Description: Reverse reads "Cincinnati, Ohio. September 1937. Conservatory of Music. Highland Avenue and Oak Street, Cincinnati, Ohio." The Cincinnati Conservatory of Music was founded in 1867 by Clara Baur and was the first music school in the city. It was part of a girls’ finishing school known as Miss Nourse’s School for Young Ladies. The opening of the College of Music of Cincinnati in 1878 was a serious blow to the Conservatory but Miss Baur was able to recruit some first rate faculty which enabled the school to compete with its’ neighbors. The school began to thrive requiring several moves to accommodate their growing needs. In 1902, the Conservatory moved to the former Handy / Shillito Mansion on the corner of Highland Avenue and Oak Street in Cincinnati, Ohio. The Shillito Mansion, designed by J.W. McLaughlin for merchant John Shillito was finished in 1866 and is sometimes referred to as being in the Elizabethan Renaissance style. Seventy five thousand dollars were invested during this time for additional housing and other facilites to be built on the on the five acre grounds. Samuel Hannaford and Sons were hired to design an additional five story building south of the mansion, which contained classrooms, offices and housing. An auditorium was also built to the east of the main building during this time. Much attention was given to the permanency of these buildings, not only in safety and sanitary qualities, but also in regards to soundproofing and aesthetic qualities. Between 1910 and 1911 another addition was added, built in brick in the Jacobean style, to provide more dormitories and classrooms. During the next twenty years, several surrounding buildings were purchased as the school continued to grow, and it eventually covered ten acres of land. With the death of Clara Baur in 1912, her niece Bertha Baur took over direction and in 1930 gave the Conservatory to the Cincinnati Institute of Fine Arts, turning it into a non-profit organization. In 1955 The College of Music and the Conservatory of Music merged and became the Cincinnati College – Conservatory of Music and in 1962 joined the University of Cincinnati. Sometime after this, the building was demolished, but more information is needed as to the exact date. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_b03f03_004_001
Subjects: Cincinnati (Ohio)--Buildings, structures, etc.; Cincinnati Conservatory of Music; Music--Performance; Ohio--History--Pictorial works; Federal Writers' Project
Places: Cincinnati (Ohio); Hamilton County (Ohio)