favorite Christmas Carols: Fifty-nine Yuletide Songs Both Old and New. Golden Press; sole agents: Belwin, Rockville Centre, NY, 1957.
  15. ^ "Gay, Nostalgic Songs of Nineties Live On/Dr. F. W. Bradley". The State. 1962-03-04. p. 66. Retrieved 2024-03-02 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ^ "Milestones, Aug. 10, 1931". Time. 1931-08-10. ISSN 0040-781X. Retrieved 2024-03-02.
  17. ^ "Charles Boni Marries; Weds Miss Margaret Bradford, New York Teacher". The New York Times. 1931-08-02. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2024-03-02.
  18. ^ "Albert and Charles Boni, Inc. records". UCLA Library Social Collections, via the Online Archive of California. Retrieved 2024-03-02.
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