Inda Howland Papers, 1934-1984, undated

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

A nationally recognized Eurhythmics and Music Theory teacher, Inda Saxby Howland was a member of the Oberlin Conservatory of Music faculty from 1940 until her retirement in 1974. Her dynamic and rigorous teaching methods, her expectations of excellence, high standards and disciplined musicianship in students influenced great numbers of Conservatory graduates throughout their music careers as reported in alumni surveys.

She was born in Summitville, New York on November 18, 1907 and the only child of Clyde Howland (1878-1921) and Mary Saxby Philcox (1883-1947). Her father, a vaudeville dancer, moved his family to Sparks, Nevada, hoping to prevent his daughter from becoming a dancer. He worked in the railroad yards until his death. Inda was fourteen years old at the time of his death. Her mother taught her to play the piano well enough that Inda was able to augment the family income as a pianist during silent movies.

Hoping to improve Inda’s educational opportunity, especially her piano training, Inda and her mother moved to New York City. As a student of James Friskin (1926-1930) at the Institute of Musical Art (later Julliard), she became interested in rhythmic movement and piano improvisation. He encouraged her to continue her music study in Geneva, Switzerland with Emile Jaques-Dalcroze, a pioneer in eurhythmics, the representation of musical rhythms in movement. In 1932, she entered L’Institute Jaques-Dalcroze, earning both the certificate and the diploma in 1934, the first American woman to do so.  Her training involved two intensive years of concentrating in solfege, rhythmic movement, and piano improvisation with Emile Jaques-Dalcroze.

Returning to the United States, she taught at Cummington School for the Arts in Cummington, Massachusetts (1935-1936), solfege and improvisation in a private school in Washington D.C. (1936), and rhythmic movement and improvisation for dance majors at Smith College (1936-1940) until that program was discontinued.

In 1940, she joined the Oberlin faculty as Instructor of Eurhythmics and Music Theory. She was later granted tenure status (1947-1948), followed by appointment as Assistant Professor (1949), Associate Professor (1956), and Professor (1971). Sabbatical leaves, especially to Southeast Asia, served to augment her improvisatory skills and classroom instruction. She continued to work in her field for several years after retirement, presenting workshops and lectures at Aspen, Colorado, and elsewhere.

Her diverse interests beyond teaching music—archaeology, anthropology, travel to remote areas in the American West, the Middle East, and Asia—all served to enrich her life and the lives of those who visited her museum-quality home.

At the time of her death, September 14, 1984, in Cleveland, Ohio, a memorial service in Fairchild Chapel in Oberlin, September 23, 1984 brought together many of her friends and former students. The Inda S. Howland Prize for Excellence in Teaching was established in her memory to be awarded every three years to an outstanding woman member of the Oberlin College faculty.

Inda Howland was a Christian Scientist. She had no known relatives.

SOURCES CONSULTED

Faculty file of Inda Howland, Alumni and Development Records (RG 28).

The Papers of Inda Howland (RG 30/320).